By John Portch

Brendon McCullum had no first-class coaching experience when he was appointed Head Coach of the England men’s Test cricket team in May 2022.

Nevertheless, the New Zealander was the favourite candidate of England & Wales Cricket Board [ECB] Managing Director Rob Key, who himself had been appointed a month earlier.

McCullum, assisted by captain Ben Stokes, introduced a bold playing style that has been labelled ‘Bazball’ (a reference to McCullum’s nickname).

England have improved on his watch and are moving in the right direction ahead of their primary objective, which is a successful 2025-26 Ashes series in Australia. There have been resounding victories in the past two years and there have been some chastening defeats too, which McCullum had anticipated.

‘Are you prepared to take a punt?’ He asked Key during the hiring process. ‘This could go wrong.’ Key was not fazed. ‘What’s the worst that could happen?’

Key shared this story at November’s Leaders Sport Performance Summit at London’s Kia Oval, where he spoke alongside the ECB’s former Performance Director Mo Bobat (who now works in the IPL with Royal Challengers Bangalore). The duo discussed the ECB’s efforts to transform the way England’s men think about and play cricket following a meagre run of one Test win in 15 months prior to McCullum’s appointment.

The subsequent teething troubles were as inevitable as the criticisms that accompanied them, but they have not dissuaded the ECB.

Here, we highlight four beliefs that underpin their resolve.

1. Brave decisions lead to good outcomes

Key inherited a “bruised” performance team riddled with insecurity. Key, who believes that brave decisions made by the right people can lead to good outcomes, got to work immediately. He began to give people the latitude to make decisions without any blowback. With the atmosphere of negativity stripped away, Bobat’s playful side began to emerge. “If you don’t take yourself too seriously, what appears like a risky or brave decision to someone else just feels like the right thing to do.” This was Bazball in the boardroom.

2. Positive reinforcement is critical

McCullum is Key’s ideal frontman. His belief in a fearless style of play, much like Key’s, is born from memories of feeling stifled by coaches when he was a player. So when England batter Ben Duckett was caught and bowled for a duck during England’s 2022-23 tour of Pakistan, McCullum simply said: ‘well done, you’re going to get all your runs with that approach – keep committing to it’. It’s another story Key told at the Oval. “In that moment, it’s not about the ‘well dones’, it’s the player who got nought that Brendon’s reinforced,” he said. “I’ve had so many coaches when I was playing and they’re all over you when you’ve scored 100. What about the bloke in the corner who’s got no runs and he’s thinking that the world is coming to an end? That’s the person who needs you; sometimes they just need you there to listen.”

3. Progress cannot be taken for granted

Anyone looking for a stick with which to beat Key, McCullum or Stokes would not have to look further than their recent high profile defeats. “In English cricket we unravel quickly,” said Key of the criticisms that come his way. “That’s the time when you’ve got to look like you’re the most calm; you’re the one in control; you’ve got all the answers.” This was underlined in the one-day game, specifically following England’s group stage elimination from the 2023 Cricket World Cup. Key’s view is that he and his colleagues made the mistake of assuming their messages had landed. “When people say ‘just go out there, be aggressive and we’ll back you’ they’ve got to believe it,” he said. “We ended up with players who doubted the way we wanted to go.” Do not take your progress for granted.

4. Understand your strengths, minimise your weaknesses

England’s underage teams have adopted the same playing principles as the seniors. The ECB’s hope is that English cricket will produce players with the confidence to back themselves and their technique in the face of adversity. “We’re trying not to be overly focused on technique or fault-spotting, both of which are easy to do in performance systems,” said Bobat specifically of the England Lions and under-19s programmes. Weaknesses are addressed by coaches, but not dwelt upon. “We’re trying to be focused on moments and situations where you use your strengths to put the opposition under pressure.”

By Luke Whitworth

Too often there is a disparity between what is said and what is done in an organisation.

Angus Gardiner, the General Manager of the New Zealand rugby team the Crusaders, once said: ‘good and bad teams have the same values written on the wall’.

The ‘saying’ is the easy part, the ‘doing’ is quite another and this idea, was the jumping off point for Dr Edd Vahid’s recent project with Management Futures titled A Cultural Hypothesis, which was published in March 2024.

Vahid hypothesised that sustained cultures of success consistently display four features:

1. Purpose
2. Psychological safety
3. Belonging
4. Cultural leadership

As Vahid wrote, ‘an inspiring purpose is essential, a psychologically safe environment is critical, and a sense of belonging exists as a fundamental human need. Coupled with exceptional leadership, these elements distinguish cultures that thrive’.

The fourth has provided the basis of Vahid’s three-part Performance Support Series focusing on culture and change.

The first session invited Leaders Performance Institute members to assess themselves across the four areas; the second focused on cultural leadership as the ‘super enabler’ of culture; the third session further explored the skills needed by cultural leaders.

The three levels of cultural leadership

In A Cultural Hypothesis, Vahid explains that cultural leadership operates on three levels:

1. Sponsors: those operating at ownership or board level; they give permission to architects and guardians (who have a more active role) to deliver the culture. They are typically one or two people.
2. Architects: those responsible for the design of the culture, ensuring it is set up in a way that can allow people to thrive. They are typically a small number.
3. Guardians: the individuals on the ground, delivering on a daily basis, ensuring alignment to the articulated culture which they can translate to individuals operating in that space. There can be multiple guardians.

The architects and the guardians are more active in their roles and, during the session, Vahid explored the skills required for each.

Cultural architects – what skills are required?

Vahid asked members to reflect on the cultural architects in their environments and their skills. The group suggested the following:

• They have a clear vision of what ‘good’ looks like.
• They have a solid understanding of the current state of the culture.
• They can be what the culture requires them to be.
• They have strong communication skills and the ability and opportunity to lead by example.
• They have the ability to win hearts and minds.
• They are respected in the organisation and have the common skills to bring people along on the journey.
• A resilience to withstand the challenges presented by the journey.
• They set and maintain standards with consistency and genuine care.
• They ‘walk the talk’ themselves and believe in necessary change.

Vahid then shared a series of observations about cultural architects based on his research:

They are often appointed by the sponsors. By contrast, the guardians will mobilise on the ground.

