In a recent Leaders Virtual Roundtable, Tim Cox of Management Futures discussed the traits of adaptable leaders and the common problems that trip up their rivals.
Cox, the Director & Lead for High Performance Research at Management Futures, is leading a Skills Sprint Session virtual roundtable for Leaders Performance Institute members on the topic of adaptability.
It is a skill, as Cox explained, that was highly coveted by the coaches and practitioners who contributed to our Trend Report earlier this year.
Not that this is anything new. “It is well known that Charles Darwin did not talk about ‘the survival of the fittest’,” Cox continued, with reference to Darwin’s 1859 book On the Origin of the Species.
“The endpoint of Darwin’s research was that it’s not the strongest or the most intelligent of the species that survives, it is the one that is most adaptable to change.”
Over the course of 25 minutes, Cox discussed traps that people can fall victim to in pursuit of better adaptability. He also brought into focus the qualities of adaptive leaders and the skills that can aid adaptation.
Firstly, those four traps that inhibit adaptation:
Cox then set out the four qualities of adaptive leaders and the skills and tools that support those qualities:
1. They spot the need for change
“It is important to actually spot the need for change and not just continue doing what you’re doing.”
Adaptive leaders…
Are able to shift perspective. “Adaptive leaders don’t just sit within their position,” said Cox. “They can see it from others’ perspectives, whether it’s a stakeholder’s or your competition’s.”
Are good at listening. “Our response to challenges to the status quo: how are we receiving them? Are we hearing them or are we just simply emotionally responding and cutting them down in whatever way?”
Conduct regular debriefs and reviews. Cox mentioned both the OODA Loop and the STOP framework, the latter of which he outlined:
“There are many other frameworks. You will have your own,” said Cox. “But in whatever shape or form, remove yourself and take a moment on the balcony to see things from a different perspective.”
Scan for assumptions. “What we are assuming may not be that useful. Think of an issue you’re currently dealing with and write down eight assumptions you’re currently holding about it.”
Cox then invited Leaders Performance Institute members to ask themselves two questions:
2. They are the grandmasters of their response.
“This speaks to calmness but it also speaks to the strategic element and scanning ahead in terms of the decisions that might need to be taken.”
Adaptive leaders…
Plan for contingencies. “They red team in peace and look for what might happen in the same way that a team will plan for what happens when they go two goals down or receive a red card.”
Understand that self-care isn’t a luxury. “They put on their own mask first,” said Cox. “What might be your first response that buys you time to then consider a better, wider, more sustainable response?”
3. They empower people to contribute to the adaptation response.
“This is about understanding ideas from both within and outside the team.”
Adaptive leaders…
Convene their people and successfully convey the need to adapt.
Encourage collaboration and gather ideas. “Invite the outside in,” said Cox, citing the words of professor Alex Hill.
Test and learn. As Cox put it, they fire bullets before cannonballs. “Let’s test it small and then let’s see if it works; then we can fire the cannonball.”
4. They are adept at leading the change
“This is often where adaptation fails. It’s one thing to spot the change, it’s another to decide your response and empower people to put their mark on it.”
Adaptive leaders…
Mobilise people behind the strategy. “Key to this is understanding the roles individuals will play in that strategy,” said Cox. They communicate tangibly what they’ll be doing and what they can expect from the leader.”
Navigate resistance or conflict. “Enabling people to voice their emotions and values. Often, once they’ve been heard, even if they disagree, they’ll commit.”
Flex where flex is required. “Again, they spot the need for change.”
In July the art of listening, coach and staff wellbeing, and the postpartum return of athletes were top of the conversational agenda.
Nestled in between the myriad elements that contributed to their success was the team’s sense of being “proper English”.
The trope was first aired in February following England’s 1-0 defeat of Spain (who were also their opponents in the Euro 2025 final), with defenders Millie Bright and captain Leah Williamson hailing a “properly English” performance.
Winger Chloe Kelly repeated it during the Euros, and several players were asked to define what it meant as the tournament went on. No-one gave exactly the same answer.
“It’s that we give everything, we run ourselves into the ground,” said midfielder Keira Walsh. For forward Alessia Russo it means “we’ll stick together”. For defender Lucy Bronze it means “if push comes to shove, we can win in any means possible”.
For England’s Dutch Head Coach, Sarina Wiegman, it means “passing with purpose”.
Perhaps it doesn’t really matter one way or another. Much like words on the wall of your changing room, it is more about the feelings they generate than the actual words used.
