Sally Gunnell OBE

Sally’s rise to the pinnacle of her sport was hard won. She blew the chance to be World Champion in 1991, stormed back to win Olympic Gold in 1992 and defied incredible odds to become World Champion in 1993, setting a new World Record in the process. She contended with injuries, athletes that she saw as more naturally gifted and, a relatively modest support infrastructure compared to her peers.
Her success, by her own admission, was down to a firm grip over her own mind and a lot of very hard graft.

“Raw talent is no substitute for single mindedness and hard graft”

Sally remains a towering figure in British athletics.  She has more than 15 years’ experience in addressing a wide variety of corporate audiences.  She has covered global conferences of thousands and senior leadership teams of just 6.  Her natural, easy-going style belies her relentless focus on achieving and sustaining excellence.

Sally effortlessly weaves the secrets of sporting achievement with the valuable components that underpin success in business.  Her key themes hold resonance for senior decision-makers and junior staff alike.  No corporate speaks, no clever-sounding management models.  Just tried-and-tested solutions and techniques that took a farmer’s daughter from the hay bales of Essex to the winner’s podium at the Barcelona Olympics.

Sally’s honest, down-to-earth approach has won her many admirers over the years.  She has written four books and her latest gets right under the skin of what makes a successful, fulfilled person.  For the first time, she brings together in one place all the themes that have brought success in her sporting, business and family lives.  ’10 hurdles for life ‘is for anyone who knows they have something to accomplish in life and is focused on enabling it to happen. The only limit is our imagination, understand this and the game of life becomes more fun and less hard work.

Sally’s keynote speeches cover:

Sustaining Excellence

 When Sally won the gold, re-defining success was hard. where do you go from there. At 26 she needed new goals and a way of sustaining her appetite to be the best version of her

• Re-focusing on future challenges after great success
• Coming back down to earth without a bump
• Being clear about the new vision for achievement
• Calibrating targets and goals appropriately post success
• Getting beyond the newly expanded comfort zone

Creating the qualities of High Performance

The new Hybrid way of working requires us to push on to greater heights of achievement. This requires a strong focus on key components.  Sally explores:

• How small changes make a big difference
• The power of alignment that comes from a team-oriented goal setting process
• Unleashing the latent potential of a team
• The value of straight talking and a supportive learning environment
• Achieving optimal team dynamics

Personal Development

Failure is a fact of life in business and in sport.  Dealing with it is a skill.  And a valuable one at that.  Sally examines:

• The value of ‘what if’ – thinking through what might go wrong
• The value of ‘what is’ – recognising, accepting and learning from failure
• Developing a strong mental approach
• Visualising the finer details of success
• Structured thinking and the sense of power it brings
• Silencing the internal ‘doubting voice’

Wellbeing

 The Mind, body, spirit connection is more important than ever and learning to be self-aware enough to know when to stand alone yet vulnerable enough to ask for help is part of both being human and staying well. In this interactive talk, Sally explores the importance of movement along with our need to remain resilient

• Exercise why it’s important to find something we enjoy
• Resilience – how do you build it
• Working Smarter not harder
• The Mind, Body connection
• Diet – it’s not just the food we eat but what we absorb in our environment too

Leaders and Mental Health

Being one of the lesser talents on the start line of major races would only have been a problem for Sally if she had let it.  She spent years working her mind as well as her body to ensure this was not an issue.  Sally addresses:

• Hormones – what impact do they have on our mental health
• Prevention – when we find self-acceptance, we understand our limits and how to push past them
• Communication – it begins with our internal voice
• Control – there is no such thing, our choice is responding or reacting

“Sally was “guest Olympian” at our event to launch a new development programme for high potential managers and captivated the audience with an inspirational and motivational presentation. We were also struck by how friendly, approachable and humble Sally was as she chatted with guests afterwards.”    Lloyds TSB Bank Plc

“I just wanted to drop you a note to say a big thank you for speaking at our event last week, it was the perfect end to the day. I’ve received excellent feedback from delegates, who found your talk hugely inspiring, you accessible and very down to earth with many saying that you were the highlight of the day!    Thanks again and best wishes”     BT

Could you please just pass on my thanks to Sally for her presentation last Thursday. It was absolutely superb, the pitch and content were ideal and it made a perfect, and highly motivational, end to our ASPIRE programme!!    PHS

“Sally was an ideal choice to open our new state of the art physiotherapy gym. During our exclusive opening event she was professional, engaging and really down to earth which made everyone feel comfortable. We cater for people with sports related injuries and Sally gave an inspirational speech; in which she highlighted well from her own experiences about the necessity for a gym that provides physiotherapy services such as ours. We were overwhelmed by her willingness to chat to everyone and took an active interest in the service The Horder Centre can now provide.”    The Horder Centre

“Just wanted to say a huge thank you for all your support with Sally's visit to the branch today. We had the best time…..Partners loved it, with a real buzz being created across all departments. Sally and Jon were fantastic, and we'll be riding on the wave of their visit for some time in the branch.”    John Lewis

Q&A with Sally Gunnell

Who or what was your motivation to achieve?
I’ve always loved athletics.  That was my main motivation; loving it and enjoying it.  When I was a kid, there were some fantastic athletes that I thought were amazing, including Shirley Strong and Ed Moses.  I wanted to be like them.  They seemed perfect at what they did and I can remember wondering how close to perfection I could get as an athlete.  That obsession to get better, to be my best, drove me on.

