{"id":33744,"date":"2026-02-23T09:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-02-23T09:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/performance-institute\/?post_type=article&p=33744"},"modified":"2026-02-23T09:31:27","modified_gmt":"2026-02-23T09:31:27","slug":"people-in-sport-often-roll-their-eyes-at-the-word-strategy-but-ive-found-that-planning-provides-direction-connection-and-continuity-in-a-pressured-and-volatile-world","status":"publish","type":"article","link":"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/performance-institute\/articles\/people-in-sport-often-roll-their-eyes-at-the-word-strategy-but-ive-found-that-planning-provides-direction-connection-and-continuity-in-a-pressured-and-volatile-world\/","title":{"rendered":"People in Sport Often Roll their Eyes at the Word \u2018Strategy\u2019, but I\u2019ve Found that Planning Provides Direction, Connection and Continuity in a Pressured and Volatile World"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n
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\n 23 Feb 2026 <\/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

People in Sport Often Roll their Eyes at the Word \u2018Strategy\u2019, but I\u2019ve Found that Planning Provides Direction, Connection and Continuity in a Pressured and Volatile World<\/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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https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/performance-institute\/articles\/people-in-sport-often-roll-their-eyes-at-the-word-strategy-but-ive-found-that-planning-provides-direction-connection-and-continuity-in-a-pressured-and-volatile-world\/<\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/section>\n\n\n\n\n
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As Warwickshire\u2019s Performance Director James Thomas explains, strategy is not about establishing certainty, it\u2019s about people, collaboration and coherence.<\/p>\n \n \n \n

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By James Thomas<\/h6>\n
Strategy does not have a great reputation in high-performance sport.<\/h6>\n

Often the word elicits a raised eyebrow amidst busy training and competition schedules or it alludes to scarce downtime for coaches and practitioners.<\/p>\n

It is also associated with corporate language, long documents and theoretical discussions that feel disconnected from the daily reality of training, selection and competition. In high-pressure environments, planning (reviewing and learning) can be seen as a luxury, something to revisit once results improve or uncertainty settles.<\/p>\n

My experience has been the opposite. I\u2019m passionate about helping raise awareness of the importance and performance impact of great strategic planning.<\/p>\n

Strategy: a precursor to performance<\/strong><\/p>\n

After more than two decades working across Olympic and professional sport, I have come to believe that performance strategy and planning are not distractions from performance, they are precursors to it. In environments often defined by pressure, volatility and constant change, strategy provides something invaluable: direction, connection and a level of continuity.<\/p>\n

High-performance sport is inherently unstable. Calendars shift, athletes get injured, form fluctuates, staff move on, leaders change and external demands arrive without warning. In that context, the absence of a clear performance strategy does not create freedom. It creates noise. Decisions become reactive, alignment erodes, and short-term fixes quietly undermine decision-making rooted in the agreed long-term ambition.<\/p>\n

The organisations that perform most consistently are not those that plan less. They are those that build solid foundations, plan with intent, adapt with discipline and continue to stay rooted to the agreed values and behaviours when circumstances change.<\/p>\n

Planned Olympic success<\/strong><\/p>\n

One of the clearest demonstrations of the value of performance strategy in my career came during my time as Performance Director at British Gymnastics in the build-up to, and during, the delayed Tokyo Olympic Games in 2021.<\/p>\n

This period was defined by disruption. The global COVID-19 pandemic fundamentally altered how athletes trained, competed and lived. Lockdowns restricted facility access. Competition schedules collapsed and re-emerged unpredictably. Athlete preparation was fragmented, and long-term planning was constantly challenged.<\/p>\n

At the same time, the organisation was navigating a significant cultural crisis. The Whyte Review had been co-commissioned by UK Sport and Sport England in 2020 following allegations of abuse and mistreatment within gymnastics in Britain. Trust had been damaged, scrutiny was intense and the responsibility to rebuild confidence, both internally and externally, sat alongside the imperative to perform on the world\u2019s biggest stage, the Olympic Games.<\/p>\n

In that environment, strategy became an anchor.<\/strong><\/p>\n

It provided stability when circumstances were anything but stable. Performance strategy gave athletes, coaches and staff a clear sense of direction at a time when certainty was scarce. It reminded us of our five principles of high performance, our data informed team strategies for qualifications and finals, and created a shared understanding of what mattered most, even as day-to-day plans shifted repeatedly. This anchor also supported me during really challenging times when key staff behaviours or direction of travel didn\u2019t align to our beliefs and approach. It gave me confidence to hold the line and make the tough decisions that leaders are so often faced with.<\/p>\n