That is certainly the opinion of Dan Jackson, the General Manager of Player Development and Leadership at the AFL’s Adelaide Crows. He has spent his post-playing career working with teams on their culture. The words on the wall are often a focus.
“I probably spend the least amount of time worrying about whatever words they’ve got,” he told the Leaders Performance Institute in an article that appeared last month.
“Often, I don’t even bother changing them because if you want ‘connection’ or ‘unity’ or ‘team first’ or ‘family’, it doesn’t really matter. What I want to know is the behaviours you’re going to commit to, your system of accountability, and how you drive those behaviours.”
It was one of several nuggets of insight on offer, member to member, across the Leaders Performance Institute in July.
Are you a soldier or a scout?
“Some of the skills of adaptive leadership are more obvious, but that doesn’t make them easier to learn,” said John Bull.
The Director & Lead for High Performance Research at Management Futures hosted the third and final session of our Virtual Roundtable series entitled ‘Leading in Complexity’.
Bull wanted to encourage Leaders Performance Institute members to reflect on their own role as an adaptive leader and pinpoint some areas for self-development.
He introduced the table to the work of philosopher Julia Galef, who has outlined what she calls ‘scout’ and ‘soldier’ mindsets:
A scout mindset, such as when a scout might draw a map, is essential when learning and adapting. “It’s about acknowledging we might know some elements of the map, but large parts of the map are still undrawn,” added Bull. “It’s not ignoring that we have expertise, but it’s looking for what’s missing.”
On the other hand, a soldier mindset is counterproductive because, as Bull said, “most of our energy is going to influencing other people to see things our way as opposed to learning from what we’re missing.” It can also help, as Shona Crooks, a colleague of Bull’s from Management Futures says, to ‘put your brain in neutral’.
What kind of listener are you?
It was a question posed by Management Futures’ Jeff Pagliano during July’s Leadership Skills Series session.
There are at least four different types of listener, as Pagliano pointed out, but anyone can become better at listening at depth.
He illustrated his rationale with this graphic:
“Usually when we’re trying to persuade someone, it’s all about sharing our perspective. We call that ‘advocacy’,” said Pagliano. Your advocacy will be made up of the facts known to you, things you see as important, and any assumptions you make about the other person.
That person will have facts, thoughts and assumptions of their own, which is why we must add ‘inquiry’ to help bring those to the fore. “And when you bring those two things together that’s where you get that shared pool of insight.”
Listening at depth has other benefits too:
Do you care enough about your coach and staff wellbeing?
“We’ve had athlete wellbeing and engagement in place for more than ten years. We still don’t have coach wellbeing and engagement in place at all.”
This observation, offered at a Leaders Virtual Roundtable on the topic, is by no means unique.
Members of the Leaders Performance Institute have seen the following approaches help:
Read a full account here.
The postpartum return of British athletes
This was a theme of last month’s Women’s High Performance Sport community call, which featured Esme Matthew, the Head of Physiology at the UKSI, and Dr Kate Hutchings, who works with the UKSI’s leading clinical services for all world-class-funded Olympic and Paralympic athletes.
Early and open communication helps athletes and their teams set expectations and create tailored return-to-performance plans, with support from performance lifestyle advisors.
These help to place the athlete at the centre of their own decision-making.
Pelvic floor education and support are essential for postpartum recovery.
Each athlete’s requires unique and flexible plans informed by health monitoring and any necessary practical adjustments. It is key to enable them to stay connected to their sport.
Mental health support is vital as athletes adjust to motherhood.
Informal peer networks, such as WhatsApp groups, offer valuable emotional and practical support, helping athletes share experiences and reduce isolation during pregnancy and postpartum.
Click here for a fuller insight.
In the third and final session of our Virtual Roundtable series ‘Leading in Complexity’ John Bull of Management Futures explores the skills and tools that enable a leader to be more adaptable in the face of change.
The Director & Lead for High Performance Research at Management Futures hosted the third and final session of our Virtual Roundtable series entitled ‘Leading in Complexity’.
Bull wanted to encourage Leaders Performance Institute members to reflect on their own role as an adaptive leader and pinpoint some areas for self-development.
But, as he admitted, this is easier said than done. He recalled a conversation he had with his colleague Tim Cox, who led sessions one and two, and our own Luke Whitworth.
“We reflected that it takes energy to spot the necessary changes,” said Bull. “It probably feels like it then takes even more energy to then try and lead the change in the face of resistance.”
