Over the last two weeks we have heard some heart-warming stories about the sacrifices made by athletes to compete at the London Olympics. Unlike some sports, the financial incentives for most athletes are minimal, if non-existent (at least for TeamGB) but the power of intrinsic pride and fulfilment prevail in an unprecedented way. This is not a novel concept for leaders and managers who have found ways to successfully harness the intrinsic motivation of their team; getting them to perform to the best of their ability because they want to perform and love performing. Over the past 6 months the GB Equestrian Team have been forced to put this to the ultimate test in order to secure their most successful Olympics ever.
It is in the Eventing, Jumping and Dressage disciplines that we have not only celebrated the talent of our riders, but also the talent of the horses. Horses are not simply an item of sports equipment, they have physical ability and temperaments that determine their talent as much as any human, and for that reason they build an astonishing price tag. The problem is that whereas humans generally only represent one country, there is nothing stopping a horse changing owners and therefore changing countries. The result? The owners of each of the horses contributing our Gold rush all received aggressive offers well in excess of £1million for their horse. So these owners are sitting on an asset of great magnitude, but also an asset that can become worthless overnight if they get injured. Money aside, what can these countries do to keep these horses, and their owners?
Reflecting on a golden Games for Team GB's equestrians, Performance Director Will Connell has spoken about the considerable efforts taken to engage and involve the owners with the vision of the team, helping them to feel intrinsically connected to the team's success and providing support for the various tensions they face as owners. This has been a critical element to achieving success where before we have struggled.
This story allows us to question with some clarity how effectively we retain talent and key stakeholders in our own organisations. But I don't think this is just about retention, this is also about retaining the commitment of talented individuals and key stakeholders to our own vision. As we have seen with GB Equestrian, this is a deliberate decision to prioritise time and effort (but not necessarily money) and the reward for doing this effectively is retaining a pool of talent who are intrinsically motivated to mirror your commitment towards them.