Competitive isolation is used to describe those executives who have narrowed their peer support networks to such a level that it is having a negative impact on their work decisions and lifestyle choices.
Dr Toby Ford, CEO and Ford Health founder who has worked with thousands of top tier executives over a 20-plus year career in corporate health and wellbeing, says executives who display this competitive isolation behaviour are not just putting their careers, but also their health at risk. It is well established that peer group networks are vital for career and life success, however we are observing an increasing number of high performing executives with limited or no, trust-based relationships.
Executives with limited peer networks which the individual can trust to share information with, and seek council from, creates this ‘competitive isolation’ behaviour, which can have a significant impact around competent decision making.
Our team has learned that individuals develop these patterns of competitive isolation behaviour through their younger years of career development.
“Executives who have failed to develop their confidant network, and are instead relying
on more acquaintance-based relationships to get things done, is often a direct result of
learned behaviours around trust.”
Many of us learn quite early on that it is far safer to not tell too many people what's going on in our head for fear it could be used against us – that others may wish to hinder rather than help our progress in such aspects of achievement as career progression. The less others know about our weaknesses too, the better…and we may also come to understand the less others hear about our successes, the more we can avoid the tall poppy syndrome. Underpinning this isolation behaviour is usually a strong sense of self-reliance. Top tier executives with isolationist behaviours will have usually demonstrated years of being self-reliant. Self-reliance, whilst a great driver for success, is double edged and can mean we not only learn not to ask for help, but perhaps more subtly, we come to believe it’s not necessary to ask for help or that we can’t recognise the value in asking for help.
“While self-reliance is essential to good performance and leadership success in our early years, the resulting development of competitive isolation can be particularly destructive for more senior executives.”
Self-reliance is fine while we are young and have unlimited tanks of energy to fuel our problem solving, but what happens as we age, is that we discover our energy is finite and this requires a different strategy.
High performing individuals understand the value of meaningful peer networks and quality information transactions, which is why our medical teams strongly encourage patients who present with competitively isolation behaviours, to actively cultivate their peer network. Our medical teams have changed the way we define peer networks. Peer networks are no longer the sole domain of colleagues, corporations or industry, which is why Ford Health will 'prescribe' team sports to the competitively isolated to establish powerful peer support networks. Finding the right team sport can give the competitively isolated instant access to advice, support, and a sense of comradery outside of the office, supported of course by the myriad of health benefits of regular exercise.
The Ford Health team have a four point entry plan for those executives seeking to address competitive isolation by participating in team sport:
- Make it home without dying – Sounds obvious but everyone should a comprehensive health check before embarking on any level of activity.
- Set Fitness Goals – achieve a level of fitness where you have the capacity to
finesse the actions of the sport and gain competency to increase enjoyment. - Introduce competition – against you, the clock or others. Competition is motivating
and figures well in the high achiever's focus who understands goals need to be posted to
keep focus and drive improvement. - Meditative release – Once you reach a certain level of sporting focus and
capability, the endorphins kick, the brain empties out, and we become relaxed. The
person who can empty their brain has a wonderful servant. The person who can’t has
an awful master!
When our medical teams identify and address the behaviours of the competitively isolated, we work with the patient to map out a plan to improve peer networks by matching them to a sport that suits the person. Often a patient will suggest a sport that is a glorious memory from their youth, but will quickly refocus on reality when we talk about their inevitable injury! World-wide evidence suggests that as age increases, participation in organised sport decreases however membership growth of peak sporting organisations in Australia has improved in recent years. ama.com.au/position-statement/physical-activity-2014