They lead the cultural design. They have the ability to articulate and create the environment; they make others aware of the vision and direction of travel. This needs to be done in a skilled and inspiring fashion, with language that is able to influence the culture.

Their role can also be more literal i.e. they have a role in creating a more optimal physical environment.

They acknowledge the tensions within their team and possess the ability to flex and be agile without losing sight of the purpose.

They understand the importance of stories, which can help to distinguish your culture. As Daniel Coyle asked several organisations in his 2018 book, The Culture Code, ‘tell me a story of something that happens here that doesn’t happen anywhere else?’ They know the answer.

The architect must be effectively monitoring the culture and its current state. That can be checking-in with where the culture is now or, equally, understanding the journey that it is going to go on. It’s important to invite feedback and ‘speak truth to power’. It is crucial for them to be connected to the guardians in staying abreast of goings on; they must also ensure a sense of positivity around the culture.

Architects will take a more ‘global view’ than the guardians.

In light of the ‘radically traditional’ research of Alex Hill and the Centre of High Performance, architects provide what Hill calls the ‘disruptive edge’ while the guardians maintain the ‘stable core’.

Cultural guardians – what are their other traits?

Once again, Vahid turned to members to ask what skills they felt cultural guardians possess. They suggested:

• They have an ability to have courageous conversations with skill.
• They have awareness of their skillset and how to model behaviours and values.
• They are self-aware of their biases.
• They have the ability to advocate for the importance of cultural preservation and to influence others regarding its value.

Vahid outlined what his research had to say on the matter of cultural guardians:

The guardians can provide much-needed support as well as bandwidth, space and capacity for the architects to focus on the things that really matter. It requires insight and intelligence to provide a clear view of the landscape.

They carry a strong purpose; there is a level of awareness, alignment and connectedness. The challenge for the architect is to ensure the guardian remains connected because if the connection is lost, you can lose someone who is a positive advocate and instead they become a disruptive influence.

The guardians can speak truth to power with ‘radical candor’, to cite Kim Scott’s theory; they ‘care personally while challenging directly’.

They are role models. They also need to have a degree of influence as they are the foot soldiers that can carry out the vision effectively.

The guardians are on the ground, taking that more localised view. They can make decisions on the ground for the benefit of and in alignment with the culture. They don’t need to escalate every decision or action.

Finally, guardians are identified or are emerging. Vahid’s use of the term ‘identify’ is deliberate because one of the challenges for cultures is to identify the individuals that are going to have a positive influence. He says teams have to ask the question as to whether they are doing enough to support their guardians and the development of their skillset.

Cultural architects, cultural guardians… and cultural shareholders

While there are cultural sponsors, architects and guardians, these are all cultural shareholders.

Vahid’s research suggests that cultural shareholders can be distinguished by their level of:

• Influence
• Engagement
• Motivation

Those who carry significant positive influence and are highly motivated in alignment with your cultural aspirations could be considered guardians, but they are absolutely your strongest architects.

The challenge of a culture is to get an appropriate balance. Is there sufficient weight towards the guardians – if everyone’s a shareholder, are there sufficient numbers of strong and positive advocates for the culture – or are there people who might be considered countercultural?

How does a shareholder become a cultural guardian?

Vahid invited Leaders Performance Institute members to answer the question. They said that cultural shareholders transition into guardianship because:

• They communicate the ‘why’ well.
• They use rituals to highlight and celebrate their behaviours that support and reinforce the wider cultural aspirations.
• They onboard people into the way things are done with care.
• They give frequent updates and appreciate roles.
• They provide access to the thinking underpinning the culture and mentoring programmes.
• They involve shareholders in governance processes where they can have a say in decisions that affect the company’s culture, possibly through working groups, representation, or advisory roles.

In order to create more cultural guardians, Vahid argues that it is important to:

• Ensure people are onboarded effectively; they must know the why of the culture and be granted access to that thinking.
• Make sure people remain connected during change and transitions. New people and those evolving in their roles – include them in the process.
• Be deliberate and attentive with belonging cues. Just because someone fits today it doesn’t mean they will in six months’ time.
• Invest in people development. Are you doing enough to ensure that people have the skill to operate as and feel valued as a guardian? What development programmes do you have in place?

What are some of the fundamental change principles?

Vahid invited members to reflect on cultural change and the fundamental principles they call upon in those phases of development. Attendees suggested the following:

• Start with ‘unfreezing’ the current culture. Help people to recognise what’s not currently working and why there is a need for change.
• A clear articulation of what it looks like and what is desired.
• A clear direction of the path on which you are heading, whilst acknowledging the past as a springboard for future development (maintaining positive traditions).
• Respect the need for time – change cannot be rushed.

The change starts with observation; the sponsor then gives the architect permission to design, create and deliver what the new culture might look like. With this in mind, Vahid suggests a six-step process:

1. Existing status – where are we? Honour the strengths of the existing culture; combine this with data, intelligence and insights, whether that be critical incident reviews, walking the floor, interviews or focus groups. Finally, check in on people’s experience of the four enablers.
2. Move into the idea of vision and purpose and being able to inspire and aspire. This means giving a clear articulation of where you’re going; matching this with the culture and the strategy. Communicate the value of change. Why are we changing, and how do you create a level of urgency and commitment to seeking change?
3. Identify those who align to the target culture. The guardians play a fundamental role. John Cotter talks about the idea of a ‘guiding coalition’ and it has real validity here.
4. Design. What are the short-term wins? Consider the work around removing barriers and instituting change.
5. Behaviour. What are the critical behaviour shifts you want to see? What are you going to recognise and celebrate and be explicit about in terms of the culture? Consistency and regularity are important.
6. Continuously monitor your progress to help reinforce the change.

By Luke Whitworth

We want to start this Debrief with a big thank you to those who made it to our Sport Performance Summit in LA last month.

It is always wonderful to see the great and the good of the Leaders Performance Institute gathered to discuss the pressing performance challenges of the day.

Speaking of which, the happenings at Red Bull were far from the only opportunities on offer at the Institute in June, with roundtables and community calls packed with members sharing both challenges and best practices on a range of topics.

Many are covered in this month’s Debrief. As ever, do check out our upcoming events and virtual learning sessions, which are designed to help you to connect, learn and share with your fellow members from across the globe.

Right, let’s get into some reflections on June.

