Nobody is born with the aniticipatory skills of an elite athlete. And, these skills are NOT due to the athlete decreasing their reaction time. Study after study shows that elite athletes and guys like me have a response time of somewhere around 1/5th of a second. Practice doesn’t change this.
Practice, however, is what allows Nadal to know where his opponents serve is coming before it arrives at his racket. Hours and hours of practice has built Nadals anticipatory skill. He now sees the tinyest of details that tell him whether the serve is coming to his forehand or not. His reaction time is the same. He simply sees more and sees it sooner than a slouch like me.
Elite athletes and elite leaders see more.
And, elite athletes are born with some built in advantages. One such example is your Achilles’ tendon. You can build yours stronger through hours of jumping and specific weight training. You cannot build it longer, however. This explains why Donald Thomas went from nowhere to world champion in the high jump in 8 months of taining. He hadn’t even sniffed 10,000 hours of practice and he had lousy technique. He was simply born for this. His Achilles is long. The longer the Achilles, the longer the spring, if you will.
Elite athletes and elite leaders are born with some clear advantages. The nature/nurture thing is again an “and,” not a simple case of “either or.”
If you aim at excellence in any endeavor you are gonna have to work your ass off to get there. However, just putting in the 10,000 hours doesn’t guarantee a thing. You’ve got to find your inate talents and apply your training in the direction of your “gifts.” This is why, at BTL, we emphasize the need for our clients to tune in to how it feels when they perform their craft. If you’re gonna master it, it’s got to energize you as you practice.
I believe elite leaders are born and built to lead. Some have some built in, God given and genetically granted, advantages. Our aim is to help you maximize your nature. Sorry, it’s not more straightforward and less complex.
Wanta learn more about this kinda science? Check out my latest read, The Sports Gene, by David Epstein. Loaded with good insight for you and for me. Skip the candy from Gladwell and sink your teeth in some meat worth chewing on. It’ll take a bit longer but you’ll learn a ton more you can use. Who knows, you may suddenly start to simply see more. Who knows until they try…
BUILT TO LEAD 