By Richard Godfrey – CEO & Co-founder Avec-me
Bob Bowman is the Director of Swimming at the University of Texas. He is a legend in the swimming and diving world. He served as US Olympic coach in 2004, 2008, 2012 and 2016. In 2018 he was appointed head coach of the men’s Olympic Team. He was also the coach of Michael Phelps.
All this is to say that Coach Bowman doesn’t lack for things to do or athletes to coach. Those who want to reach the pinnacle of their swimming career seek him out, both domestically and internationally.
Which is how Leon Marchand, multiple gold medalist at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, came to work with Coach Bowman. In 2020 Marchand moved from France to the University of Arizona in the US where he began to train under Coach Bowman.
Commenting on Marchand’s recent extraordinary accomplishments Coach Bowman said,
“It’s an incredible series of events. I feel like he did everything that we could possibly expect of him in this environment, in this sort of lead-up and preparation,” Bowman told reporters.
“He couldn’t have handled himself better in between all the races. So it was just a complete success… He’s just 100% successful. So I’m very proud of him, it takes a lot to be perfect.”
I Want to Coach You
With all the options available to him and a reputation to back up demand for his time and attention Marchand did the one thing, perhaps most valuable, of anything he could do – he made Coach Bowman want to work with him because of his incredible, personal dedication and effort.
Individual investment has multiple benefits. Obviously it serves to improve individual performance but it has the added benefit of creating the kind of person others want to connect with, to work and grow with, to invest in. That’s why I titled this article “Ties that Bind” because exceptional personal dedication and effort not only draws people to you, it does much more – it binds them to you in powerful and lasting ways.
Everyone wants to be part of a winning team. And when that team is doing everything in their power to be successful the desire to be part of the team is magnified by the personal connection we feel to the profound investment those individuals are making.
Be That Leader
We live in a chaotic world. Finding something or someone to hold on to becomes increasingly hard when options are everywhere for the best of the best and where opportunities are limited to work with those types of people.
Organizations, their reputation, performance history and brand have power. But ultimately the power of the organization to pull in top performers and let their individual effort become our group experience is limited.
We can make organizational power very personal when we as leaders show the world we are worth joining. Bob Bowman is worth working for. Leon Marchand is worth working for. Both of them have bound a way to WORK WITH each other. Both of them clearly know the absolute dedication the other person brings to their craft. Swimmers want to work with the best coaches. Coaches want to work with the best swimmers.
Are you a leader that’s relying on the power of your organization to attract top talent? Or, are you the type of leader that everyone knows, especially top performers, is bringing their “A Game” every day, to every challenge in every venue. You can’t coach Olympic champions if you’re a go along to get along leader. Champions have options. One of those options is to find leaders who are champions in their own right. Be that leader. Be a model of individual investment and excellence that draws excellence to you.
Organizational success is rooted in relationships. It really doesn’t matter so much what your organization aspires to as much as it matters what you’re doing right now. When you look at team productivity as a relationship connection rather than a process you do two things – you demand of yourself the type of performance that people would want to connect with and you signal to others that their investment in you and your leadership is advantageous to their goals and aspirations.
Relationship based productivity is a new look at traditional approaches to and structures for organizational success. We outline the principles in our book Connection Cures Contention. We invite you to get your own copy on Amazon. And, while you’re at it, join the leadership connection conversation at www.Avec-me.com