Why is it important for businesses and organisations to motivate staff in recession?
When times are hard, you have to put maximum effort in to everything you do; even then, it might not be enough.  Working so hard against a background of massive uncertainty can be totally draining.  If your bosses aren’t leading you and inspiring you, life can become pretty grim.

I’ve visited lots of businesses over the last three or four years who are suffering in one way or another.  But the business leaders are looking for opportunities to show they value their staff, that they want the best for them.  So they invest in training, incentives and in other forms of support.

I had a lot of big setbacks in my career, with several pretty nasty injury layoffs.  I had to work really hard to get back to something approaching my best level.  It was easy to feel low and de-motivated.  I relied on support and guidance from my coach; without his belief in me, it would have been a whole lot harder.  He helped me to deal with the uncertainty of my situation.  I know from personal experience that motivating people in tough times is critical if you want to be successful.

What was the turning point of your sporting life?
I don’t think there was one moment; there were lots!  I remember leaving school and suddenly realising that I had to take responsibility for myself and for my training; I had to show commitment.  I was still very young and that moment of realisation was definitely a turning point.

Another turning point came when I was 22.  I’d come fifth in the 1988 Olympic Final.  I had a very clear and calm thought; “this can really happen”.  I left Atlanta knowing with certainty that I had what it took to push on and reach the podium.  All I had to do was work hard!

Of course, there were loads more twists and turns along the way.  I didn’t become invincible!  But I got so much confidence from that Atlanta race.

What was the turning point of your personal life?
Again, I don’t really see a single turning point.  I guess there have been some changes of direction.  After so many years of striving to be the best athlete I could, I settled in to family life.  I’ve always wanted to improve myself as a person, so these days it’s not about gold medals, but more about bringing up my three growing boys properly!  It’s important for me to have a full life, to have challenges for myself, to have quality time (a horrible phrase but you know what I mean) with my kids, husband and friends.

When I retired from athletics, I knew that I needed to leave behind all the old goals and objectives.  It’s so hard to walk away, but on the other hand, there are many other aspects to life and I’ve loved exploring them.

Were there times you thought you would not succeed?
Yes, definitely.  I got very low when I was injured.  It’s amazing how your mind can start to tell you that you’re not going to get back, that you can’t make it.  I worked really hard on staying focused and shutting out that voice of doom.  But I won’t lie; it was very difficult at times.  That’s why you need a good team around you; a support network.  They help you to keep your mind on the job, to stay positive.

What are you hoping to achieve in the future?
Healthy Living is my new challenge.  My family and I are working on a healthy lifestyle, but it’s also about my business of the same name.  I’ve got a passion for what I call a “real” exercise and eating regime; one that works for each person, for each family.  Life’s about having fun and enjoying yourself, so I don’t go for faddy diets or crazily tough exercise.  I think it’s much better to make a few small changes to achieve a lasting difference; it’s no use starving yourself for six weeks, then returning to old habits, because you end up back in the same place.  I’ve had a lot of fun sharing ideas with companies and individuals.  The good news is, there’s plenty more still to do!

Can you delegate?
Oh, yes!  This is a strong point; just ask any of my team!!  But seriously, I have to delegate, because there’s so much going on.  I’m very lucky, because I’ve got a fantastic team who are talented, like a laugh and don’t mind me charging around, firing ideas off.  We all get on well with each other, which means we can speak honestly; I really value that, because we always know where we are on an issue.  Projects don’t get stuck, because if someone’s got a problem, they flag it and we work it out together.

What makes a good manager or leader?
When I’m asked this, I always think back to my athletics coach.  He was a great listener.  He seemed to understand me, to recognise what I needed as an individual.  He had this amazing “learning mentality” for want of a better term; he was always trying to develop himself and that rubbed off on me.  He seemed to know so much, but at the same time, he wanted to know more.

He valued teamwork and actively encouraged it; my training group was critical to my success and he knew how to get us all working together, for each other as well as for ourselves.  There was a solid self-belief there, but it wasn’t “know it all” arrogance; it came across as dependable, reliable.  It gave me the sense that I could get through my own uncertainties.  Leadership isn’t so much about being certain, it’s more to do with managing the uncertainty for yourself and for your people.

Why do you think it is important to book an external speaker?
Some of the people who have inspired me most have been speakers that I’ve heard.  A good speaker will do much more than tell you a story.  They’ll give you a sense of excitement, of possibility.  It’s very easy to be held back by your beliefs, by staying in the same routine.  A good external speaker will bring new ideas, new thoughts and a good old fashioned dose of fun and inspiration, too.