What we learned at the Sport Performance Summit in LA

We had a great couple of days with those of you who made the trip; and there was plenty of thought-provoking content for us to get our teeth stuck into (full account here). Below are a few snippets that particularly caught our attention:

Four tips for avoiding the ‘Innovator’s Dilemma’

The Innovator’s Dilemma is a 1997 book by Harvard Professor Clayton Christensen that explores the tension between sustaining existing products and embracing disruptive innovations. It resonated with Jen Allum, from X, the Moonshot Factory and Alphabet, the parent company of Google, who understand they could easily fall prey to the Innovator’s Dilemma. Onstage, Allum shared their four top tips for avoiding this scenario:

1. Aim for 10x not 10% – use ‘bad idea brainstorms’; practise the behaviours of audacious thinking; put everything on the table.
2. Be scrappy, test early – reject the social norm of refining; find the quickest way to learn that you’re on the wrong path; have a thick skin and be OK with people thinking you’re wrong and weird.
3. Build-in different perspectives – recruit for a growth mindset (high humility, high audacity; people who take risks in their own lives; who think differently and challenge the way problems are solved).
4. Reframe failure as learning – you can’t solve for success, so track what you do, as failures will support future ideas.

Allum added that X, the Moonshot Factory “rewards project shutoffs, dispassionate assessments, and intellectual honesty” in the work they do.

How to optimise your energy as a leader

As a leader, strategic thinking is in your remit, but do you ever include protecting your energy as part of the equation? “An organisation can’t outpace its leaders,” said author Holly Ransom onstage. “So there’s nothing more important than working on ourselves as leaders.” Here are her thoughts on how leaders should show up each day:

• Manage your energy, not your time; and build-in moments of ‘micro recovery’ to support yourself in the moments that matter. We spend too much time in ‘up-regulation’ and we need to find ways to down-regulate’.

• Make sure your highest energy moments of the day align with your most important tasks so that your return on energy is optimised.

• Who in your corner is your supporter, sage, sponsor and sparring partner?

• Remember: you are the Chief Role Model Officer in your team – make sure you live and talk about the things that help people lead themselves in ways that manage their energy.

The biomarkers of a healthy culture

Back to the myriad insights gleaned from our June Virtual Roundtables, starting off with the latest segment of our series of learning centred around culture and change. The sessions highlight findings from a recent research project by the Premier League’s Edd Vahid titled ‘Cultural Hypothesis’. The project examines the key components of cultures that have been able to sustain themselves.

Vahid posits astute leadership as a ‘super enabler’. Indeed, as Donald and Charles Sull wrote in the MIT Sloane Management Review in 2022: ‘A lack of leadership investment was, by far, the most important obstacle to closing the gap between cultural aspirations and current reality.’

What are some strategies we can consider?

1. Start with acknowledging the connection between leadership and culture: the literature largely points in this direction, with leaders having a fundamental role in supporting the change management process.
2. Identify aligned leaders: from there is important to ‘identify leaders who align with the target culture’ as Boris Groysberg, Jeremiah Lee, Jesse Price, and J Yo-Jud Cheng wrote in the Harvard Business Review in 2018.
3. Honour your existing culture: you can too quickly go from point A to point B without taking a moment to understand what the existing culture looks like.

Vahid’s also research reveals that cultural leadership operates on three levels:

1. Sponsors: senior individuals critical for manifesting the desired culture.
2. Architects: these are responsible for designing cultural initiatives.
3. Guardians: everyone contributes to safeguarding the culture to varying extents.

Four features of a great debrief

Effective debriefing skills was the top of conversation for our latest Leadership Skills Series session. If you are interested to join roundtable sessions centred around developing your own leadership, there are some great topics coming up around strategy and cohesion you can find on the Member’s Area.

To keep this section punchy, a section of our discussion focused on some top line considerations for what constitutes a great debrief. Are you doing these well in your environments?

1. Psychological safety and the notion of creating a calm, positive and supportive space. As part of this consideration, set people up to focus on learning, not to be defensive and model your belief in their potential to create great performance. Finally, do everything you can to reduce power differentials.
2. Get good at questioning. Use open, non-judgmental questions and a lot of follow up questions. Focus on learning more than results and allow time for reflection.
3. Strike a good balance between focus on the positives and areas for improvement. A reminder: we learn quickest by reinforcing what works.
4. Pay attention to group dynamics to get the best possible contribution from all individuals.

The pathway to better collaboration and multidisciplinary working

Finally, we wanted to highlight some interesting insights and perspectives from our topic-led roundtable on functioning more effectively as multidisciplinary teams, which is often a very popular topic of interest across the Institute when speaking to many of you.

Do check out the complete summary. Below are a handful of ideas from members on the call that they feel are currently missing or need to be given more attention in the quest to do this well:

1. How are you supporting new leaders in your teams? Often we see those in technical expertise of ‘tactician’ roles move up to leadership position but lack the requisite skills to lead effectively. The role inevitably changes, so what are you or we doing to help them ‘lead’ their teams and embed true collaboration?
2. Be intentional with feedback. It was shared that an opportunity is a robust and thoughtful feedback mechanism that have variations in their approach. The idea of thinking about detailed feedback is to support learning on a consistent and ongoing basis within your teams. It always seems to us that high quality feedback seems challenging for our teams, so this may well be an opportunity to explore.
3. Are your standard operating procedures clear? If not, they need to be to support this quest for high levels of collaboration.
4. Psychological safety and empowerment. How do we  empower people more effectively to take targeted risks within their roles, whilst still feeling safe and secure? What we are really getting at here is psychological safety in teams and a shared understanding of what that means and looks like.

By Luke Whitworth

How efficient is your multidisciplinary team?

The chances are that for all your fine work fostering a collaborative multidisciplinary team there are challenges you still face daily.

At a recent Leaders Virtual Roundtable, we encouraged members to reflect on areas where there is room for improvement and areas where they have made real inroads.

Some responses, such as limited time, busy schedules and the decentralised nature of some programmes were raised by members time and again but, below, we focus on communal challenges.

Common issues that prevent efficient collaboration

Misalignment of needs, expectations and responsibilities: such issues still endure, as evidenced by the number of members who mentioned the lack of alignment within departments and teams. One mentioned a lack of role clarity and, in turn, knowing with they should collaborate or bring into the conversation at the right times. Some cited the challenge of matching the expectations of individual staff and the collective needs of the team. Others noted situations where there are competing objectives and priorities.

