{"id":34503,"date":"2026-04-10T10:22:15","date_gmt":"2026-04-10T09:22:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/performance-institute\/?post_type=article&p=34503"},"modified":"2026-04-10T10:41:57","modified_gmt":"2026-04-10T09:41:57","slug":"how-to-build-stress-test-and-execute-an-effective-performance-strategy","status":"publish","type":"article","link":"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/performance-institute\/articles\/how-to-build-stress-test-and-execute-an-effective-performance-strategy\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Build, Stress-Test, and Execute an Effective Performance Strategy"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n
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\n 10 Apr 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

How to Build, Stress-Test, and Execute an Effective Performance Strategy<\/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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We bring you five factors to consider as discussed at Leaders Meet: the Art of Strategy this year by guests including Michael Bourne of the Lawn Tennis Association, Olympic gold medallist Tabby Stoecker and the UK Ministry of Defence\u2019s Aneaka Reay-Kemp.<\/p>\n \n \n \n

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Main Image: Robert Obreja \/ Leaders Performance Institute<\/p>\n

By John Portch<\/h6>\n
\u201cI tend to think of a strategy as a bridge between where you are and where you\u2019re dreaming of getting to,\u201d said Michael Bourne.<\/h6>\n

\u201cIn order to build the right bridge, you need to understand those two things.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bourne, the Performance Director at the Lawn Tennis Association [LTA], was the first to speak at Leaders Meet: the Art of Strategy, which took place at Lord\u2019s Cricket Ground in London in late March.<\/p>\n

Members of the Leaders Performance Institute travelled from far and wide for a day that challenged assumptions and provoked some of the sharpest minds in the sports industry to rethink how strategies emerge in high-performance environments.<\/p>\n

Bourne was joined on the bill by Milano Cortina mixed skeleton gold medallist, Tabby Stoecker, and speakers from organisations including the Football Association, luxury retailer Selfridges, and the UK Ministry of Defence. Together, they explored how strategies are built, stress-tested and executed by the best in the business.<\/p>\n

Below is a snapshot of the day\u2019s proceedings; five fresh insights to help strengthen your own planning and execution.<\/p>\n

1. A strategy starts with a brutally honest discussion<\/strong><\/p>\n

Bourne joined the LTA in 2018, when they were two years into their ten-year performance strategy designed to tackle the lack of players coming through the British tennis system.<\/p>\n

Yes, Andy Murray had won three majors in recent memory, but the sense was that this was \u201cdespite the system, not because of it\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn essence, between 2016 and 2017, the organisation undertook a diagnosis of the situation,\u201d said Bourne, \u201cand they came up with a number of different issues\u201d.<\/p>\n

This diagnosis, which included a lack of coherent pathways, limited programmes for talent ID, and resources spread too thinly, enabled the LTA to have a long, hard look at itself without pointing fingers at individuals. It lowered stakeholder defensiveness and provided the foundations for what they needed to do next.<\/p>\n

Bourne was not present for the diagnosis, but he was recruited shortly after to ensure the LTA adopted the right approach and a coordinated set of actions. But they could not jump ahead. As he said:<\/p>\n

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I believe that you have to have that first element of the diagnosis and your guiding policy right first.<\/strong><\/h4>\n<\/blockquote>\n
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Michael Bourne, Performance Director at the Lawn Tennis Association, spoke first and set out the hard truths confronting British Tennis back in the mid-2010s. Image: Robert Obreja \/ Leaders Performance Institute<\/p><\/div>\n

2. Your strategy must be co-created<\/strong><\/p>\n

At luxury retailer Selfridges, Head of DEI, Recruitment & Onboarding, Sharlene John, faced the challenge of trying to tie her work to commercial outcomes while challenging the idea that DEI is \u201cfluffy\u201d and irrelevant.<\/p>\n

The result was Selfridges\u2019 award-winning DEI and culture strategy Open to the World. On John\u2019s watch (she joined Selfridges in 2021), female leadership within the organisation has grown from 32% to almost 70%; Selfridges is also an industry leader in ethnic representation.<\/p>\n

Open to the World flourished because of John\u2019s efforts to ensure it was a co-created initiative from the start. She said:<\/p>\n

