The Winning Factor: Inspire Gold-Medal Performance in Your Employees

by Peter Jensen

Drawing from his experience training both Olympic athletes and Fortune 500 executives, Peter Jensen explains how to apply world-class coaching practices to the everyday business realm and--most importantly--ignite for others the inner passion and resolve required to succeed. The Winning Factor does this by teaching readers how to manage themselves, build trust, use imagery, overcome blocks, and embrace diversity. You’ll also learn the secrets behind great communication and truly effective feedback and will gain insights on leadership from six Olympic coaches. By looking inward to create a developmental bias, you’ll be able to project leadership skills outward to help others grow. Olympic athletes don't get to the top simply because of athletic genes (nature) or determined parents (nurture). Top athletic performance depends on a crucial “Third Factor”--inner drive--and top coaches know how to inspire that drive. Packed with engaging stories and enlightening examples, The Winning Factor teaches managers everywhere how to lead their employees to gold-medal success.

240 pages, Hardcover

First published May 2, 2012

Reviews

[Ron · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Winning Factor is a solid book on coaching, based on the author's many years of working with athletes and teaching seminars. It's not particularly groundbreaking though; the advice is pretty much your standard people skills like active listening and giving actionable feedback.

The main difference between books in this category is the basis for their anecdotes. One author may refer to sports, another to his time managing a startup, and another may use the plots of a TV show. I can see this book being especially appealing to people who appreciate sports metaphors.