England’s Six Nations winning streak may have come to an (temporary) end on Saturday, but we feel like their performance in the championship has highlighted some key lessons – and not just on the rugby field.
For a team that finished fifth in last year’s tournament, their turnaround over the past 12 months has been significant, and something anyone on a “rocky” run can take inspiration from.
Picking yourself up after a loss (particularly when they come one after another) is perhaps one of the biggest challenges in business. It’s easy to become weighed down by negativity, so learning to remain motivated in all situations is crucial.
Here are a few things the Red Roses’ rise back to the top of their game can teach us.
Redefine your goals
We’re not saying throw out your long-term dream, but do give yourself an interim milestone to cheer about right now.
Rather than putting all your attention on the championship title, take one game at a time.
Whether it’s a plan for the month, the week, the day, or even the morning, figure out what you need to achieve in the short-term to help you on your way to success and celebrate those milestones as you reach them.
Find out what isn’t working
Speaking about his side’s poor run, England coach Eddie Jones said that rather than lose focus, the team simply sought to fix what was broken.
“We’ve changed our staff, we’ve changed the way we train, we’ve changed in little ways our philosophy of how we want to play.”
The same strategy applies when a business faces challenges. Rather than dwelling on failures, make an action plan and look at what can be done better.
Is everyone aiming for the same outcome? Is there too much focus on some areas and not on others?
Blame doesn’t help
Finding out what is going wrong, is very different to trying to find out who is going wrong. Launching a witch-hunt will turn people against one another, and won’t produce a solution for your business problems.
“The coaching staff and players all want to be at their best and when you’re not at your best it hurts. Then you get all the associated hoo-hah around it,” Jones said.
Do yourself a favour and avoid the hoo-hah – work as a team to find the best way forward without playing the blame game.
We’re sure that’s exactly what England are doing before their next match against Italy.