There are, however, skills to be learned and tools available to all leaders.
Four inhibitors (and four more)
In session two, Cox outlined four common ‘traps’ that can inhibit your ability to be adaptable.
They were:
You can read about these in greater detail here.
At the start of this session Bull added four additional traps suggested by the Leaders Performance Institute members who have attended this series:
“You know the end of this sentence,” said Bull, who introduced the table to the work of British organisational theorist Charles Handy, specifically his 2015 book The Second Curve: Thoughts on Reinventing Society.
Handy wrote: ‘The nasty and often fatal snag is that the Second Curve has to start before the first curve peaks.’
“You need to start reinventing almost on the peak of the curve before your competitors do,” added Bull.
Sports, as Bull pointed out, tend to recruit leaders from within the realms of their own sport. “The implication of that is that the sport is lacking some cognitive diversity,” said Bull.
As an antidote, he cited the example of British Cycling’s ascendancy in the late 2000s under Sir Dave Brailsford. “The two biggest breakthroughs in British Cycling came from Australian swimming [equipment design] and in introducing a clinical psychiatrist.”
All change requires a leap of faith. “This inhibitor is linked to the traditional,” said Bull, “but where an organisation may be very risk averse that can get in the way of adaptation.”
This was a major area of focus in our recent Trend Report.
Bull said: “The more alignment you have, the faster you will be able to pivot and adapt as a team.”
Why mindset matters when it comes to adaptability
Put simply, a leader’s mindset influences how they perceive, respond to, and lead through change in complex environments.
Bull then led the virtual room through six areas that demonstrate why mindset matters:
‘Radically traditional’ is a term coined by Professor Alex Hill to describe organisations that have thrived for over a century through an adherence to tradition allied to a willingness to adapt.
“The key insight out of that work is: in order to be able to be adapt, you have to be really clear on what doesn’t change,” said Bull. “It’s about being really clear on what is the core that we want to safeguard, what is what is now out of date. It’s having a balanced view and doing both at the same time.”
Bull used neuroscience to make his point here. “If we are threatened by the uncertainty we’re going to go into fight or flight mode,” he said. “And as we all know we’re going to be less resourceful in fight or flight as opposed to seeing it as an opportunity.” This is what sets adaptable people apart. “They’re calmly ready for it, they’re calmly in alert. Their radar is on and, if you can relish the uncertainty and dial up that part of your personality that relishing it, your brain’s going to be operating at its best. You’ll have all the feel-good hormones of serotonin, endorphins, dopamine and oxytocin.”
Bull is fond of the phrase ‘situational humility’, which was coined by renowned psychologist Amy Edmondson. “If we’re operating in a domain where we have a lot of expertise it’s recognising there’s still going to be stuff we don’t know,” he said.
He built on his point by introducing the work of philosopher Julia Galef, who has outlined what she calls ‘scout’ and ‘soldier’ mindsets:
A scout mindset, such as when a scout might draw a map, is essential when learning and adapting. “It’s about acknowledging we might know some elements of the map, but large parts of the map are still undrawn,” added Bull. “It’s not ignoring that we have expertise, but it’s looking for what’s missing.”
On the other hand, a soldier mindset is counterproductive because, as Bull said, “most of our energy is going to influencing other people to see things our way as opposed to learning from what we’re missing.” It can also help, as Shona Crooks, a colleague of Bull’s from Management Futures says, to ‘put your brain in neutral’.
“From a mindset point of view, this is about where’s our energy going?” said Bull. “Is our energy going to what we can’t control? Or is our energy going to the element of that which we can control?”
Bull said: “Do we focus on learning from failure and finding opportunities where the failure has low consequences?”
This is “the courage to speak up, challenge and name a need to adapt even when that’s really unpopular,” said Bull of the term commonly used in marketing. “There will be some elements of what the sport does or what the organisation does which has served your team incredibly well in the past, which you might feel needs revisiting. That’s going to get the strongest reaction, but sometimes that’s important to show that courage.”
The group were then invited to rank themselves, strongest to weakest, on their ability in each area:
“The common component is emotion,” said Bull in reflection.
How we respond to challenges is critical and, to follow up, he shared eight important adaptive leadership skills needed in complex environments:
“The leadership required around a tame solution is very different to the leadership skills required around adaptive leadership and solving a wicked problem,” said Bull. “And where a lot of leaders and organisations get into trouble is where they treat a problem that is wicked as though it’s tame and they try and just implement a simple solution; and it doesn’t work or they try and ignore the problem.
