What Employees Can Learn From Baseball Players to Perform Better
Most employees want to gain every advantage possible to improve their performance and accelerate their careers. Professional athletes have learned these techniques since they were children with superior athletic natural skills. When reaching maturity, baseball players use some of these skills to maintain focus.
The Mental “Zone”
When baseball players are in the “zone,” the game slows down and the ball becomes bigger. Hitters need not think about the mechanics of their swings or dwell on other peripheral concerns. To paraphrase a very successful batting coach, players in the “zone” just “see the ball and hit the ball.”
They are able to put all other thoughts—even baseball issues—out of their minds and focus on the task at hand, without distraction. Unfortunately, there is no “silver bullet” that transports players into the “zone.” It is achieved through self-understanding and repetition of thought and action.
James Cunningham, a psychologist and former European baseball player, believes employees can use this technique to reach high performance levels at the workplace. Now a faculty member at University of Phoenix and psychologist for the Department of Defense, Cunningham maintains that the presence of pressure that is too high or too low negatively affects performance—on the field and in the office.
Those able to transport themselves to the “zone” are able to block out psychological intrusions and attack their tasks with vigor and purpose. By achieving a pressure “balance,” players and workers eliminate clouding their mind with multiple simultaneous thoughts that distract them.
Mental “Channels”
Cunningham believes there are four psychological “channels” available to everyone. These channels affect focus and performance, for better or worse. Channels include awareness, analysis, problem-solving, and action.
- Awareness channel. This area permits you to allocate some attention to multiple external events that are occurring simultaneously.
- Analysis channel. This mental channel houses your thoughts and evaluations of your environment—current, past, and future.
- Problem-solving channel. This is your strategic area, focusing your internal thoughts on your personal “game plan,” whether sports- or work-related.
- Action channel. This channel permits you to focus on one or more issues and inspires you to act upon them. A baseball player in the batter’s box tries to focus on this zone.
There are no “bad” channels for employees. The key involves finding the best channel for your job description or to achieve your current goal. Should you become overly attracted to another channel, you will typically perform poorly as compared to using the correct zone to function at high levels.
How to Use the Zone to Perform
Cunningham cautions employees to understand accept three constants:
- You must confine yourself to only one channel at a time. To be a strong performer, you must enter and remain in your optimum channel. Trying to balance multiple zones at the same time only serves to confuse and distract your attention to your work.
- Be aware that you can involuntarily “switch” channels quickly. While most psychological experts believe that you have control over your thoughts, you brain can switch channels without your conscious command. Once you find your best zone for performing well at the workplace, you should develop the habit of staying in that channel whenever you are directly addressing your required tasks. Do not allow your psyche to switch channels—keep control of the “remote” to stay focused on your optimal zone.
- Be wary of focusing on only your “preferred” channels. You must avoid self-directed selection of your favorite channel. Your preferred channel may—or may not—be the best option to perform your job well. For example, if your prime task today is evaluating a potential new marketing program, you should concentrate on staying in your problem-solving zone, not your action channel.
The nature of a baseball player’s duties may dictate that he/she spend time in the awareness and analysis channels before the game starts. When wearing a glove and playing defense or waiting in the dugout to hit, the player may use the analysis and problem-solving zones to stay alert and process knowledge. Entering the batter’s box, the player must then switch to the action channel to enjoy the best results.
At the workplace, you must concentrate on the best channel to perform well. This may involve developing the ability to shift to specific zones during the work day to maintain consistent high performance. This is not really multi-tasking. This ability permits you to direct total focus on one task at a time, but allows you to complete many varied duties in any given day. Like a top athlete, you will need to practice this ability until it becomes an internal habit, like muscle memory. You will notice that your career, respect, and credibility will improve significantly at the workplace.