ABSTRACT
Cathy Freeman, the Australian 400m multi-championship-winning athlete, is arguably the greatest female athlete of all time. During ten glorious years to 2004, including her home Olympics at Sydney in 2000, Freeman won 25 of the 30 major championship races in which she competed. After her retirement she reflected on her career and her lessons learned – Cathy’s four pillars – have real messages for sporting organisations. They are also lessons of real relevance to businesses as they compete in the new global economy.
This chapter is a story of a Scotsman and an Irishman utilising Cathy’s pillars in their work (from 2006 to 2008) with The FA (the Football Association of England), in helping them develop the first integrated strategic plan for the development of football in England since its foundation in 1863. Would Cathy’s four pillars of body, heart, mind and spirit potentially transform one of the largest and most complex governing bodies (with a pretty fixed mindset) of sport in the world?