“One of the key skills is how do we spot when we need to go into adaptive leadership mode?”
Again, attendees were asked to rank themselves on each of the eight suggestions:
Bull believes the snapshot provided by the above bodes well for sport. “I’m struck, relative to outside of sport, how strong people are generally scoring on the ‘leading change, influence, and persuasion’,” he said. “That’s a positive strength to be able to bank here because, in our experience, and if you look at the research around this, that’s often the skill that most holds back adaptive leadership.”
To wrap things up, Bull shared eight tools to help leaders be more adaptive:
“So what she would say is in organisations that that have a more mature attitude to failure will find opportunities to do ‘intelligent failure’.”
In her book Right Kind of Wrong: Why Learning to Fail Can Teach Us to Thrive, Edmondson outlines three types of failure and the conditions for ‘intelligent failure’:
Final task
Bull concluded by setting the virtual room a task to consider in their own time:
What to read next
In a recent Leaders Virtual Roundtable, Tim Cox of Management Futures presents a series of tools for navigating those obstacles.
Many of you will be familiar with VUCA (which stands for ‘volatility’, ‘uncertainty’, ‘complexity’ and ‘ambiguity’) and employed it in your day to day work.
It looks like this:
VUCA was devised in military circles in the 1980s as a strategic response to external forces and is both analytical and structural. It remains a useful tool for planning and building resilience.
However, there is a growing consensus that VUCA alone does not capture the emotional and psychological toll as environments become increasingly complex.
In 2018, the author Jamais Cascio, a self-styled ‘futurist’, published his BANI Framework, which is his effort to introduce a more human-centred lens, that emphasises fragility, emotional responses, and the breakdown of linear logic.
Here is an outline:
And here is how it may look in your environment:
“Cascio sees BANI as parallelling VUCA, but he thinks VUCA is not real enough,” said Tim Cox of Management Futures, the host of a recent Leaders Virtual Roundtable. “He’s not saying BANI replaces VUCA, but he feels that it’s much more up to date with what’s going on at the moment.”
It helped to set the scene for the second session of our three-part Virtual Roundtable series entitled ‘Leading in Complexity’.
Which trap is most common in your organisation?
In part one, we explored how adaptability can increase the chances of an effective response to complexity.
In part two, we turned our attention to four common factors that can inhibit your ability to be adaptable and asked the table to select their most common ‘trap’.
Cox then spoke to each trap in turn.
This trap was cited by the fewest attendees but, as Cox explained, “even in sport we are often hijacked by emotions and we fail to adapt because they override our thinking.”
One must “relax, observe, and make a call”. Cox has some tips on that front:
Nearly half of attendees cited this as the most prominent trap.
It is an enacting metaphor too. “The classic operating from an out-of-date map was the belief that the world was flat,” said Cox. “It limited people and it spread fear in people not to go beyond certain points.”
Without active sense-making, he explained, leaders risk falling into mental ruts that limit adaptability.
Cox recommended the following:
It is a practical method for fostering adaptability and creative problem-solving in complex environments:
Our poll indicated that more than one in five attendees rank this as their team’s most prominent inhibitor.
“Authoritative leadership has been proven time and time again to be effective in very short bursts,” said Cox, “but it isn’t much good for adaptability.” The reasons are simple enough. “It’s really difficult for one person to be able to think through, be creative, respond to the environment around them when things are changing at a high pace.”
Leaders should:
Focus: The leader must deliver clear, strategic alignment where everyone understands the direction and purpose of their work.
Feedback: Regular feedback and debriefing are essential for learning and continuous improvement, especially in dynamic settings.
Freedom: Give people autonomy and allow them to explore, innovate, and respond to change.
Fusion: This is about building strong relationships and collaboration, both within and beyond your organisation with a view to harnessing collective intelligence
As with authoritative leadership, our poll indicated that more than one in five attendees rank this as their team’s most prominent inhibitor.
Cox had a selection of ideas that leaders might consider:
Other inhibitors cited by Leaders Performance Institute members:
Sign up for Part Three
In the third and final session on 3 July, we will explore building a collective playbook for leading in complexity:
Ian Walsh of Red Bull is renowned for his meticulous approach to tackling some of the biggest waves on the planet. Here he shares his wisdom with the wider sporting community.