Expertise bias: a Leaders member cited ‘discipline protectionism’, which resonated with most attendees. There are enduring examples of intellectual arrogance from some disciplines or an expertise bias that impacts communication, information sharing and can reduce general curiosity. These are all collaboration killers.

Team makeup: there are several elements here. Firstly, when team members are hired in at different stages there is a natural impact on the functionality of the team. There are also different personalities and communication preferences. Several attendees also noted that some environments are geared towards individuals highlighting their own impact and values as opposed to the greater good of the team.

Other considerations: the leader’s ego; a lack of psychological safety; finding the space and time for reflection; a lack of understanding about what optimal multidisciplinary work looks like.

Potential pathways to better collaboration

Centralised communication: can lead to a higher quality of comms between all stakeholders. Perhaps you can profile your team members and better communicate agreed expectations.

Consistent data capturing: when multiple departments are capturing data consistently, instead of sporadically, it can create more alignment around communication and collaboration with other disciplines.

Humble leadership: the leader or leadership team must be humble enough to accept when change or re-organisation is required. They need the humility to step back, evaluate their approach as a leader, as well as the situation, and enact change. This is where clearly defined needs and a common understanding are useful.

Clear standard operating procedures: a well-functioning system promotes better asynchronous information sharing. If you can outline standard operating procedures for communication between platforms it can prevent key information and messages being missed.

Team structure and role clarity: as a team leader, it’s worth considering the effectiveness of your onboarding and offboarding approach to minimise the impact. Diversity of thought is also essential, but it’s worth considering how to feed this into the design and operation of the team. One roundtable attendee suggested hiring an independent auditor to help outline role clarity, the sharing of best practices and, in general, promoting leadership – in essence, they act as a critical friend. Additionally, discipline or team leaders can create networks within their teams to enable such sharing. Another member explained that they have adopted a ‘team of teams’ approach e.g. a structure based on a ‘constellation’ of smaller teams that work together closely. It has yielded some positive results. Finally, in an effort to encourage a team-first approach, consider how you profile team members and communication of expectations.

What’s missing and what are the further opportunities?

Support for new leaders

How are you supporting new leaders in your teams? Often we see those in technical expertise or ‘tactician’ roles move up to a leadership position but lack the requisite skills to lead effectively. The role inevitably changes, so what are you or we doing to help them ‘lead’ their teams and embed true collaboration?

Robust and thoughtful feedback

Be intentional in creating a robust and thoughtful feedback mechanism that allows for variations of approach. Detailed feedback can support team learning on a consistent and ongoing basis. True, it can be a challenge, but therein lies the opportunity.

Psychological safety and empowerment

How can we better empower people more effectively to take targeted risks within their roles, whilst still feeling safe and secure? There needs to be a team-wide understanding of what psychological safety means and what it looks like in your environment.

By John Portch

A personal declaration by three-time Super Bowl winner Patrick Mahomes has been a valuable performance education tool at the Brisbane Lions’ Springfield Central training ground.

The players and staff stand in awe of the Kansas City Chiefs quarterbacks’ postseason exploits, but Google images of a topless Mahomes with a less-than-perfectly-chiselled figure provide conversation-starters on training, performance and nutrition.

“He’s considered the GOAT at the moment and he’s basically got a ‘dad bod’,” said Damien Austin, picking up on the term Mahomes has used to describe his own appearance. As a three-time Super Bowl MVP, Mahomes is clearly doing the right things, and Austin, who is Brisbane’s High Performance Manager, was simply illustrating how highly attuned his athletes are to the demands of their own high performance.

“We educate the players about acute-chronic workload,” he told an audience at February’s Leaders Sport Performance Summit at Melbourne’s Glasshouse. “They know about injury management, they know about their programmes and why we do what we do.”

Brisbane are one of the best teams in the AFL; and a premiership, their first since 2003, is a realistic target. It’s a far cry from the mess Austin inherited when he first walked through the door in November 2015. He came from the Sydney Swans with a remit to revamp Brisbane’s high performance setup, but it would prove to be easier said than done. “I came to the harsh reality that we were very different.”

Brisbane rock: not all it’s cracked up to be

In 2016, Chris Fagan was appointed Brisbane’s Senior Coach. He initially focused on the physical, technical, tactical and psychological elements that could give him the biggest bang for his buck.

The team also decided to fake it until they made it; “stealing” ideas from individuals and teams, including Usain Bolt, Eluid Kipchoge and the San Antonio Spurs. Austin said: “These people reminded the players what some teams did and we mirrored [their actions and philosophies] until we could develop our own.”

They even brought a large rock to Springfield Central so that the players could ‘pound the rock’ in the manner talked about at Gregg Popovich’s Spurs, where a rock takes pride of place at the entrance to their practice facility. It brings to life the Spurs’ belief that it is not the final strike that cracks the rock but the hundred blows that came before.

While it makes for a stirring scene in San Antonio, Brisbane’s rock did not hold up its end of the bargain. “Every now and then the players would have a crack at it but the rock wasn’t hard – it kept breaking – we had to get another rock!”

On the field, the team continued to lose most weekends. “We called ourselves ‘the happiest bunch of losers’.” While Fagan’s first two years were characterised by turbulence and continued turnover, the atmosphere gradually improved because the people that stayed (or joined) believed in the direction of travel.

The team had long since resolved that at least no one would outwork them. It was their founding philosophy. Players were pushed out of their comfort zones (Brisbane introduced 3K time trials when 1K or 2K were the league norm) but given all the necessary support to prepare. Additionally, no other team had to train in the oppressive heat of the Brisbane summer (routinely reaching 29˚C/84˚F) but the local climate was reframed as a performance advantage.

The team also began to measure everything they could. “I’ve never been in a programme where strength results or running results from the general running session were put up in team meetings so much,” said Austin.

Little victories were celebrated along the way. “If a rookie player benched 60 kilos for the first time it was a pretty big deal.” The players enjoyed their progress. “It could not be us just harping on and on [otherwise] those early losses could have taken their toll.” Instead, as results turned, it led to a firm bond between the players, many of whom are locals who happily spend their downtime together.