Rather than attempting to predict an uncertain future, the strategy focused on the team, the people, the data and practitioner-informed principles that we talked about for over three years. It established how decisions would be made, what trade-offs we were prepared to accept and those \u2018what if\u2019 scenarios that can always catch you off guard. One of these being the Head Coach breaking their leg 48 hours before heading to Tokyo. We actually had a plan for this!<\/p>\n

This allowed the system to adapt without losing its identity.<\/strong><\/p>\n

That experience was one of the most challenging of my career, but always hugely exciting and rewarding. Three planned, but hard-earned medals secured for Team GB reinforced a core belief: strategy is not about certainty. It is about people, collaboration and coherence.<\/p>\n

Different sports, same principles for high performance <\/strong><\/p>\n

The same principle holds true in professional football, albeit at a different scale.<\/p>\n

During my time as Director of Performance Services at Manchester City, operating within the City Football Group, I saw first-hand how long-term strategic planning can drive sustained performance improvement across an entire ecosystem.<\/p>\n

At Manchester City, consistent performance progression was not the product of isolated excellence or short-term cycles. It was anchored in a clear long-term plan that connected the Academy, Women\u2019s and Men\u2019s first teams through shared principles, aligned methodologies and a common performance language.<\/p>\n

That plan did not seek to eliminate fluctuation. Ebb and flow were expected. Injuries, form, competition demands, squad evolution and commercial demands were all recognised as natural parts of elite sport. What mattered was that the long-term vision, the direction of travel remained consistent, even as tactics and personnel changed.<\/p>\n

Crucially, this strategic clarity extended beyond a single team or season. It flowed across the wider City Football Group model, creating a level of coherence across clubs operating in different countries, cultures and competitive contexts. While local adaptation was encouraged, the underlying performance philosophy remained aligned.<\/p>\n

The level of consistent on-pitch success at Manchester City over the last 5-7 years, in many ways, is unparalleled, from Academy player progression and sales to the Men\u2019s first team treble in 2023. Long-term business and performance strategy has a lot to do with this, in my opinion.<\/p>\n

Good performance strategy increases speed<\/strong><\/p>\n

Modern high-performance environments are defined by complexity. Multiple competitions, condensed calendars, overlapping priorities and increasingly specialised roles place constant strain on alignment. Planning in these environments is often misunderstood as control. In reality, it is the opposite.<\/p>\n

When direction is clear, decisions decentralise. Coaches, athletes and staff can act with confidence because they understand the broader context. When strategy is absent, everything escalates upwards. Decisions slow, responsibility blurs and energy is wasted re-litigating the same conversations week after week.<\/p>\n

The VMOST model<\/strong><\/p>\n

At this point, structures and frameworks matter.<\/p>\n

One of the most effective ways I have seen performance strategy articulated in high-performance sport is through clear, simple models that translate long-term ambition into day-to-day action.<\/p>\n

One such model is VMOST (Vision, Mission, Objectives, Strategy and Tactics).<\/p>\n

VMOST was created by business strategist Rakesh Sondhi and first proposed in 1999 book Total Strategy<\/em>. The framework provides a disciplined way of connecting the big picture of the future to the daily actions, tasks and deliverables required to get there.<\/p>\n

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The power of VMOST lies in its simplicity.<\/p>\n

In high-performance environments, complexity is already high. Strategy models must reduce cognitive load, not add to it. VMOST creates line of sight. Individuals can see how their daily work connects all the way through to the long-term vision of the team and\/or organisation. In my last two roles as a performance director, my VMOST strategy was etched onto a big wall, one which staff members and athletes walked passed regularly. And when curious conversations or even debates took place, we often found ourselves standing around the visual, challenging whether a new idea could really help us achieve a strategy or the mission, or was it something that could derail us and divert energy, with no clear route to helping us win. This is definitely something I am taking into my new role in professional cricket.<\/p>\n

When applied well, this kind of structure does not constrain creativity. It enables it. People can feel empowered to adapt, innovate and solve problems within a clear strategic frame.<\/p>\n

A new era in professional cricket<\/strong><\/p>\n

In cricket, this strategic clarity is particularly valuable and I\u2019m living this right now as Performance Director at Warwickshire and the Birmingham Phoenix.<\/p>\n

Across a single season, players move between formats that demand entirely different physical, technical and psychological outputs. Red-ball cricket rewards patience, control and endurance. Short-form formats demand clarity, aggression and adaptability. Players are selected for specific skill sets, yet all must contribute to a collective performance.<\/p>\n

