What can your business learn from The Ultimate Figher?

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Nov

2009

What can your business learn from The Ultimate Figher?

Last Updated on Thursday, 05 November 2009 03:34 Written by Rodney McCabe

Most people that have no personal experience with martial arts, boxing or individual sports could quickly dismiss The Ultimate Fighter series from the UFC as nothing more than barbaric reality television. Those that have followed the sport and/or disciplined themselves through training and competition however, would know differently. Through the years, I have listened to many interviews and stories of top tier fighters and thought it would be interesting to talk about how their journey compares to success in the business world.

Fighters from a company team member perspective:

Education: Without a rigorous training program and proper instruction there are few fighters that would make it. These days’ fighters are cross disciplined in Muay Thai, Ju-jitsu and wrestling and without any one of these components they are at risk. Most business owners will immediately identify the value for a well educated staff; well equipped staff should be more productive
Commitment: Champions rarely get handed the title. It takes years of hard (and smart) work to position one’s self for success. The business climate can more forgiving with the right relationships in place (unfortunately).
Perseverance: How long would you be in business if your company never saw any projects through to completion? How would you like to watch a fight only to see one of the fighters run scared from the match? While I have seen fighters give in late in matches, I have never seen one give up. Do your team members stay on tasks and see them through?
Communication: In between rounds the status of the bout is reviewed; feedback is given from the outside perspective by the coaching staff as well as what the fighter is experiencing. With this information they revise the game plan to be more effective. In order for a team to move projects forward in business it requires constant and effective communication between its members.

Fighters as leaders:

This week episode 5 of The Ultimate Fighter was on. Sparing the details of how the show works, I will simply say that there are two teams that compete against each other and the head coaches were responsible for picking their own team members. Both head coaches are former champions, funny and somewhat humble but there is a big difference in their leadership style. As of this week it has been a shut out; I think these are the reasons why:

Motivation: Rashad Evans is constantly working to motivate and involve his team. Practices typically do not appear to be focused on any individual and he appears to see the good in everyone. Early in the series Rampage Jackson was so focused on Kimbo Slice that others appeared to be neglected. This kills morale. Are you uplifting and motivational to your team?
Education: Find out where your team is at and focus on developing the essential skills in a format that accelerates the employees learning. Staff development is also a leadership quality. Both the individual contributor and the leadership should desire to further hone the skill set!
Support – I have been extremely fortunate to work for some outstanding managers in the past. When I watched the week’s episode of T.U.F. , I was shocked to see Rampage Jackson turn his back on his fighter when he lost; he didn’t even go into the octagon to console him. Losing hurts and to be left alone with no support is even worse. When your team is at a loss or struggling, focus on getting back on your feet, not pointing your finger and turning your back. As an interesting side note this has happened twice now and the opposing coach (Rashad Evans) was the one to provide support to the losing fighter; nothing short of a class act.
Constant Improvement: Did you know that Chuck Liddell has a degree in accounting? Rich Franklin has a degree (masters I think) in mathematics. Last season there was a professional from Microsoft that was fighting and there are many others too. Listen to the upper echelon tell their stories and you will quickly learn that it isn’t even about fighting. It is constantly improving and testing their skills to become the best they can. How does your team check its improvement? What metrics do you capture?

These are some random thoughts from last nights show and are far from a complete list, but the next time you’re flipping channels and see some guys battling it out, look a little longer at the road they traveled to get there.