Sports psychologist Gavin Freeman argues leaders should stop motivating people and instead build self-leadership. His book Just Stop Motivating Me draws on work with Olympians to show how elite performers thrive under pressure through internal drive, not external pushes.
And a man that knows how to get champion results from anyone is Olympic psychologist Gavin Freeman. Gavin Freeman, a sports and business psychologist and author with a unique diverse background within the sporting and corporate world. A new book by Gavin Freeman is entitled Just Stop Motivating Me. With many insights on how to best create high-performing culture within organizations. Today we are speaking with Gavin Freeman, CEO of the Business Olympian. From a background in elite sport and professional business— I had the incredible privilege of working with a number of Olympians over 3 or 4 Olympic Games. Some gold medal winners, some silver, and some bronze. But I had the absolute honor of working with a number of athletes who didn't take away a medal. But what they did achieve was something far more great. Work until your idols become your rivals. Why don't we stick that up on every wall and we'll get people motivated. Have you got that sensation at the moment where you're going, would you just stop motivating me? And if you're thinking that, imagine how your people are feeling when, when you're trying to get them to do the things that you want them to do. For over 15 years, Gavin and his team have worked with large and medium-sized companies supporting their goals of being more efficient, agile, and innovative, or as our Olympians like to refer to It's Faster, Higher, and Stronger. The title is Just Stop Motivating Me, okay. And the principles behind it are that I need you to stop motivating me and let me be motivated myself. Very good. All right, so what we find is— I'm big on self-leadership. Absolutely. Yeah, okay. So leaders need to stop trying to motivate people because all they're ever going to do is push them the way that they want to be pushed. Well, today we're at home with Gavin Freeman, his wife, and children. We thought we'd stop by and have a little bit of a nosy of their new house. Yeah, it's a really nice place actually. Gavin Freeman is a sports psychologist and he was embedded with the Australian Olympic teams for quite a number of Olympics, so he's a really cool guy. And being a psychologist, I thought we'd get you checked out, Danny. The fundamental difference between good and great is not your technical skill. The fundamental difference between good and great is your ability to perform that skill consistently under pressure. To find out more, we're joined by sports psychologist Gavin Freeman. Gavin, there's a list there and it's not everyone. Why is it that they find it so hard to Have a normal life outside of sport? We've got to take it back a little bit and realise that when you and I build our identity and our value system, it comes through our childhood, it comes through all the failures we've had, the successes, the trials and the tribulations. For more, I'm joined by sports psychologist Gavin Freeman. Gavin, good morning to you. And also, why do so many high-profile sports stars struggle with life after competition? For more, we're joined now by sports psychologist Gavin Freeman, who also runs the business Olympian. Good morning, Gavin. Thanks so much for your time this morning. Good morning. Are human beings wired to avoid risk, and why do you believe it's so important that we do take risks? Well, it's really interesting. What the brain really looks for all the time is certainty.
