ENDURANCE
Entrepreneurial Capacity-building for Sport

Simon Sinek and his 2019 TED talk on leader versus a manager: 

What is self leadership? This term describes a self- influence process through which people can and do achieve the self-direction and self-motivation necessary to perform their tasks and work. Self-leadership consists of specific behavioral and cognitive strategies designed to positively influence personal effectiveness. These strategies are generally clustered into three primary categories: 

• Behavior-focused strategies;
• Natural reward strategies;
• Constructive thought pattern strategies.

• Behavior-focused strategies:

These strategies endeavor to assist an individual to increase their self-awareness in order to facilitate behavioral management, especially the management of behaviors related to necessary but often unpleasant tasks. In the world of entrepreneurship, you will often spend many hours doing tedious tasks in order to achieve the required results.

• Natural reward strategies:

They are intended to create situations in which a person is motivated or rewarded by inherently enjoyable aspects of the task or activity. There are two primary natural reward strategies. The first involves building more pleasant and enjoyable features into a given activity so that the task itself becomes naturally rewarding.

• Constructive thought pattern strategies:

These strategies are designed to facilitate the formation of constructive thought patterns and habitual ways of thinking that can positively impact performance. They include identifying and replacing dysfunctional beliefs and assumptions, and practicing mental imagery and positive self-talk.

‘‘One must first be able to effectively lead her/himself before effectively leading others.‘‘ However, if you were to ask a group of athletes to define leadership, the answer often focuses on leading others. So often, athletes dedicate much of their time and energy on leading others that it hinders the development of their own self-leadership skills. An athlete’s ability to coach her/himself through challenge, adversity, fear, and temptation set goals and a path to achievement and hold her/himself accountable to set standards is the most critical element of leadership – serving as the foundation for both individual and team success in sport and in life.

Examples of Role Models and Case Study:

• Bulgaria - ENDURANCE Role Model.pdf
• Bulgaria - ENDURANCE Case Study.pdf

• Lesson 1:

People matter - there will always be people quick to point out what we’re doing wrong, why we failed or why we’re going to fail, why we’re not good enough… but the willingness to walk away from naysayers is an act of courage necessary in the pursuit of a goal, positivity, change, professional success or sporting greatness.

• Lesson 2:

One comment is enough to change a life – be kind. None of us truly know what another is going through. Kindness or a simple word of encouragement can mean more to its recipient than we expect, and costs nothing. And while kindness often boomerangs back to us, give it generously without expectation.

• Lesson 3:

It all boils down to you - take responsibility. While surrounding ourselves with great people and walking away from the relationships that do not serve us, the fact of the matter still remains – only you can do what it needs to be done.

• Lesson 4:

A diagnosis is a good thing - knowing where you are, you can figure where you need to go, and how you can get there.

• Lesson 5:

Be intentional – control the controllables - mindset, sleep, what you consume – control what you can control. We can choose where to place our attention: on the things within our remit of control, or those outside.

• Lesson 6:

Practice mindfulness - mindfulness is about staying in contact with the present moment as much as possible, about focused attention on ‘’the now’’ (without looking back to the past where we risk regret or depression for example, or forward to the future where we risk feelings of anxiety or fear).

• Lesson 7:

When you think it’s all over, try one more time - our reserves are often greater than we realise. In sport, one more push can see us cross the finish line a spit second before our competitor, and can be the difference between medal placement, or not. Similarly as entrepreneurs, choosing to ‘’go again’’ can produce an entirely different outcome - securing a new client, closing a deal.

• Lesson 8:

Plan for the tough times. Put systems in place. Do the work - “Become obsessed and put in the hours. Maybe I wasn’t even good at athletics, maybe I just worked really hard.”

• Lesson 9:

Look for areas of marginal improvements - where can you make minor changes, to yourself as an entrepreneur and self-leader, to your startup? Where can you identify areas for minor improvement? Slow and steady progress produces significant and sustainable growth. Seek incremental steps. Growth is what matters, not its pace.

• Lesson 10:

Winning is outstaying your competitors - have passion for comeptetion and don’t be afraid to go the distance. The reward at the end is much greater, even if you loose. ‘’Pain is temporaty, if you quit however, it will last forever.’’

Sound decision-making is a crucial skill for managers. From overseeing a team to leading a critical meeting, being an effective manager requires knowing how to analyze complex business problems and implement a plan for moving forward. The following components—referred to as the “three C’s”—are presented as essential building blocks for a successful decision-making process:

• Constructive Conflict - this involves engaging your team members in the decision-making process;
• Consideration - all stakeholders involved in a decision should feel their viewpoints were fairly considered before a solution is determined;
• Closure - this is a function that ensures stakeholders are aligned before proceeding.

A high level of self-awareness is critical for managers, and it’s what separates high-performers from their peers in the workplace.

This core tenet of emotional intelligence requires introspection and an honest evaluation of your strengths and weaknesses. Through engaging in self-assessment and turning to trusted colleagues to gain insight into your managerial tendencies, you can chart a path for your professional development that hones in on areas where you need to improve, enabling you to bring out the best in yourself and others.

Seek to forge deeper connections with your colleagues by engaging in small talk before meetings and learning more about their lives outside the scope of their work. In addition, encourage inclusive dialogue about personal and professional differences, and be open to diverse viewpoints in discussions.

Strong communication skills are a hallmark of any successful manager. Being in a managerial role involves tackling complex business situations and ensuring your team has the information and tools required to succeed.

When facing such challenges as navigating organizational change, be transparent about the tasks at hand and instill your team with a shared vision of how your company can benefit from the impending transition. Continually provide updates and reiterate the plan for moving forward to ensure your employees are aligned and understand how their work factors into larger corporate objectives.

Make it a habit to regularly check in with your employees outside of their annual performance reviews. According to research by Gallup, team members whose managers provide weekly feedback are over:

• Five times more likely to strongly agree they receive meaningful feedback;
• Three times more likely to strongly agree they are motivated to do outstanding work;
• Two times more likely to be engaged at work.

Beyond regular check-ins, set a consistent cadence for reflecting on and reviewing your team’s work. In one study by Harvard Business School, Professors Francesca Gino and Gary Pisano, it was found that call center employees who spent 15 minutes reflecting at the end of the workday performed 23% better after 10 days than those who did not.

As a 21^st century entrepreneur, you must take advantage of every digital opportunity that is presented to you. You must also embrace the new technological possibilities. The online platforms are one of these new assets which can make our lives easier when it comes to management and entrepreneurship.

As key drivers of innovation in the digital world, the success of online platforms is closely tied to the success of a range of businesses that use platforms to reach customers. Platforms allow especially smaller businesses to extend their operations beyond their home state, catering for consumers across the entire Single Market.

The benefits to our economy and society are so significant, that the most successful online platforms have attracted hundreds of millions or even billions of users, making them the most frequently visited websites in the world.

Obviously, we live in a world in which the communication process happens predominantly online. For the better or worse, many online businesses and start-up companies must implement the use of platforms in order to adapt to the new times. Here is a list of the most used platforms for any type of business:

Social media:                              

• Facebook.com;                       
• Instagram.com;                      
• Twitter.com;                             
• LinkedIn.com;                           
• YouTube.com;                           
• Reddit.com;                               
• Pinterest.com;                         
• Quora.com.                               

Communication and collaboration:

• Dropbox;
• Google Workplace;
• Microsoft Teams;
• Microsoft 365;
• Zoom;
• GoTo;
• Webex;
• Slack.