Mastery

Following on from last week’s blog on practice, today I want to discuss the concept of Mastery.  Mastery is something we all strive for in our given area of expertise and it is often seen as difficult to attain, but what exactly is Mastery? In real terms, Mastery is simply having a comprehensive knowledge or skill in a specific area.  The concept may well be simple, but the achievement of Mastery is far from it and even those who others might perceive as having arrived at a masterful status, often don’t see themselves as masters of their chosen field, skill, profession and so on.  The question I want to pose this week is how do those who have achieved Mastery do this? 

No one is born an expert. People are often born with talent or a natural aptitude for a certain skill, but no one is ever the complete package without putting in a substantial amount of effort.  Allow me to utilise another sports analogy here; Andy Murray has recently won Wimbledon and now threatens to take the number one spot in the ATP world rankings from rival Novak Djokovic, but up until 2011, he had been failing to meet his potential and struggling to win a Grand Slam tournament, despite being a runner up on more than one occasion.  So how did he go from being a talented planner who never quite achieved success to the current US Open Champion, Wimbledon Champion and an Olympic Gold Medalist?

Well, firstly he changed his coach. In 2011, he partnered up with Ivan Lendl.  He chose an inspirational master of the sport to coach, direct and Mentor him.  Who better than someone who had achieved no less than eight Grand Slam titles of his own could help him to develop his skills, identify areas for improvement and overcome his setbacks?  His coach offers a different perspective, evaluates his game from a better perspective and knows exactly what it takes to achieve greatness.  Beginning his apprenticeship under Lendl would prove to be the first step in achieving Mastery himself. 

Secondly, and in collaboration with his coach, he built around him a perfect team to support him.  Andy Murray is, ultimately, on his own when competing on the tennis court, but off court he is surrounded by an exceptional group of professionals who support him in achieving his goals.  He works with a small team, each with a distinct role; be that fitness conditioning, physiotherapy, coaching or sports psychology. He has worked hard to establish this team and has had to make some difficult decisions in letting go team members that were not quite the right fit, but having done so, each cog in the Murray machine now completes its job effectively and so ensures success.

Finally, he never stops practicing.  As we determined last week, this is the crucial intentional and reflective practice undertaken when you set out to improve your skills, not the habitual routine practice that doesn’t get you anywhere.  Murray reviews each match with his team, identifies areas for improvement and then sets about practicing for improvement.  Those people who are the best in the world at what they do are so because they know that you never stop learning and improving and that you must practice every day in order to retain Mastery once it has been achieved.

Three things have enabled Murray to achieve Mastery; practice, the right team and an excellent coach.

The same three things can enable you to achieve Mastery in your business, so ask yourself these questions; how often do you practice? What skills could you improve with more practice? Do you have the right team? Where does your feedback come from?  Do you receive any coaching? Do you give your employees or even your customers the opportunity to coach you on how to improve your business?  Is it time you thought about getting your own Ivan Lendl and appointed a business coach?

Thoughts

“All coaching is, is taking a player where he can't take himself.”
Bill McCartney

“If people knew how hard I worked to get my mastery, it wouldn't seem so wonderful at all.”
Michelangelo 

"Practice does not make perfect. Only perfect practice makes perfect."
Vince Lombardi