Without a clear strategic framework, these transitions become chaotic. Workloads conflict, roles blur and development stalls. With strategy, complexity becomes more manageable. Individuals understand their role, how it evolves across formats, and how their contribution supports the team\u2019s wider ambition.<\/p>\n

At its best, performance strategy connects people.<\/strong><\/p>\n

High-performance sport is full of specialists. Coaches, analysts, medics, strength staff and operations teams all operate in defined roles, and rightly so. The risk is not a lack of expertise, but fragmentation. Excellent work happening in isolation without a clear line of sight to the bigger picture, is one of the biggest risks leaders can face.<\/p>\n

A well-articulated strategy creates connection. It allows people to see how their work links through to the final mission and vision of the organisation. Daily decisions gain meaning. Trade-offs become easier to navigate. Autonomy increases because intent is understood.<\/p>\n

When people understand why their work matters, they can make better decisions.<\/p>\n

Strategy also provides continuity in environments where turnover is inevitable.<\/p>\n

Athletes move on. Coaches change. Support staff rotate. In some organisations, meaningful personnel change happens every season. Culture alone cannot carry performance identity through that level of churn.<\/p>\n

Strategy creates continuity of thought.<\/strong><\/p>\n

It anchors philosophy, ambition and non-negotiable principles beyond any individual. It allows new people to arrive and quickly understand how performance is built, what standards matter and what success really means in that environment.<\/p>\n

In my experience, the strongest systems are those where people can come and go without the performance identity being lost. That does not happen by accident. It happens because strategy has been made explicit, shared and lived.<\/p>\n

This requires leadership discipline.<\/p>\n

Performance strategy only creates connection and continuity if leaders reference it consistently, use it to explain decisions and hold themselves accountable to it under pressure. When strategy is visible in how leaders talk, select, invest and prioritise, it stops being a document and becomes a shared language.<\/p>\n

That language matters when pressure rises.<\/p>\n

Under stress, people revert to what they understand. Strategy provides a common frame of reference. It reduces anxiety, accelerates alignment and allows honest conversations about performance without personalising every decision.<\/p>\n

Planning also helps organisations say \u2018no\u2019.<\/strong><\/p>\n

In elite sport, opportunity is constant. New competitions, new technologies, new interventions and new ideas arrive relentlessly. Without strategy, everything feels urgent, and every new opportunity feels like one we can\u2019t miss out on. With strategy, priorities are clear. Resources are allocated intentionally. Energy is focused where it matters most.<\/p>\n

Importantly, you need to find ways to stay flexible, and not become rigid, bound to a strategy you developed years ago.<\/p>\n

The best strategies are not scripts. They are frameworks. They define principles, priorities and trade-offs rather than fixed answers. They allow adaptation without drift.<\/p>\n

Good performance strategy answers simple but powerful questions:<\/p>\n

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  1. What are we optimising for right now?<\/li>\n
  2. What are we willing to trade?<\/li>\n
  3. What will we not compromise on?<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    The human impact of planning is often underestimated.<\/strong><\/p>\n

    Clear strategy can reduce uncertainty. It gives people confidence in decision-making. Applied well, it creates psychological safety by replacing ambiguity with intent. Athletes and staff perform better when they understand direction, expectations and how success is defined.<\/p>\n

    This is particularly important in high-performance environments where accountability is high and pressure is constant.<\/p>\n

    For leaders looking to build effective performance strategy, a few principles matter.<\/p>\n

    <\/p>\n

    Competitive advantage<\/strong><\/p>\n

    Across Olympic and professional sport, one belief has remained constant for me: strategy is a competitive advantage if organisations are willing to treat it as such and invest in the people who are delivering it.<\/p>\n

    In high-performance sport, change and uncertainty is guaranteed. Strategy does not eliminate it, but it determines whether change becomes a threat or can be used as an advantage.<\/p>\n

    When planning for performance connects people, aligns ambition, creates continuity and promotes curiosity, performance shifts from reactive winning to sustainable success.<\/p>\n

    James Thomas is the Performance Director at Warwickshire County Cricket Club and one of sport\u2019s leading high performance experts. If you wish to speak to James, please contact a member of the Leaders Performance Institute team.<\/em><\/p>\n

    More from James Thomas<\/strong><\/p>\n

    <\/p>\n

    Olympic Champions Often Begin Their\u00a0Journey in Modest Circumstances, But it\u2019s Not About What Those Environments Lack \u2013 it\u2019s About What they Have in Abundance<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n