Australian cricketer Mitchell Johnson has revealed that personal dramas led to his Ashes meltdown.
At the time, I knew this was the case. Having worked with elite athletes I know that personal issues affect performance more than the public can ever imagine. Especially when those personal issues are played out in the media.
Some athletes can block it out. Some simply cannot. For Johnson, this was the first time his personal life was put in the spotlight. Not only that, he was in the middle of an Ashes Series in England where the tabloids a ruthless and the crowds spiteful. He was always going to struggle.
As a sports manager the best thing you can do for an athlete in this situation, is minimise the longevity of the issue in the media. You need to put the issue to rest and avoid anything that may prolong debate. And I don’t mean hiding under the covers. You need to give the media something to chew. It can be as simple as saying “this is the situation or facts” and “this is my position” and “this is how I’m going to handle it” and “I don’t have anything else to say until I take the next step.”
The media will respect this and treat the athlete a lot better than if they were to hide in the corner.
Minimising the longevity of the issue helps but it’s an external solution to what is an internal issue for the athlete. That’s where mentors come in.
Having one’s personal life thrown into the spotlight is nothing new. There are millions of people who have gone through the same experience. People who have survived and come out the other side. Your job as a manager is to find these people and ask one to speak with your athlete. A simple phonecall can make the world of difference.
When faced with a personal problem, people get so focussed on themselves that they feel like nobody can relate to them and what they are going through. Wrong. There are people out who have gone through the exact same thing and they are only too happy to offer their advice.
If you look at another cricketer Michael Clarke, he has Shane Warne as a mentor. Warne has dealt with fame for a long time and can duly offer sound advice to a younger Clarke in that area. A manager can only wear so many hats, sometimes a manager must seek mentors for an athlete. People that can better relate to what an athlete is going through.