Eight years on from teaming up with Fagan, Austin defines high performance very differently. “In the early days we would say ‘let’s do the basics and get as many gains as we can to attract younger players and hopefully they perform later down the track’. Now we’re looking for the finer edge. How we can improve our weaknesses? If you were to play us, how would you as an opposition coach or stats department play against us? Years ago we would not have looked at that.”

Best foot forward

Under Fagan, Brisbane have become known for their growth mindset and fearless approach. The staff have worked continuously to remove the fear of failure, with sessions that demanded players kick off their weaker foot being a prime example. Such efforts underlined that this was a psychologically safe environment. “Those sessions weren’t pretty, but there was an acceptance that you’re going to fail; but don’t be fearful of it. Learn from it,” said Austin, who also explained that players now routinely run their own training sessions and both give and receive performance feedback. “Leadership is not about being the best. Leadership is about making everyone else better.”

Nevertheless, for all their progress, Brisbane’s major defeats have been frustrating. These include semi-final losses in 2019 and 2021 and preliminary final reverses in 2020 and 2022. They bounced back to make the Grand Final at the MCG in 2023 but their narrow defeat to Collingwood that afternoon still rankles and they are determined to make amends. They have put their belief in a 24/7 approach to high performance to bridge that four-point gap. “You need to live it, endure it, deliver it. You need to do everything off the field, look at how you manage it; be involved and make the best out of it.”

Patrick Mahomes would no doubt approve.

By Luke Whitworth

May was the month where Emma Hayes signed off at Chelsea Women with a fifth consecutive WSL title, Red Bull’s reigning world champion Max Verstappen extended his lead in the Formula 1 World Championship, and Tadej Pogačar won his second Grand Tour at the Giro d’Italia.

Those three, different as they are, share a reputation for sustained high performance and, as such, represent the profile we had in mind as we picked May to launch of our latest Performance Support Series.

That series – which has two sessions still to run at the time of writing – was just one of the opportunities on offer to Leaders Performance Institute members through their membership during the course of the month.

There was much more besides and The Debrief is designed to keep you on the pulse of contemporary thinking across the high performance space. Do check out some of our upcoming events and virtual learning sessions to help you to connect, learn and share with your fellow members from across the globe.

Four interconnected cultural enablers

We have all asked ourselves this question at various times but Dr Edd Vahid and Management Futures decided to delve a little deeper.

In June 2022, the business and leadership consultancy commissioned Vahid, the Head of Academy Football Operations at the Premier League, to undertake a piece of research to discover the ‘secrets of culture’. Two years later, this project, titled ‘Cultural Hypothesis’, is on the cusp of publication.

Ahead of its release, Vahid is leading a three-part Performance Support Series at the Leaders Performance Institute that seeks to explore the enablers in high performing cultures.

The first session, which took place in early May, was a useful way of testing the importance and relevance of the four interconnected enablers highlighted by Vahid in the Cultural Hypothesis: purpose, psychological safety, belonging and cultural leadership.

Vahid explored each enabler in turn.

1. Cultural leadership. It is seen as a super enabler. When you’ve got strong and aligned cultural leadership it will be a precursor to psychological safety and belonging.

Questions for you to consider in your organisations:

• Who are your cultural guardians?
• How are you supporting the development of your guardians?

2. Psychological safety. This was prominent in Vahid’s findings. Author Amy Edmondson in her book, The Fearless Organization, suggests that ‘making the environment safe for open communication about challenges, concerns and opportunities is one of the most important leadership responsibilities in the twenty-first century’. She also highlighted the importance and relationship between cultural leadership and effective psychological safety.

Questions for you to consider in your organisations:

• What are you doing to build safety?
• How do you respond to mistakes in your environment?

3. Purpose. Most high performing cultures have an inspiring purpose. Vahid referred to clothing brand Patagonia, which says ‘we’re in the business to save our home planet’ and its every action is driven by that purpose. Those organisations that are attending to culture regularly are taking the time to check-in on their purpose; what it means for the organisation and the individuals within.

Questions for you to consider in your organisations:

• Does your organisation have an inspiring purpose?
• How closely aligned are an individual(s) and organisational purpose?

4. Belonging. Ultimately, we want to get people to a point of challenge, but that doesn’t always happen by accident. The In his book Belonging, Owen Eastwood wrote that ‘our senses are primed to constantly seek information about belonging from our environment. We are hardwired to quickly and intuitively understand whether or not we are in a safe place with people we can trust’. Most optimal environments where there is a high degree of psychological safety is where individuals feel comfortable to challenge.

A question for you to consider in your organisations:

• What belonging cues are evident in your environment?

Achieving communication nirvana

Win, lose or draw, teams are constantly in transition and, as such, they need different things from their leaders at each stage in their development.

This can be tricky because you can’t shortcut the development of rapport, belonging and trust – all are critical to team development and effective transitions – and yet teams and leaders still face pressure to perform now.

That comes down to good communication, as discussed in a recent Leadership Skills Series session.

In fact, it is worth exploring five levels of communication as experienced in a team setting. It is useful to think of the following as a pyramid. Teams begin at No 1 and work towards No 5, with increasing exposure to risk, vulnerability and criticism at each level.

1. Basic ritual: this is a safe place to start. When sharing basic rituals, we are weighing each other up and there is an unconscious measuring process going on.
2. Sharing information: the next layer up is when there is a confidence and trust to begin to share information. This might be personal information or progress and insights on internal projects.
3. Exchanging ideas and opinions: now we want to know what people really think. This is where the risk factor in teams can be increased. The asking of opinions and ideas. There may be an exposure to risk and a need to be bolder.
4. Free expression of feelings: some teams never really get to this stage. This can be a drag on potential when you can’t share feelings and there is a lot of energy wasted. There can be an atmosphere of tension.
5. Unspoken rapport: this is the nirvana. The stage where things happen and others know how to respond.

Five fundamentals when measuring the impact of your mental skills work

In the modern landscape of high performance sport, we often here the phrase ‘everything that is managed is measured’.

Such is the desire to show impact and return on investment, we are indeed measuring much of what can be measured.

Nevertheless, it can be difficult to measure the impact of areas such as coach development work or, as discussed in a recent Virtual Roundtable for Leaders Performance Institute members, mental skills work.

