Pain Sees Career Gain in Playing Team Game
Jeff Pain was not a total jerk before he met Richard Monette,
but then he wasn’t the most popular slider on the World Cup Skeleton
Circuit either…
Thus begins an article published in the
The
National Post, Feb 2, 2006. The article continues, explaining
how Jeff, after winning his first world championship in 2003, injured
his ankle in 2004. The forced time off the track allowed him to
reflect on his career. Jeff realized that while successful on the
track, that he wasn’t particularly well-liked by his teammates.
He decided to change this. Working closely with Richard, Jeff altered
his ways by setting one of his goals as "becoming a great teammate.”
Human Competencies Leverage Technical Performance
In his focused effort to improve himself and his team, Jeff demonstrated
one of the fundamental concepts in Richard’s approach: Enhancing
intangible components, i.e. “becoming a better teammate,” usually
leads to enhanced technical proficiency. By improving himself, Jeff
both improved his performance on the track and also contributed
significantly to enhancing the overall atmosphere within the Canadian
Skeleton team.
| In 2005 Jeff
became World Champion for the second time and also won the
overall World Cup Crown. His teammate Duff Gibson won a
Bronze medal at the world championships.
|
 |
 |
| In 2006 Jeff won his second
consecutive World Cup Crown. As well, the team achieved
incredible results at the 2006 Olympic games in Turin, Italy,
where Duff Gibson won the gold, Jeff the silver, and Paul
Bohn came in fourth place.
|
|
 |
Onward to Vancouver 2010
Jeff continues to retain Richard as his sport psychology consultant
as he prepares for the 2010 Olympics, taking place in Vancouver,
Canada. See
Pain
Learns to Have Fun Again (pdf) for a look at Jeff's current
challenges.
