As a child, I was captivated by people who did extraordinary things.The American space age was in full swing, and after the rumble in the jungle, Mohammed Ali was the most famous athlete on the planet. In this age, there were many inspiring geniuses. My main source of inspiration was sports, and I would watch for hours superstar athletes on black-and-white TV.
My Heroes were world boxing champion Mohammed Ali, athletics stars Daily Thomson, and Alberto Juantorena, football players Yohan Crouf, Gordon Banks, and Pele, tennis icons John Mcenroe, Boris Becker, and Stephi Graf, Austrian skier Franz Klammar, golfers Seve Ballesteros, Jack Nicklaus, and Tom Watson.
Little did I know as I grew up and travelled with the European Golf tour I would on occasion bump into some of these superstar athletes and engage in conversation.
During the COVID lockdown, I had plenty of time to reflect on my life. I concluded my university days were the happiest days of my life. I then asked myself “What was I experiencing that led to this level of happiness?”, I certainly had no money. I entered University on a scholarship awarded to me by the city of Birmingham. The award was given to me because I came from a family on income support. So, what made me happy and successful? And why did I flourish in this environment?
My soul searching made me realise my world at the time was full of inspirational people. The lecturers were the top thinkers and academics in their field and the words that came out of their mouths were new and exciting, they had thoughts and ideas I had never heard before, and I was inspired by their stories.
They stretched my thinking every day with new models, approaches, and methodologies. I also had my sport. Which was my source of energy and well- being. I played basketball or tennis every day. And then I had my friends. Lots of friends. From Greece, Africa, America, Canada, Europe, Asia, the Middle East as well as the UK. Their stories about their cultures and lives fascinated me. My mind was dazzled, and I had moments of transcendence daily. My experiences have led me to conclude inspirational people are perhaps the most important people you need in your life.
I have now worked in high-performance sports and inspirational environments for more than three decades. During that time, I have worked with hundreds of elite athletes as well as the teams and coaches that support them. From my experiences and observations, I realized that one of the most important factors that determine the success of an athlete is the number of inspirational people that surround them. This was evident when I was asked to join the 2014 Ryder Cup team at the Gleneagles country club.
What was significant about this event was the fact that team captain Paul McGinley created an inspirational environment for his team. There were effigies of the late Seve Ballesteros one of the greatest Ryder Cup players of all time on every wall. His message to the team was also televised daily. Additionally, there were motivational speakers from successful teams from other sports. For example, Alex Ferguson from Manchester United Football Club.
Former captains that had led successful Ryder Cup teams in the past were also present, such as Jose Maria Olazabal and Sam Torrance. There were also accomplished players from the last European victory in Medina, such as Nicolas Colsaerts and Luke Donald. Major winners such as Padraig Harrington and Nick Faldo, were also present and respected multiple tour winners such as Miguel Jimenez were helping the team. Even the fish in the fish tanks were white and blue, the colours of the European Team.
In addition to this infusion, the team itself contained many of the protagonists from the victory at Medina in 2012. Medina had witnessed the greatest comeback from a European team in the history of the sport. The victory is now known as the miracle in Medina. Sergio Garcia and Rory McIlroy were part of that team and throughout the tournament, they constantly bequeathed their stories of this famous episode in golfing history.
Significantly, it should be noted, despite their victory at Medina in 2012, the 2014 European team were underdogs. Indeed, most of the players had poor form and the mighty Americans were dominating the scene on the PGA tour. Despite the disadvantage, the 2014 Ryder Cup team ended up with one of the biggest victories in Ryder Cup history.
This awesome personal experience made me realise inspirational people make a big difference and are essential for excellence in performance and success.