Main Image: Fred Pompermayer / Red Bull Content Pool
“In every other part of my life there’s a million things going on. I feel like I always have ten balls in the air. Did I forget to take the laundry out? Did I put it in the dryer? I have bills to pay, groceries to buy. And surfing is one of the few places in the world where that all just drifts away.”
This level of focus may sound familiar to athletes, but the stakes of big wave surfing are something else entirely. One false move and Walsh risks serious injury every time he mounts his board.
Walsh has built a career on his coolness under pressure, which is why he was invited to share his insights at the Leaders Sport Performance Summit at Red Bull Media House in Santa Monica last year.
Ian Walsh poses for a portrait at the Volcom Pipe Pro on 4 February 2018, on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, USA. [Zak Noyle / Red Bull Content Poo]l
1. He acknowledges and harnesses his fear
“Those nerves and everything you fear are natural, and you can use that to elevate your performance,” said Walsh. “It commands every ounce of your being and your focus to deal with what’s coming at you and how you want to navigate it to try and finish on your feet.”
This ability comes with “repetitions and time”. Walsh was in town for a training block at Red Bull’s state-of-the-art Athlete Performance Center ahead of the northern hemisphere summer season. “I’m going to take full advantage of having this amount of time in a facility like this,” he added. “It gives me the chance to push myself in a controlled environment.”
2. He keeps his ‘smart brain’ online
Walsh can keep his ‘smart brain’ online under pressure. It is a term often used by high-performance specialist Rachel Vickery. “Have you got enough buffer in the system to absorb that natural increase in arousal state peaking?” she said on the Leaders Performance Podcast in 2023.
“Every human has a threshold that basically says if my arousal stays below my threshold or below my red line, I can perform in a way that I’ve got a lot more control of. If I’ve got more buffer in the system, so to speak, then when I get the normal increase in arousal it’s still under control and it’s not shooting me across the red line.”
In Walsh’s case, he de-escalates and grounds himself through the ‘breathe-up’ technique, which is a cycle of diaphragmatic breathing aimed at lowering his heart rate and preparing his body to stay relaxed underwater for an extended period.
Additionally, thanks to training alongside Red Bull freediver Kirk Krack, Walsh has learned to hold his breath underwater for up to five minutes. “It’s creating situations where I could elevate my heart rate and then get into a breath hold and understand how my body is going to react and eventually adapt to those scenarios.”
“It’s a skill in and of itself to then go, ‘how do I apply that once this physiological threat response kicks in? How well am I able to adapt and adjust and execute when all those changes happen?’” said Vickery, who would no doubt approve of Walsh’s strategies.
3. He already knows what to do when things go wrong
Walsh has long had a firm interest in meteorology and bathymetry [the study of the seabed, lakebeds and riverbeds]. He can pinpoint with reasonable accuracy when and where the most suitable swells will appear during both the northern and southern hemisphere surfing seasons. He said: “The reason it evolved to so much precision is to give myself as much of an opportunity on those special days as I can, because those days are rare and everything can change so fast on those mega swells.
He then readies his equipment and support team. “By having my preparation done, I can get absolutely smoked on a wave, break my board, everything gets washed onto the rocks, but I have everything ready to go again. I can go right to the boat or the jet ski, get my second board, catch my breath, make sure everything’s good and then get back into the lineup within 15-20 minutes.
“If you don’t have that ready, you could spend two hours dealing with it and it could be another month to six weeks or even the next season when you get another opportunity to push yourself in that calibre of surf.”
His meticulousness extends to listing and ranking restaurant menus in different locations. It drives his partner up the wall. “I take it into my normal life and my girlfriend can attest to how annoying those details are.”
Jokes aside, Walsh’s approach calls to mind the words of mountaineer Kenton Cool, who once told an audience at a Leaders Sport Performance Summit: “People often think of extreme adventure athletes as possessing a ridiculous appetite for risk, that we’re reckless, foolhardy and make illogical decisions. In reality, it’s quite the opposite.”
Ian Walsh photo session for The Red Bulletin, Los Angeles, 19 July 2024. [Maria Jose Govea / The Red Bulletin]
Walsh’s near-catastrophic failures have taught him to be humble when ironing out creases in his performance. “Letting go of some of your ego will create a lot more latitude for opportunities,” he said. “Maybe I did get annihilated on that wave, but I was also an eighth of an inch from making it.”
