Sports psychology may not be the first thing that springs to mind when you think about business.

But Pamela Enders of Winners Circle Coaching is fast proving that it is more relevant than ever in order to succeed in today's competitive marketplace.

For Ms. Enders, who ran her first ever powerful performance course as part of Insight Partners' effective communication and negotiation programme held at the Bermuda Insurance Institute at the Cedarpark Centre last week to popular acclaim, is now aiming to keep up the good work in the Bermuda market for years to come.

Her progression into sports psychology is an interesting one.

Having qualified after doing a PHd in psychology, she went on to set up her own practice in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

But it was not until she decided to go back to singing jazz and cabaret acts again that she first got into sports psychology.

"I was not happy with a couple of performances I made," she said.

"I decided that in order to improve myself I would use sports psychology."

Ms. Enders draws a parallel between how you can apply being a top athlete to succeeding in business.

"If you think of an elite athlete, that person has to stay focused on the track and have confidence and if they make a mistake they have to let it go and get back on track and they have to perform at an international level," she said.

"So I thought, if I can master those techniques then I can apply them to singing and I realised that a lot of my clients could benefit from doing more coaching and less therapy in this way."

She met David Seibel of Insight Partners a few years ago and he offered her the chance to run her own courses on their programme.

Her powerful performance module focuses on working to your optimum whether it be in the workplace or outside of work.

"Performance is broadly different, so it may be something quite formal like running a meeting, sales calls, job interviews and auditions," she said.

"It could mean client meeting or networking, but at the end of the day the way you perform is important to your success."

Ms. Enders has already enjoyed a lot of success stories of her own, including everything from giving a top lawyer his confidence back in court to helping a high-flying executive to get over his communication problems.

"There was a lawyer I worked with who was very bright and competent, but when he was in the court room he came overwhelmed with anxiety," she said.

"He couldn't look the judge in the eye, but after the coaching he was able to apply those techniques he had learnt and then he walked into the court room and was able to look the judge in the eye again and he appeared and felt competent and his confidence was able to come through.

"Another example was of a man who worked in a company and he was promoted to a very high level executive position and he had a very hard time in presenting himself in meetings, so he was boring and would stumble over his words and lose track of what he was doing and by working with me he was then able to prepare himself for those meetings and keep track of what he was doing."

She believes that performing well is down to how you use your voice and your body and finding out what makes you tick.

"Because in psychology I have that breadth and depth of experience of understanding what makes people tick and if you are running a meeting, knowing what is going on in the group, so I can respond to that in my coaching accordingly," she said.

"In sports psychology about 50 to 90 percent of success is attributed to mental factors, which are referred to as 'mental toughness'.

"If you are calm enough in your mind you can think clearly and have access to those skills."

In short, Ms. Enders believes mental toughness can be split into four categories:

1) Reboundability - the ability to bounce back from setbacks and mistakes.

2) Concentration - the ability to stay focused on the task at hand and never be distracted by irrelevant information or things going on around you.

3) Confidence - the belief in the ability that you need to do what you need to do.

4) Motivation - it helps to keep us going on when times are tough.

"What I believe strength is about is that people can suffer needlessly, but with a few skills they can reduce that suffering," said Ms Enders.

"There are people who are really good workers, but they don't know how to make themselves visible to get noticed, recognised and promoted and I can give them those skills to get the promotion that they deserve.

"A lot of people say to me 'It is not just about work - you can also apply these skills to your life in general.

"When people take the workshop they take an assessment so they can assess their own level of mental toughness, so they can work out where their strengths and liabilities are and I believe in building those strengths and trying to manage those liabilities."

To find out more about powerful performance or to enroll in a programme call Pamela Enders on 617 491 3394 or 617 491 4979, email pamela_enders@ hms.harvard.edu or visit her website at www.winnerscirclecoaching.com