A great interview with Gilbert Enoka, who has studied sports psychology and worked with a number of top teams. In his book, Become Unstoppable, he posits that great leaders are Vikings – they have fierce determination (the same as Level 5 Leadership) but with a mother’s heart. This echo’s Brene Brown, ‘a strong back and a soft front’ or Dr Lester Levy’s ‘the mind of a manager and the soul of a leader’.
These are great analogies for the need for leaders to have drive and direction but the compassion and willingness to engage with people and build relationships. In her book Cues, Vanessa Van Edwards suggests having this combination of warmth and competence is what people admire and see as charisma.
It is striking how far we have come in terms of our acceptance of these techniques. When Gilbert Enoka started working with top rugby teams in the 80s, the idea of a ‘mental skills coach’ was frowned upon. So much so that when he was with a Canterbury team in the late 80s , he had to be disguised as a masseur whenever senior rugby officials were around!