Walsh studies film of his efforts. He is also a comprehensive note-taker. “I can go back and be like ‘this swell angle, these winds, these tides are shaping up like January 10, 2004 [a date on which he suffered a severe injury – one of several throughout his career]’.” He can then tell himself “maybe I should have ridden this forward or tried those fins. Maybe our water safety protocol could have been a little more buttoned-up.”
What to read next
May shone a spotlight on ‘influencing skills’, leading in complex environments, coach development and finding the right ways to test tech solutions.
“We want to keep on building from this,” said Slegers after her side had defeated Barcelona Femení 1-0 in May’s Uefa Women’s Champions League final.
“We believe in who we are and what we do and we want to keep on building and keep on going next season.”
Slegers, who is less than a year into her first head coaching role, knows the risk of standing still, both as a team and as a head coach.
Throughout the fifth month, the Leaders Performance Institute was on hand to deliver a selection of sessions to help members further hone their leadership skills, from the art of influencing to introducing and managing more efficient processes for testing tech.
Here are some of the choicest cuts.
To influence, you need to listen
Jeff Pagliano of Management Futures hosted an ‘influencing skills’ session for Leaders Performance Institute members as part of our Leadership Skills Series.
He introduced the topic of ‘listening well’, which supports influencing in two specific ways.
“It helps the intimacy part of the trust equation and it gives you the context for a person’s point of view,” he said. “You’re more prepared when the time comes for you to share your knowledge and suggest a course of action.
“Active listening is when you’re not only tuned into what someone says but also what they feel and believe picking up on both their verbal and non-verbal communication is the foundation of intimacy and the antithesis of self-interest.”
He shared the following image to illustrate his point:
When you’re talking to someone you are hoping to influence it’s always useful to reflect on the goals of each conversation, both what you want and what the other person needs as a way to determine the best way to listen at the moment. And you may realise that a different mode or combinations of modes would be better.
Jeff Pagliano, Management Futures
Top tips for leading in complexity
In May, we also launched a Learning Series that explored adaptability in the complex world of high performance. In the first session, Tim Cox of Management Futures offered a series of seven tips, including: prioritise time for analysing what is changing.
Here’s what that entails:
Read all seven tips here.
Are you able to thoroughly assess tech solutions?
At the beginning of May, we published our Trend Report entitled ‘The Winning Formula for the Future of Performance Sport’.
The report delves into the barriers that prevent organisations adopting new technologies and is informed by more than 200 individuals from nearly 40 sports. While cost was predictably high on the list, three other challenges emerged as equally, if not more, critical.
It was the perfect opportunity to run a virtual roundtable discussing the systems and processes that members have in place at their teams. The table identified a number of critical success factors.
While much of the conversation focused on systems and structures, several participants emphasised the importance of culture and communication as critical to the success of these processes. One high performance manager noted that their organisation is “risk-averse” when it comes to new tech, not because of a lack of interest, but because of a desire to protect core business functions. “If there’s anything we can use to get all the noise out of other people’s way so they can actually do the day-to-day job better, then we’re normally onboard with that.”
Another pointed out the generational divide in digital fluency. Younger staff are digital natives and eager to adopt new tools. Older staff, by contrast, may be more cautious or feel overwhelmed. Bridging this gap requires not just training, but empathy and thoughtful change management.
Additionally, performance sport may need to rethink its leadership structures. In other industries, CTOs and innovation directors play a critical role in aligning technology with strategy. In sport, these roles are rare but increasingly necessary.
Without someone to “own” the innovation agenda, organisations risk falling into reactive patterns and chasing shiny new tools without a clear sense of purpose. As one contributor put it, “We need someone who can sit above the noise and guide us forward.”
Coach development cannot be separated from athlete development
Another virtual roundtable looked at helping athletes to bridge the gap from the youth to senior ranks.
While discussing an array of approaches, the table underlined the importance of investing in coach development as a key influence on transition experiences for athletes. One element of this is ensuring coaches are equipped to recognise and understand different transitions as they occur in different contexts and, therefore, deal with them more effectively.
An environment within the Olympic system explained how their decentralised programme has witnessed new performance records at junior level due in part to their consistent approach to coach development. Their heightened emphasis on coach support and development extends not only to their current athletes but those next on the pathway.
Also, coach-to-coach exchanges enable individuals to discuss both common transitions and those lesser-considered transitions that are nevertheless challenging, such as injuries.
Additional reporting by Luke Whitworth.
Read the Trend Report now
