mental

The concept of Mental Toughness has been promoted in the sporting world, as a psychological edge that can place you ahead of your opponents. More recently, it has been embraced by the world.of.work, as a set of super.human attributes that will deliver a powerful advantage in the battle for professional primacy:

an unshakeable belief in self; an insatiable desire to succeed; a thriving on competition; an ability to cope with competition anxiety; an imperviousness to the performances of others; a capacity to maintain complete focus in the face of life-distractions; a power to resist the boundaries of physical and emotional pain; and a maintaining of psychological control at all times.

PHWAH. Sounds exhausting.

Now, obviously, some of those attributes are good. It’s good to believe in yourself. It’s good to enjoy success, to cope with some anxiety, to challenge yourself, to maintain focus, to be able to self-regulate. They are good things. Definitely. But to that degree? Really?

I wonder what the working.world would look like if its leaders held up Mental Softness as the aspirational standard. Imagine if folk were actively encouraged to share their self.doubt, if they were asked to recognise (regularly) the performances of others, if they were invited to be distracted [and inspired!] by the (real) life around them. Imagine if they were told that it was ok to feel uncomfortable emotions and to respect their physical pain. Imagine if they were given permission to not always be The Best.

Imagine that.