Foster shares secrets of leading in leaner times - 01.12.2008

As a global recession takes hold, businesses and leaders across the globe are asking themselves how to inspire and motivate their colleagues with fewer resources.

It’s a question that Olympic rowing gold medallist and now leading coach, Tim Foster, has had to grapple with for the past 18 months as head coach of the Swiss rowing team.

“The athletes in Switzerland are not professionals, we cannot offer them money but we still demand the same level of commitment from them,” said Foster in his speech at ECD Insight’s PCC launch on October 15.

“What I have learned is that the secret is working out what is their passion and drive and finding ways to unlock their motivation – who you need to push and shove or cajole and, working out how you get people to make a leap of faith,” Foster said.

The situation is in stark contrast with Foster’s previous role as a coach in the British rowing team. To illustrate the gulf between the two teams Foster said that British rowing has a pool of 36,000 registered athletes to pick from at Under 23 level alone. When selecting Switzerland’s U23 squad, Tim had only 48 athletes to chose from.

But the standards they have to aspire to are much the same – indeed Foster has rowers within his squad capable of winning medals at World Championship level.

To reach their potential they have to sign up to fourteen hours a week of training, which are often squeezed into weekends and other days off.

Persuading them to invest their time and, often their own money, is the hard part.
Foster said he has had to learn to compromise on concepts he accepted as given when he was an athlete and coach in the British team – where any rower less than fully committed can be replaced. Just filling a boat with eight fit athletes is sometimes a challenge (Foster has even had to get back into the boat himself on occasions).

His change of approach reflects how he has managed his own transition – from selfish performer to a selfless coach. As an athlete he was able to focus relentlessly on his own goal of becoming an Olympic champion and having achieved his dream, he retired happy.

Once he had decided to pursue coaching he realised that it was going to be a far tougher job than he originally imagined. He reflected on how few top coaches had been elite athletes. “Look at Arsene Wenger here at Arsenal –he’s a successful manager but he was never a top player,” he said.

The transition over his eight year coaching career has been constant but Foster recalls one defining moment: “In the early days I was naive and my own take on coaching was wrong. I was trying to be exactly the kind of coach that I would have wanted to be coached by – talking about technique and rhythm.

“Then I realised that there was no point in basing my entire coaching approach around an athlete I will never coach – me.”