{"id":29404,"date":"2025-02-13T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-02-13T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/performance-institute\/?post_type=article&p=29404"},"modified":"2025-12-15T10:59:13","modified_gmt":"2025-12-15T10:59:13","slug":"mental-performance-is-a-teams-key-differentiator-but-you-have-to-hire-the-right-coach-heres-how","status":"publish","type":"article","link":"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/performance-institute\/articles\/mental-performance-is-a-teams-key-differentiator-but-you-have-to-hire-the-right-coach-heres-how\/","title":{"rendered":"Mental Performance Is a Team\u2019s Key Differentiator, But you Have to Hire the Right Coach. Here’s How"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n
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\n 13 Feb 2025 <\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>Articles<\/a>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t

Mental Performance Is a Team\u2019s Key Differentiator, But you Have to Hire the Right Coach. Here’s How<\/h1>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n \n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n\n
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In the final instalment of his series, mental skills coach Aaron Walsh sets out some questions to consider when looking to find the candidate with the right fit.<\/p>\n \n \n \n

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By Aaron Walsh<\/h6>\n
In this final article, I wanted to address the most common questions I get from coaches and organisations regarding mental performance and building a programme.<\/h6>\n

The first questions is often: how do we find the right person to lead that programme?<\/p>\n

Before we proceed, I want to review the previous articles and examine why this question has proved challenging.<\/p>\n

Finding the right person is difficult without the structure of a strategic program. The following quote is from a coach I interviewed while conducting my research<\/a>. It perfectly captures the essence of the challenge:<\/p>\n

“In other areas of performance, we give a clear mandate of what we want to happen in the programme, there are regular checkpoints to ensure we are on track, and we review the work after the season, with the mental stuff [skills] we tend to find a person and just let them loose, we don’t follow best practice.”<\/em><\/p>\n

To prepare the provider for success, we need to view the work through the right lens. Rather than offering a reactive service, we aim to create a strategic program. We want to anchor the work in the foundations established throughout this series. Here are five crucial actions we can take:<\/p>\n

1. Define the approach:<\/strong> Unless we define the scope of the work and set clear expectations regarding the time needed to achieve the desired outcomes, measuring the effectiveness of the work becomes impossible<\/a>. For example, if we expect the team to have a fully integrated program while only employing someone for a few days each month, that goal is unachievable. Both the team and the provider will be left feeling disappointed by the gap between the intended impact and the actual results. Being realistic and resisting the urge to over-promise allows the program to be built at the right pace and in the right way.<\/p>\n

Key questions:<\/strong><\/p>\n