Some sports people are known to have huge egos, not least as this contributes to their success. How do you overcome huge egos and work constructively with individuals like this? It was really a challenge at the beginning of my career, when I had to convince, say, a two-time Olympic champion and national captain to listen to me, without knowing him and without having proved anything to him. But, we agreed that I had a big ego too, so we should each stick to our own area of expertise: he knew his sport and I knew the mental part. Today, there is no such challenge because, although I never say who I am working with, the level is presented and they can follow it down to see if it is right for them. Even though we do not publish our results, because of word of mouth, coaches end up finding out about our work. Your website also mentions that the decision-making frequency in sports versus business is significantly different. Can you expand on this and explain how this insight impacted your approach towards mentoring in sports, and indeed what lessons can be learned for CEOs and athletes? Before 2020, we told athletes that the average non-athlete was in a “more comfortable” position, because they would shape their personality throughout their lives, they would build in new personality features that they wanted, and although there could be serious long-term consequences of not living as themselves, it was their choice. The athlete cannot do this, because the non-self-identified, builtin personality features will collapse in a crisis situation. Today, this statement is no longer true, because there are also very serious stress factors in the life of the average person, especially a businessperson, so the decisions made in a crisis situation, if not to the extent of the amount in sport, are present in a very serious way. In other words, it is now true that business is very close to sport in terms of the need to be self-identified. Can you share some of the most notable achievements of teams and athletes under the guidance of 8848 Sport Mentoring? Mentoring, especially the private mentoring that I do, is 100% confidential, so no, we never publish about an athlete or team or mention them publicly. However, anonymously, I can say that we have helped medallists of all colours at the European Championships, Pan American Games, World Championships, and Olympics. If you look strictly at the successes achieved under the name 8848 Mentoring in 2023: European Championship gold, silver, bronze, World Championship gold, silver, 4 championship titles and 2 international cup wins. In addition, there were also world championship gold and silver medals in junior sports. If I had to highlight any of these, I would definitely mention a World Championship gold and silver medal for a junior and an adult men’s team, as well as a European Championship victory, also for a men’s team. These guys travelled down a long, strict development path to reach these peaks, and the head coaches who led these teams are emotionally important to me. Looking at the evolution of sports consultancy, where do you see the future of this field, particularly in relationto 8848? The world has changed enormously. Just to give you an example, one of CEO Today Europe Awards 2023 - UNITED KINGDOM - - 16 -
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