{"id":30362,"date":"2025-05-21T09:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-05-21T09:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/performance-institute\/?post_type=article&p=30362"},"modified":"2025-12-15T11:20:32","modified_gmt":"2025-12-15T11:20:32","slug":"your-ability-to-hold-a-room-of-athletes-or-support-staff-can-make-or-break-you-as-a-coach","status":"publish","type":"article","link":"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/performance-institute\/articles\/your-ability-to-hold-a-room-of-athletes-or-support-staff-can-make-or-break-you-as-a-coach\/","title":{"rendered":"Your Ability to Hold a Room of Athletes or Support Staff Can Make or Break you as a Coach"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n
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\n 21 May 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

Your Ability to Hold a Room of Athletes or Support Staff Can Make or Break you as a Coach<\/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
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Category<\/div>\n Leadership & Culture<\/a> <\/div>\n
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https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/performance-institute\/articles\/your-ability-to-hold-a-room-of-athletes-or-support-staff-can-make-or-break-you-as-a-coach\/<\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/section>\n\n\n\n\n
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In this exclusive column, performance specialist Iain Brunnschweiler outlines how he fights the inevitable nerves with tools he has picked up during a career spent in elite sport.<\/p>\n \n \n \n

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By Iain Brunnschweiler<\/h6>\n
A 15-year-old boy stepped onto the stage. His palms were sweaty. His heart rate elevated. He was about to speak in front of his entire school of around a thousand children for the first time.<\/h6>\n

The anxiety felt almost totally consuming. His legs felt heavy, and he doubted that any words would come out of his mouth when and if he did attempt to start speaking. His brain was scrambled with a hundred thoughts, which seemed impossible to coordinate into anything helpful.<\/p>\n

The year was 1995, and that boy was me.<\/p>\n

I honestly cannot remember what I spoke about, but I sure remember how it made me feel.<\/p>\n

Everyone was looking at me. I felt so insecure and so nervous it was almost unbearable. It felt very different from the sports field, where I felt at home. On the field of play I felt like I had permission to be myself. But I did not feel it there on that stage.<\/p>\n

Fast forward 30 years, and I stepped onto the stage at the Royal College of Music in front of more than 120 sports leaders from around the world at Leaders Meet: The Talent Journey<\/a>. I was privileged to be afforded the opportunity to facilitate the event for the Leaders Performance Institute.<\/p>\n

The nerves were there again, however, over the past 30 years, I have developed a range of resources to allow me to adopt a more preferable state to be able to speak in front of people.<\/p>\n

Confidence and humility: a tricky balance<\/strong><\/p>\n

Humans are remarkable things, aren\u2019t they. We\u2019re all individual, all experiencing the world in a unique way, all dealing with themselves on a daily basis and simultaneously seeking to demonstrate something to the outside world. We all have varying levels of self-awareness and varying levels of skill in dealing with the questions being asked of us in our own contexts.<\/p>\n

Consider some of the situations a sports leader might find themselves in: starting in a new leadership role, rallying your team during difficult times or times of change, seeking to inspire others through your words or actions. Now for those of us who have seen skilful leaders or coaches in practice, some of these skills can seem effortless. However, behind that skilful act is undoubtedly someone who has wrestled with their own feelings of doubt or insecurity and drawn upon their own experiences in order to choose and deliver an appropriate response to their audience.<\/p>\n

Being able to speak up with a balance of confidence and humility can be tricky. And it is a skill that may be the difference in the career trajectory or simply contentment of any aspirational individual.<\/p>\n

Actors, agents and authors<\/strong><\/p>\n

I remember being shown some research by a fabulous person, colleague and psychologist, Malcolm Frame, called \u2018The Psychological Self as Actor, Agent, and Author\u2019. The paper is written by American psychologist Dan McAdams, whose work talks to the developmental journey of any human. My interpretation of McAdams\u2019 work is that the \u2018Actor\u2019 is the social self, the \u2018Agent\u2019 is the motivated self, and the \u2018Author\u2019 is the narrative self.<\/p>\n

As Malcolm told me: \u201cEmbracing this cycle each day isn\u2019t just self-improvement \u2013 it\u2019s building an unshakable architecture of strength, capacity and resilience within our very operating system.\u201d<\/p>\n

As a more novice practitioner I was certainly an Actor. Concerned almost solely with how I was perceived and wanting to be liked by everyone.<\/p>\n

For example, when I first accepted the role of a national coach within the England Cricket pathway, I was unsure how to be. I struggled to understand what was required of me. Having to stand up and speak in front of some of the most talented young players in the country, as well as the brilliant support staff that I was working with, felt like a huge stretch.<\/p>\n

I felt high anxiety when I was \u2018on show\u2019 and witnessing the show going on around me. As I developed and became more experienced, I realised that my motivations and aspirations could not be reached if I was not able to override my anxieties and take action towards my desired outcomes. As an Agent, I was able to step onto \u2018the stage\u2019 and make choices that were my own.<\/p>\n

After more than 25 years of striving in the elite sporting context, I finally feel that I am able to become more of an Author in my own context. I can control the narrative more effectively to serve me in the way I find helpful. It helps for me to have reflected on my past experiences. Successes and failures, taking learnings from them that can help me in the present, as well as support me in the future.<\/p>\n

Nerves are not necessarily a bad thing<\/strong><\/p>\n

Having reached a senior role at a Premier League football club, I was interacting with directors and owners and being asked to make major decisions that would affect numerous people. Whilst never easy, I was more comfortable in doing so, having been on such a journey. The moments of bravery earlier in my career which felt incredibly tough, were now serving me in the moment.<\/p>\n

The stories that I now tell myself about my past, help me to feel more well-resourced in the moment. I have accumulated a broad range of experiences which I can draw upon now, and allow me to both enjoy it and embrace however I am feeling. Tactics such as self-talk, the use of perspective, and an acceptance that I prefer to be playful rather than serious, all serve me and allow me to accept my emotions. I have certainly not solved this! However I am very clear on the progress that I have made.<\/p>\n

So, as I stepped onto that stage in 1995, my nerves were similar to my nerves in 2025. However, I was now more well-resourced to acknowledge and accept them and even use them to my advantage. Being nervous now lets me now that I care about what I am doing. That it is important to me. And that\u2019s OK.<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t think any advice would have helped that boy in 1995. It was stepping up onto that stage that he needed.<\/p>\n

Iain Brunnschweiler runs the Focus Performance Consultancy. He is a former professional cricketer, has authored two published books, and previously served as the Head of Technical Development at Southampton Football Club.<\/em><\/p>\n

What to read next<\/strong><\/p>\n

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The Four Phases of Talent Development Decoded<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n