At the recent Australian Open Tennis Championships in Melbourne a few weeks ago, I had the opportunity to reconnect with Ai Sugiyama, a former Japanese player whom I collaborated with for six years in the early 2000s.

Throughout our partnership, Ai achieved remarkable success, reaching a career high of #1 in Doubles and #8 in Singles on the WTA tour. One of her most notable accomplishments, which persisted until recently, was holding the record for the most consecutive main draw Grand Slam appearances, totalling an impressive 62.

Breaking down this extraordinary feat, Ai competed in all four Grand Slams per year for 15.5 years, showcasing optimal performance at the highest level multiple times annually. Remarkably, this record endured for 14 years beyond her retirement.

In our recent conversation, Ai and I reflected on the significance of our collaborative efforts, emphasising how our work to keep her injury-free played a pivotal role in achieving this record. At that time, being one of the few Performance Coaches on the tour, I noted how the landscape has evolved, with the widespread recognition that maintaining top performance necessitates a performance coach, a role now embraced by most players.

Our discussion extended to the evolution of our experiences and learnings, and I shared my current endeavour of translating this knowledge and expertise into the corporate sector. In a parallel to the athletic realm, where avoiding injuries leads to enhanced skills, increased income, and improved personal balance, corporations can derive similar benefits.

While in the sports arena I focused on preventing physical injuries, in the corporate space, the challenges revolve around burnout, fatigue, mental health problems, cultural issues, low productivity, motivation, poor well-being, and low accountability. Just as athletes improve with consistency, corporations can elevate productivity, culture, the bottom line, and overall morale through a well-thought-out approach to well-being and performance.

Drawing on my 30-plus years of experience, I find immense satisfaction in identifying performance gaps, whether in sports, corporate settings, or personal endeavours. Reflecting on the changes in tennis prompted by increasing injury rates, I recognise a similar need for corporates to adjust their approach to duty of care for staff, teams, and the organisation.

If you're developing a plan and need support, please feel free to reach out to me.