While it is tempting to jump into the measuring process, it is important to first build some pre-requisites.

1. Have you defined and discussed what are we actually measuring and why? We can’t be trapped into the tendency to measure for measure’s sake.
2. Does trust exist in the environment between staff, players and the coaches? When we think of the success of effective mental skills or sport psychology support, trust is a cornerstone of a well-functioning approach.
3. Additionally, how can you work through your coaches to get athlete buy-in while garnering their feedback on the athletes’ growth and improvement?
4. Are your data and insights valid and reliable?
5. How regularly and intently are you debriefing? As part of the process, make time to debrief and discuss results to understand how stakeholders are interpreting data.

By Luke Whitworth

What traits characterise a sustainable high performance culture?

We have all asked ourselves this question at various times but Dr Edd Vahid and Management Futures decided to delve a little deeper.

In June 2022, the business and leadership consultancy commissioned Vahid, the Head of Academy Football Operations at the Premier League, to undertake a piece of research to discover the ‘secrets of culture’. Two years later, this project, titled ‘Cultural Hypothesis’, is on the cusp of publication.

Ahead of its release, Vahid is leading a three-part Performance Support Series at the Leaders Performance Institute that seeks to explore the enablers in high performing cultures.

The first session, which took place in early May, was a useful way of testing the importance and relevance of the four enablers highlighted by Vahid in the Cultural Hypothesis: purpose, psychological safety, belonging and cultural leadership.

Vahid explored each enabler in turn.

1. Purpose

Most sustained high performing cultures have an inspiring purpose. Vahid referred to clothing brand Patagonia, which says ‘we’re in the business to save our home planet’ and its every action is driven by that purpose. This example calls to mind the work of Alex Hill who, in his book Centennials, suggests that organisations that have sustained success over a long period of time have a stable core and a disruptive edge. According to Hill, it is important that your purpose doesn’t fluctuate too much or disappear because its has the power to help your organisation shape society and enable you to effectively engage future talent.

Another aspect of ‘purpose’ is the idea of individual and organisational alignment. Those organisations that are tending to culture regularly are taking the time to consider how their purpose resonates at an individual and organisational level.

Questions to consider:

• Does your organisation have an inspiring purpose?
• How closely aligned are your people’s sense of individual purpose and your organisation’s?

2. Psychological safety

In The Fearless Organization, psychologist Amy Edmondson suggested that ‘making the environment safe for open communication about challenges, concerns and opportunities is one of the most important leadership responsibilities in the twenty-first century’.

The findings of Vahid’s ‘Cultural Hypothesis’ suggest that cultural leadership plays a fundamental role in an individual’s experience of psychological safety. In the session, he referred to Netflix, which has adapted its in-house feedback mechanisms to ‘lead with context and not control’ (concepts that are highly aligned and loosely coupled).

Questions to consider:

• What are you doing to build safety?
• How do you respond to mistakes in your environment?

3. Belonging

Owen Eastwood, in his seminal book Belonging, wrote that ‘our senses are primed to constantly seek information about belonging from our environment. We are hardwired to quickly and intuitively understand whether or not we are in a safe place with people we can trust’.

Organisational anthropologist Timothy Clark also highlights a bridge between psychological safety and belonging in suggesting that the first level of psychological safety is the idea of inclusion safety – you belong to something.

New Zealand Rugby provide a case study in this area, as the theme of belonging is central to their philosophy. They recognise the diversity of their playing groups. They invest in their inductions, and there’s some literature that highlights the importance of your sense of belonging on entry and the critical process of effective inductions to ensure from the very outset that you feel like you belong in your environment. There is a regular and considered approach to belonging cues and rituals that reinforce the idea that people belong, and that could be as simple as ensuring that people’s voices are heard.

Ultimately, we want to get people to a point of challenge. The most optimal environments where there is a high degree of psychological safety is where individuals feel comfortable to challenge.

A question to consider:

• What belonging cues are evident in your environment?

4. Cultural leadership

An inspiring purpose is essential, a psychologically safe environment is crucial, and a sense of belonging exists as a fundamental human need. Coupled with exceptional leadership, these elements distinguish cultures that thrive.

Leadership is presented as a crucial and critical part of Vahid’s ‘Cultural Hypothesis’. It feels central in that it is seen as a super enabler, that when you’ve got strong and aligned cultural leadership it will be a precursor, certainly to psychological safety and belonging.

Questions to consider:

• Who are your cultural guardians?
• How are you supporting the development of your guardians?

The four traits of the ‘Cultural Hypothesis’ ranked by members

Vahid invited attendees to rank their current satisfaction with these enablers. This offers a snapshot of the state of play across elite sport, particularly in North America, Europe and Australasia:

1. Purpose
2. Belonging
3. Cultural leadership
4. Psychological safety

Other reflections on culture

The ‘Iceberg Effect’

The discourse prompted a further question on the nature of ‘culture’. Vahid cited the work of psychologist Edgar Schein on the ‘Iceberg Effect’. Schein’s model likens culture to an iceberg: what we see (artifacts) is just a fraction of what lies beneath (espoused beliefs and assumptions). This is how that may look in a sports organisation:

• What we see: policies, systems and processes.
• What we say: ideals, goals, values and aspirations.
• What we believe: underlying assumptions.

Culture: a ‘group phenomenon’

The ‘Iceberg Effect’ chimes with the work of business academic Boris Groysberg who in 2018 co-wrote an article in the Harvard Business Review with Jeremiah Lee, Jesse Price, and J Yo-Jud Cheng. They defined culture as:

• Shared: it is a group phenomenon. It is a product of the interaction between multiple people.
• Pervasive: it exists on multiple levels.
• Enduring: it is resistant to change.
• Implicit: it possesses a ‘silent’ language.[1]

[1] ‘The Leaders Guide to Corporate Culture’, Harvard Business Review, January-February 2018

If you are interested in joining the second session of this Performance Support Series with Dr Edd Vahid on Thursday 6 June, sign up here.

By Bobby L Scales II

The following scenario has historically played out with regularity across baseball in the United States.

A club signs a 16 or 17-year-old player from the Dominican Republic and they matriculate their way through the minor leagues of Florida or Arizona.

Inevitably, the player makes a poor play in a game or practice and their coach, typically an American, will need to correct the mistake.

