As Britain’s athletes celebrate their most successful ever Olympics in Beijing, Graham Watson, Executive Director of the Winning Scotland Foundation, argues that through sport we can all learn important lessons from the Games – not least an ability to adopt a winning attitude.

At the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, Team GB won a single gold medal. Twelve years later and having already pocketed 18 gold medals, Britain is setting the agenda for sporting excellence.

The phenomenal success of Team GB in China is to be commended. There’s never been a better time for Scots to consider the wider lessons from these Games.  Compare the performances in Atlanta to Beijing and it is evident how the mindset of Team GB as the underdog can be transformed to that of a winner within a relatively short period of time. Those who ‘dare to dream’ reap the rewards of their effort.

At the Winning Scotland Foundation (www.winningscotlandfoundation.org) our ambition is to create a positive winning attitude throughout Scotland. We believe that winning at anything can be learnt and that whatever your dream you can get into the habit of being a winner. We argue that sport offers the best, most easily accessible medium to put this theory to the test.

Over the past two years we have developed a number of cutting edge initiatives.  All are designed, through sport, to help young people learn how to win and maximise their full potential. The Positive Coaching Scotland (PCS) programme, being rolled out across five local authorities over the next two years is just one example of how the Foundation is working to put young people on a path to achieving true self-fulfilment.

Crucially, we help Scotland’s young people recognise that what is important is not how good they are now but how good they want to become. That aspiring to be the best, in any endeavour, need not be a pipe-dream.  Quite simply, young people can learn the transformative power of taking many small steps in pursuit of excellence. Imagine how Scotland’s society could look in a decade if we are successful in realising this vision.

I argue GB’s success in China demonstrates that being a winner in life is open to us all. As a famous American basketball coach once remarked: ‘success’ is the ‘peace of mind which is a direct result of self-satisfaction in knowing you made the effort to become the best of which you are capable.’ Bradley Wiggins learnt to win at Butlins and by cycling round his grandparent’s council estate. Olympians understand that to be a winner you need to work hard, have complete self belief and be single minded about success.

Referring to triple Olympic gold medallist Chris Hoy, the head of Britain’s cycling team recently commented: ‘the champion is someone who can deal with the set backs, turn it round, not be defeated.’ His point is that we can all adopt a winning mentality and it’s realised by hard work, competing, being stretched and not making excuses.

An abiding memory of Beijing will be the post race TV interview with Scottish rower Katherine Grainger, after she won a third silver medal but not her dream of gold. In our everyday lives we can learn from her reluctance to accept second best.

Of course, we don’t all aspire to Olympic greatness but research highlights we can all learn to adopt a winning mindset. 

Next month in Glasgow, the Foundation will host an event with the eminent Stanford University psychologist, Professor Carol Dweck as guest speaker. Backed up by decades of research on achievement and success she will highlight that winners are willing to adopt a ‘growth mindset’ as opposed to a ‘fixed mindset.’  The latter type, she notes believe basic traits like intelligence or talent are set in stone. They cling to a belief that talent alone, without effort, creates success.  They’re wrong. 

Read the recent sporting press and you will see how our winning Olympians possess the growth mindset. They understand their most basic abilities can be developed through dedication, hard work and a love of learning. According to Professor Dweck, brains and talent are just the starting point. Whether applied to sport, business or education, teaching the ability to develop a growth mindset provides the bedrock for great accomplishment.

Before the Olympic flame in Beijing is extinguished, it offers us another important lesson.  Namely, winners are those who enjoy a strong support network of like minded people. Through the time and patience shown by a coach, mentor or teacher, young people can be encouraged and nurtured to develop a winning mentality.  Consider the mother of the Olympic swimmer Rebecca Adlington. She recognized the importance of providing unstinting support to her daughter, routinely rising at 4am to drive her future double gold medalist offspring to a pool 25 miles from home.

So, the Foundation argues that it’s within each of us to encourage young Scots to become winners. Furthermore, by adopting a positive attitude, it’s not just our youth but Scottish society as a whole that will benefit. 

If you remain sceptical, consider the potential positive impact of the PCS programme. Closely aligned with the Curriculum for Excellence, Scotland’s new blueprint for education, it’s a programme that will engage systematically, coaches, teachers and parents in enabling young people to become more self confident and more resilient. Life skills which will support our young far beyond the playing fields.

In the near future, the Foundation will reveal many exciting projects as part of our objective of creating a positive, winning culture in Scotland, including the launch of an inspirational book with powerful messages from Scottish sporting heroes that highlights how you, like our greats, can dare to dream. 

So, there are many lessons to be learnt from the glorious achievements of our Olympians. Not least that whilst Scots can celebrate the success of its champions, sport offers all of us the very real opportunity to get into the habit of being a winner in life.

Graham Watson, executive director, Winning Scotland Foundation