In the 'Coach Tracking Study', the vast majority of you told us that you expect to do more Continuous Personal Development (CPD) in the next 12 months. You also told us that time and cost was a barrier to undertaking CPD.
With this in mind, we’ve paired up with Chimp Management, the company founded by Prof. Steve Peters, to deliver bite-sized workshops to help you become a better coach.
A task in the British Cycling Level 2 Certificate in Coaching Cycling is to set a personal coaching goal, which is based on your coaching aims and objectives.
The most common types of goals the assessors see relate to things like training, equipment or a better technical understanding of the sport. These things are invariably important, and reflect what we think we need/want to know about the sport.
Take a few minutes to think about someone that you have looked up to and who has had a positive influence in your life. What were their personal attributes? Why did you respect them?
The chances are that the first thing that came to mind was not ‘they told me what to do!’, ‘they could describe the Krebs Cycle in detail’ or ‘their knowledge of carbon fibre was outstanding’.
It’s more likely that they made you feel valued, they listened to you, and they developed a challenging yet supportive environment. In short, they demonstrated that they had your best interests at heart.
To be an effective coach, it is important that riders have confidence in your knowledge, however the ethos and environment you promote is likely to be of greater influence in their development.
Coaching philosophy influences how we behave, our interactions with others and the decisions we make. This philosophy is underpinned by our personal beliefs, values and principles in life, which ultimately determines the ethos and coaching environment we promote.
One of the most important factors in the unprecedented success of the Great Britain Cycling Team relates to coaching philosophy and understanding others. To develop a long-lasting culture of winning requires an environment in which people are empowered to perform at their very best.
At British Cycling, consultant psychiatrist Prof. Steve Peters was instrumental in developing an environment that supports success. He used his expert knowledge of human behaviour, neuroscience and an ability to relate to riders and coaches to develop a mind management programme – Chimp Management – that created this type of environment.
Important to the programme is that every member of the team ‘signs-up’ to its core principles of:
- Commitment
- Ownership
- Responsibility
- Excellence.
These principles are grounded in neuroscience, based on an understanding of the type of environment that is required to enable people to excel and achieve their true potential. They don’t just relate to an elite cycling programme, they are equally applicable in a Go-Ride club, at work or to anything else we choose to do in life.
British Cycling has worked in partnership with Chimp Management to provide you with the opportunity to learn about the mind management programme and how you can apply it in your own environment. The workshops will help you to develop your own coaching philosophy to prepare you to better meet the needs of the riders you coach.
To find out more about the workshops, please click here.