The coach finds that the player will not look them in the eye and feels disrespected because, in American culture, you are taught from a young age to look a senior person in the eye and you say ‘yes sir’, ‘yes ma’am’, ‘no sir’, ‘no ma’am’.

By contrast, in Latin culture, you do not look your elders in the eye when they are correcting you.

There is a mutual misunderstanding that does little for team unity and does nothing to further the cause of diversity, equity and inclusion.

Teams are increasingly aware of this. When I worked at the Los Angeles Angels, we considered it important to take American coaches to the Dominican Republic, to let them immerse themselves in the culture at the academy and work with the players. We wanted them to understand what life looks like in the Dominican; to better understand how these young men grow up.

Equally, Latin American players need to be afforded the grace to learn the social norms of the United States.

This mutual understanding is the key to weaving the fabric of team unity and success.

So how can we better embrace diversity, equity and inclusion? Here are four thoughts.

1. Don’t be afraid of the conversation

No team is perfect and we could all be doing more to further the cause. But are you ready to have the conversation? It may sound obvious but people are often too afraid of the conversation for fear of saying something wrong or fear of being canceled. The benefits of diverse teams are clear in the world of business and sports has started to take note. But would you be comfortable or promoting, say, a female coach in a male-dominated environment? Is it within your gift to go against the grain and make what may be a counterintuitive appointment? To reach that point, a leader must construct an environment where people understand that players, coaches and practitioners are here because they are the best possible person to be in their position. I would rather lose with players that have a growth mindset – and I don’t think you’re going to win with players that have a fixed mindset anyway. There’s not a player on earth worth their salt who does not want to get better. They will listen to an individual if they have cultivated a relationship. For a complete culture, you need to have coaches and staff members that are aware of this, who feel supported.

2. Don’t get bogged down in the obvious differences

I am a 46-year-old black man and I could be sitting in a front office next another 46-year-old black man, but we could have grown up in different circumstances and, as such, we will bring different experiences to the table. As important as ethnic, religious and gender diversity are, they may not necessarily lead to diversity of thought – cognitive diversity. Someone in your team may have grown up on a council estate in a tough part of London and another may have grown up in Beverley Hills, California, and had people who worked in their house and they’ve never made their bed. Perfect: LEAN INTO IT! People from different walks of life, socio-economic backgrounds, and different cultures will come to a problem on the table in a different way. Perspectives – different perspectives – are exactly what I, as a leader, want. This allows for constructive dissent, which is where the best outcomes lie. When you have people who are willing to disagree with each other you will have a richer conversation. It’s then up to the leader to pull those opinions together, form a consensus, and move forward with an outcome or a solution that is beneficial to the team.

3. Identify the individuals in your team who are underserved

You have to cultivate relationships – they are way more important than the X’s and O’s, tactics or data. As well-known American football coach Herman Edwards once said: YYP – Know Your Personnel. A leader must know how to access them even if it isn’t the leader directly. Maybe it’s an assistant coach or a practitioner on your staff who has built a trusting relationship with the player. Again, lean into that. There is a certain truth to the idea that the physio knows everything that’s going on. I’m a big believer in authenticity and people will reveal themselves to you if your environment is one of support, warmth and truth.

4. Find opportunities to learn… then teach people!

Do you celebrate cultural milestones and holidays? You should, because they represent an opportunity to teach people from other cultures about that culture. For example, if there is a Muslim player in your mostly non-Muslim team, and you’re playing during Ramadan, there is an opportunity to educate your other players and coaching staff on what that means for that player and their faith. A crucial point to make: before even reaching that point of cultural exchange you yourself as a coach or executive are going to need to get stuck in and commit to proper research for yourself – you cannot teach that which you yourself do not know. Manage this process well – within an environment of support, warmth and truth – and you’ve brought your team closer together.

By John Portch with Henry Breckenridge

• Champion teams act and think like champions before they lift the trophy or wear the ring – and they do it 24/7.

• Team values need collective input and meaning or they’re just ‘words on a wall’.

• Success doesn’t ‘root out the weeds’ on its own – culture needs constant renewal.

Culture often precedes results

The Texas Rangers’ transformation under General Manager Chris Young and Manager Bruce Bochy saw them go from 102 losses during the 2021 Major League Baseball season to the World Series just two years later. Bochy, for one, could not have enjoyed a more successful first campaign in Arlington.

It is tempting to attribute part of the turnaround to the organization’s increased focus on personal development, particularly when Ben Baroody was promoted to Director of Leadership & Organizational Development, Player Enrichment Programs, and Mental Performance in November 2021. But the truth, as he told us himself, is that the groundwork had been laid for years by the staff, coaches and players independently of on-field results.

“I’ve been here nine seasons and there have always been a lot of positive elements to our culture,” Baroody told the Leaders Performance Podcast in January.

The team did, however, revisit their values in light of that 2021 season. Baroody continued: “It came down to refining our core values – who we are and what we represent, how we live out those values – and [establishing] a belief in what we can accomplish together when everyone has a clear picture of what those priority values are. [Then] it’s easier to embody them and be held accountable to them. We know what matters most and what we are working towards.”

The Rangers values include “be a good teammate”, “compete with passion” and “dominate the fundamentals”. “On the surface they seem over-simplified but they mean a lot and can be applicable in a lot of different ways.”

Your values need to be reinforced daily

Too often teams fall prey to the words they stick on the clubhouse wall and the Rangers were no different in the past. “We’ve been victims of that,” said Baroody. “I think that every organization is.” One solution, he added, is continuous reinforcement “through meetings, through presentations, through discussions – they aren’t just on a wall somewhere – they are truly part of how we operate, they are included as we constantly evaluate our decision making and in our evaluation of personnel, both players and staff. They are the main component of our performance reviews from a staff standpoint.”

Values, when they are perceived as meaningful, can be applied by people on a 24/7 basis. “You can boil them down to the most obvious application, but when you think through how you’re structuring your day, how you’re structuring your week, your season, your lifestyle. They can be applied 24 hours a day and we’ve tried to really live them out and not be selective in when we embody them,” Baroody said.

