Who believes in you?
Welcome

I have recently been working with a great team of sports psychologists helping to develop elite performance in leaders of a very well known UK retailer.

The sports arena continues to give us inspirational examples of how human potential can be developed. 

During my work on this leadership programme I found out about a Russian weightlifter and his coach.  It struck me as another brilliant example so I thought I'd share it with you.

I hope you enjoy.

Nicky
 
The Russian Weightlifter
Vasiliy Alekseyev is probably the world's most celebrated weightlifter of all time.  Born in Russia in 1942, Vasiliy went on to set over 80 world records during his career as a competitor for the Soviet Union.

In 1975 Vasiliy set a new world record, lifting 246kg (that's over 38 stone in old Weightliftermoney!) at the Moscow world championships.  This fantastic feat was the greatest achievement in his career up until this point and won him another world medal.

However this achievement was quickly met with frustration.

Part of Vasiliy's success was his ability to continually raise the threshold on the weight that he would lift.  After the great success in Moscow, Vasiliy and his coach had set a new goal of lifting 252kg - nearly 40 stone!

Despite working hard in training Vasiliy was not making any progress in the weight that he was lifting.  After lifting 246kg in Moscow he seemed unable to raise the bar on his performance.

His coach realised that Vasiliy didn't believe that it was possible for him to lift any heavier than 246kg.  However his coach did believe that Vasiliy could do it and continually urged him on in training.

Repeatedly though, he simply seemed unable to move up to 252kg.

The Weightlifter's Coach
One day as Vasiliy turned up for training his coach presented him with a challenge.  He had laid out two weightlifting bars.  One with 242kg and the other with 252kg.  Vasiliy's coach challenged him to lift them.

As you might expect, he started with the 242kg and lifted it with relative ease.  He then moved onto the 252kg and failed to make any progress in lifting it. 

Vasiliy looked at his coach and just shrugged his shoulders indicating that this was what he had expected; he had after all been practicing this exact thing in training for what seemed like an eternity!

At this point his coach revealed that he had actually swapped the numbers on the weights. The bar that looked like 242kg was in actual fact 252kg and he had lifted it with relative ease!

At the 1976 Montreal Olympic Games, Vasiliy Alekseyv set a new world record, lifting 255kg in the clean and jerk event.
Who's your coach?
This story illustrates the power of belief in everything that we do. 

Sometimes when we face our biggest challenges, or set ourselves goals that are beyond our (perceived) reach, our belief can suffer.

Had it not been for Vasiliy's coach believing in him and seeing his potential, he may not have gone on to win further world records after his 246kg lift in Moscow.

Having someone who believes in and can see your potential (even when you sometimes lose sight of it yourself) is vital.

Who believes in you and is demanding the best of you?

Having a coach is one of the best ways to develop your potential and improve your performance.  

If you would like to have a chat about how coaching could help you to raise the bar on your performance, please get in touch:

T:  +44 (0)1902 895310