So the Olympics are over for another four years and apparently people in Britain, having been enthralled and absorbed during the event, are now eagerly anticipating the Paralympics. That’s perhaps surprising because there was huge debate beforehand about whether the £9.3bn cost was a worthwhile investment. Post the games the consensus seems to be that it generated a sense of pride and confidence that made it all worthwhile. So why the change of view?
Undoubtedly the success of Team GB athletes contributed. Each medal won added to the celebration and
went some way towards changing a national belief that we’re not very good at
sport (fuelled no doubt by regular failures at our national sport –
football). But it was more than that.
There was great enthusiasm for superb performances by
athletes of any nationality. The public recognise
the sacrifices they make to be able to compete at all at this level. And there was an appreciation that the vast
majority (excepting the disqualified Badminton players and a few drugs cheats)
competed hard but fairly, within the rules of the game. Winners and losers were gracious and
complimentary of the efforts of others. And
they all recognised and valued the support they received from the public that
came to watch them and support their efforts.
I believe these were the real reasons the games were so
successful. The behaviour of the
athletes themselves was what made the difference and resonated so deeply with
the British public who responded in kind.
All of this was very different to what we’ve come to expect in recent
times. These behaviours have been noticeable
by their absence, replaced instead by a willingness to bend and break the rules
in pursuit of self-interest. In sport,
following the last Rugby World Cup, Graham Henry, coach of New Zealand who won
the tournament labelled England as “world champions of wasting talent” as their
campaign faltered amidst accusations of a culture of self interest and a group
of players more motivated by money than focused on performing at their best. The same accusation is often levelled at
multi-millionaire Premier League footballers.
They’ve been variously described as arrogant, aloof and detached from
the real world. Paulo Di-Canio, famous
ex-player and now manager of Swindon Town recently talked about “fantastically
talented players whose desire goes down when they get a big car and a gold and
diamond watch”. And it’s not just the
footballers – for the owners of many clubs it all seems to be about money. The leading clubs have it and do all they can
to prevent poorer clubs getting a bigger share, and smaller clubs chase it –
sometimes putting their entire existence at risk.
But perhaps sport simply reflects the society in which it
exists. The last few years seems to have
been characterised by scandals resulting from dubious behaviours by those
involved. Most recently it’s been
Barclays Bank and the fixing of LIBOR but there are numerous others: MP’s
expenses (and prior to that cash for questions), NoTW ‘phone hacking, Financial
Services mis-selling of PPI and other products.
Examples aren’t difficult to find.
Moral standards have been declining for some time. As a Society we’ve slowly allowed our expectations
(of ourselves and others) to fall and the result is that we’ve lost the clarity
that previous generations had about what’s acceptable and unacceptable. We’ve created an environment in which self-interest
thrives without appropriate checks to prevent excesses. And so some push the boundary beyond what many
feel is acceptable.
Returning to the Olympics, my view is that the games were so
popular specifically because the athletes behaviour was a reminder of how
society used to be, and how we’d like it to be again. And this surely provides a huge opportunity
for companies in the UK to adopt these values and behaviours and make them part
of their culture and their brand. The
window of opportunity may be limited, but companies who are able to do just
that may be the success stories of the next decade.....
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