How to have amazing career success, as said by Jamie Peacock
If you were at Buy Yorkshire recently you may have seen former England and Great Britain rugby star Jamie Peacock was speaking. At first glance, his talk named ‘No White Flag!’, may not be the most obvious talk to have at a business conference, but I’m a rugby league and sports fan, so I went along and was really impressed with what he had to say and why.
Jamie’s is a story of hard work triumphing over talent. He had five key principles which he said had led to his amazing career success. And there were two which really jumped out at me.
Jamie described himself as ‘not the most talented player’. And yet he has succeeded so monumentally – winning more medals and accolades than any other rugby player in the last 20 years.
The five principles guiding Jamie’s career were:
- Good attitude
- Influence
- Goal setting
- Going the extra mile
- Belief
There’s nothing in that list we’ve not heard before. Yet he worked them to his advantage and the combination of applying all of those principles (much like the multiplication effect I wrote about recently – https://www.tendo-uk.com/looking-after-the-pennies/ – made for a stellar career. Now, a pretty good living on the keynote speaking circuit no doubt looms.
The two key principles
The two things which stood out for me were the good attitude and belief.
Jamie pointed out that most people aren’t giving 100%. He said that in training many of his teammates sprinting the 400 metres would run as fast as possible and then slow down for the last five. He always ran the full 400 metres before taking his foot off the gas.
Imagine if everyone only worked at 99% because that was good enough. Jamie asked how many babies would be given to the wrong parents if 99% was okay? Equally, how many medical prescriptions would end up in the wrong hands? If you’re the one giving 100% all of the time, then you already have an edge over the competition.
Jamie described belief in an interesting way. He said it was all about “getting off the bus”. At 19 he had a trial for Bradford Bulls and had to travel there on the bus. When his stop drew closer, and despite being a strapping lad, he was paralysed by a fear of getting off the bus. This fear was driven by a sense of self-doubt – maybe he wasn’t good enough, maybe someone else should have been given his place. So belief in himself came down to simply learning to get off the bus.
Learn to banish self-doubt
Two years later at 21, he was named in the starting line-up for the Great Britain V Australia match, and was once again struck by self-doubt. Was he good enough to play against the best team in the world? Was he worthy of a starting place amongst his peers? This time, he recognised the self-doubt, remembered that metaphorically speaking, all he had to do was get off the bus, and went on to score the first try of the match after 86 seconds. Team GB then went on to record a historic win. Career success.
What more is possible for you and your business if everyone had a good attitude and was giving 100%? What techniques do you use to banish self-doubt – and what will you be capable of when you have belief? What happens if you have clear goal setting, go the extra mile and are surrounded by people with good influence?
Those that know me well will know that I am an advocate of hiring based on values first and talent second. Do you have a team full of ‘not the most talented player’ that work harder than anyone else, or are you taking the easy option?
Developing a dream team is one of the essential building blocks to running a successful business. If you are working too many hours or are frustrated about any element of your team, it’s time to take action.
Access our tool here to get started: tendo-uk.com/dreamteam
