Alistair Cook

Work can be mind-gratingly stressful, whether a cricket ball’s being lobbed at you at 90mph or you’ve got a horrific deadline, so it’s important to have your head screwed on. When we found out top England batsman Alastair Cook had never done a day’s work in his life, we invited him into the Maxim office to open the post, make tea and do all our research while we went down the pub. Realising he was a bright chap, we also grilled him about how sports psychology had helped him weather his day. Then we asked management training expert Richard Sharp to tell us how we can all apply Cook’s psychological mind games to our own jobs.

Beat stress

Alastair Cook says: ‘In between overs we try to unwind a little. You often chat about what you think the bowler’s trying to do, but you also gee each other on and start having a bit of a laugh.’

The management expert’s advice: This applies to office meltdown too. ‘De-stressing is essential,’ says Sharp. ‘Get up and make yourself a cup of tea, or walk around like batsmen do and have a brief chat with someone. People need breaks to help revive their concentration later on.’

Handle confrontation

Alastair Cook says: ‘You have to be stubborn and say, “I will not give in; I will win this battle.” I try and block those distractions out and rattle the bowler that way.’

The management expert’s advice: Irritating customers or colleagues can prompt many things – irritation, upset, even psychotic, Joe Pesci-style violence – but you need to rise above it. ‘Disconnect from the confrontation,’ say Sharp. ‘None of it is personal. The aggressor’s behaviour suggests they have a problem – so psychologically throw the issue back on them.’

Beat negative thinking

Alastair Cook says: ‘You have to think positively when batting. If you’re playing a cricket shot and say, “Don’t play the off-drive,” that’s the wrong way of looking at it. Your brain will actually tell you to play the off-drive.’

The management expert’s advice: While very few of us spend our days flinging a bat about, Sharp says, ‘The same applies wherever you work. If you have a mood of blackness around you that you aren’t aware of, or are dealing with, it’ll become a habit and will really crucify creativity. Envisage success, not failure.’

Respond to criticism

Alastair Cook says: ‘When you play anything at a high level there are people competing for spaces, so you have to deal with people by saying, “You’re not doing that well, then buck your ideas up.” If everyone in the team is being honest with each other it’s fine, but if you’re not being honest… that’s where the problems come from.’

The management expert’s advice: Calling every colleague in sight a useless twat is not a good idea, but criticism can be healthy. ‘You need to criticise without pointing the finger,’ says Sharp. ‘Don’t make it directly personal – and give people a route out of the problem.’ Help them to improve, in other words.

Beat boredom

Alastair Cook says: ‘You simply can’t concentrate for eight hours solid – it just doesn’t work. So instead, you need to make sure you’re always awake enough to take that half-chance.’

The management expert’s advice: ‘At work, occasional daydreaming is actually quite good for you,’ says Sharp. ‘It can disconnect you from a rut you might be stuck in, and often ideas will pop up or thought-associations will happen. Also, hold back a piece of work that you particularly enjoy for when you’re bored. It’ll help get you through the day.’

With thanks to www.ask.com