They should resonate beyond your sport or competition

The Rangers’ values are defined by all domains of the organization. “We all have clarity into what they mean for us personally in our different sub-departments,” said Baroody. The same goes for staff and players. In fact, it is a fundamental development exercise for young players at the Rangers’ minor league affiliates. “We’ve put it to them to speak amongst themselves, have collaborative discussions, to create the definitions around those [values] and to set forth the behaviors that exemplify those values.”

At a staff level, “it comes down to simplicity and clarity in having values that are applicable to everyone in the organization whether you’re a player, whether you’re a scout, whether you’re a coach, whether you’re an analyst – you know what it means to the organization as a whole.”

Even if you’re a non-playing member of staff you’re still “leading with a competitiveness. The communication and collaboration and care you have for others – that’s how you’re exemplifying being that good teammate.”

It doesn’t end with winning

The process did not end with the Rangers’ World Series victory in November. “It reinforced we’re on the right track with culture,” said Baroody. However, “as soon as you think you have it figured out, you’re close to being humbled.” The word ‘culture’, as he explained, has its roots in agricultural cultivation. “[Your culture] has to be cultivated so you’re always going to have to pull some weeds and tend to things, and give it water and give it sunlight. It can’t be stagnant.”

Therefore, he does not perceive a hunger issue as the team prepares for Spring Training. “There’s pride, there’s accomplishment, there have been celebrations, but there’s definitely not been contentment and our focus is on building on 2023 with a competitive focus on 2024 and beyond. And I think that in itself is a good insight into who we are and who we aim to be and what we try to represent.”

Listen to the full interview with the Texas Rangers’ Ben Baroody:

Listen above and subscribe today on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher and Overcast, or your chosen podcast platform.

By John Portch with additional reporting from Luke Whitworth

The last Leaders Performance Institute Think Tank took place at Le Manoir aux Quat’Saisons, a renowned manor hotel and restaurant in Great Milton near Oxford in November.

The Think Tank is designed to connect general managers, coaches and directors of performance – the people with responsibility at the highest levels of world – sport with each other and the ideas that have served their peers best.

The discussions on the day were wide ranging, as the participants delved into five common problems and identified possible approaches and solutions.

1. Taking the pain out of evolution

Renewal is a continuous process in sport, which is not to say that it is always easy, frictionless and without complications. If you are the person tasked with delivering upon your team’s vision, consider:

• How you will establish alignment. Do you have the right athletes and staff in the room to implement your desired style of play? You have to select athletes with the right profile and surround them with staff who can positively reinforce your message.
• Enabling your athletes to see the need for change. It is important to define the ‘old’ and ‘new’ and demonstrate the value of the latter. It is not aways easy but the leader must tackle any obstacles from the outset.
• Making time for your managers. Your owners or front office need to understand the direction of travel if they are to successfully communicate your messages. Get to know them where possible or find the right conduits; and be sure to conserve your own energy in the pursuit of team harmony.

2. Safeguarding the energy of the coach

It is often incumbent on the head coach to provide the energy to the playing group, but who is looking out for the energy of the coach? At a time when coaches fear coming across as ‘weak’, here are some tips for coaches seeking to protect their personal energy.

• Ask yourself: does your executive leadership truly understand the challenges? It is not a given that executive leadership understand the demands of being a head coach. A conduit between executives and the coach can be useful as can a coach development lead with scope for supporting staff members.
• Can you call upon a ‘critical friend’? This is essentially a colleague off whom a coach can bounce ideas and share challenges. It can be useful to provide a safe space for a coach to feel vulnerable without undermining the confidence of the wider group.
• Consider making those relationships formal. Good intent can be fragile and there are financial considerations too. Establishing coach support as a practice can give individuals greater confidence in the resources at their disposal.

3. Developing the next generation of coaches

Succession planning is hard, particularly when one considers that generation-defining coaches are more a product of circumstance than formal programmes. Nevertheless, how can we give aspiring coaches a better chance?

• Do you have a teaching background? In some quarters, pedagogy – teaching practice – seems to be fading from modern coaching. Yet some of the most accomplished coaches have backgrounds in education. There is room for athlete-to-coach transitions but other pathways are available.
• Find the traits that matter. Curiosity and emotional intelligence are critical factors beyond any technical or tactical knowledge. Such individuals love to learn and inspire curiosity in those around them.
• Assess their ability to communicate the details. The finest coaches are able to give clear direction around their often detailed plans. Some coaches are also adept instructing their staff in the nuances of their plans.

4. The creation of sustainable talent pathways

No one has the fully come to terms with talent development pathways, hence the ever-present questions around attributes, development gaps and purpose. What can we do to better identify and then develop our young athletes?

• Understand the difference between innate and acquired attributes. Coaches cannot always comprehend the distinction, which makes it hard to set benchmarks on a talent pathway.
• Talent is developed from a place of safety. Some teams want to entertain their fans and other onlookers – it is nearly impossible to express yourself from a place of fear.
• Ensure greater accessibility. When youngsters have been inspired to try a sport it is important for provide opportunities for participation and progression.

5. The use of AI and other technology

No other area is as widely misunderstood by coaches and practitioners as artificial intelligence and its role in sport. There is, however, no need to stray from your performance principles in putting them into practice. Remember:

• Data is just an input. It is at its best when combined with instinct and judgement.
• AI can free up your staff to focus on other areas. AI is primed to remove time-consuming tasks such as coding. A scout, for example, may be freed up to focus on assessing the person and their character.
• AI can challenge the primary knowledge base of your team. This should further enable staff to develop when adhering to guiding principles around the safety and use of AI.

Participants

Mo Bobat, Director of Cricket, Royal Challengers Bangalore

Michael Bourne, Performance Director, Lawn Tennis Association

Matti Clements, Executive General Manager, Australian Institute of Sport

Steve Cooper, football manager

Chris Fagan, Senior Coach, Brisbane Lions

Rob Key, Managing Director of Cricket, England & Wales Cricket Board

Marc-Oliver Kochan, Managing Director, Red Bull Athlete Performance

Sean Marks, General Manager, Brooklyn Nets

Tabai Matson, Director of Performance & Development, Harlequin RFC

Sara Symington, Head of Olympic & Paralympic Programmes, British Cycling

Jess Thirlby, Head Coach, England Netball

Simon Timson, Performance Director, Manchester City FC

Gregor Townsend, Head Coach, Scotland men’s rugby team