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Before we even put pen to paper, it was going out and speaking to my teams, but also my leaders, to understand what does DEI or culture mean to you? And where there was that missing voice, it was bringing people into the room. So not just relying on those senior leaders where we don’t have representation, it was \u2018OK, we’ll go down a layer\u2019\u2026 I was talking to people across our business with a headcount of around three and a half thousand\u2026 We\u2019ve got stores in Manchester, Birmingham, a tech suite in Leicester, and then the flagship in London. I went to every site speaking to people from grade 2, which is our junior role, up to our grade 7, which is exec positions, to understand what Open to the World actually means to them.<\/strong><\/h4>\n<\/blockquote>\n
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Sharlene John, the Head of DEI, Recruitment & Onboarding at Selfridges, describes her organisation’s award-winning Open to the World inclusion programme, which was built by a plurality of stakeholders. Image: Robert Obreja \/ Leaders Performance Institute<\/p><\/div>\n

3. Evaluation (and re-evaluation) is continuous<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cIf you don\u2019t get it right when you\u2019re there in the moment, doing a review process at the end is worthless.\u201d<\/p>\n

So said Paul Ford, the now former Head of Sport at the British Olympic Association [BOA], who spoke alongside Tabby Stoecker, the mixed team skeleton gold medallist at the Milano Cortina Games alongside her teammate Matt Weston.<\/p>\n

When it comes to in-the-moment tweaks, Ford has a point. The BOA must work with national governing bodies, coaches and athletes continuously throughout a four-year cycle. \u201cIt\u2019s making sure that we are doing it hand in hand with our sports as frequently as possible,\u201d Ford added.<\/p>\n

A macro \u2018plan-do-review\u2019 alone is not adequate. Of competition time itself, he said:<\/p>\n

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It\u2019s on a daily cycle during delivery mode at a Games. [We ask] what are you planning for this day? What are we doing this day? How has this day gone? Because if you don\u2019t make the most of that experience in the moment, it\u2019s not going to happen for another four years.<\/strong><\/h4>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Stoecker benefited from this approach, as demonstrated by her success. She said:<\/p>\n

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There wasn\u2019t just the review of that specific race, but also \u2018what are you taking from this that you\u2019re going to change or carry forward for three years\u2019 time, two years\u2019 time, six months\u2019 time?\u2019\u2026 you can get quite swept up in what you\u2019re doing and you have these extreme highs and lows. So I think staying focused, and when you\u2019re then doing that and being so process-driven, the results just come.<\/strong><\/h4>\n<\/blockquote>\n
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British Olympic gold medallist Tabby Stoecker is deep in conversation with Paul Ford, the former Head of Sport at the British Olympic Association, as they discuss Team GB’s strategic approach to Olympic cycles and, more specifically, Stoecker’s path to gold in the mixed skeleton at the Milano Cortina Games. Image: Robert Obreja \/ Leaders Performance Institute<\/p><\/div>\n

4. Be ready to act on incomplete information<\/strong><\/p>\n

You and your team may enjoy clarity and alignment of purpose, but optimal operating conditions are likely to be elusive whatever your efforts.<\/p>\n

With this in mind, Aneaka Reay-Kemp, the Lead Military Intelligence Specialist at the UK Ministry of Defence, told the audience how British military operations are primed to perform when personnel do not have even 60% of the desired information. They are trained, as she said, to be \u201ccomfortable being uncomfortable\u201d.<\/p>\n

Rank, she argued, has limited bearing. In fact, the British military has taken steps to reduce the influence of its own hierarchies in moments of uncertainty. She said:<\/p>\n

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It doesn\u2019t matter what\u2019s on that person\u2019s chest, it doesn\u2019t matter their background, they still bring value no matter how junior they are. So for me, I find that when you\u2019re operating in an environment where you don\u2019t have all the information, understanding your people, understanding their capability, what they bring to the party can help save someone\u2019s life.<\/strong><\/h4>\n<\/blockquote>\n
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Aneaka Reay-Kemp, the Lead Military Intelligence Specialist at the UK Ministry of Defence (centre), in conversation with moderator Iain Brunnschweiler (left) and Football Association Head of Strategic Development & Operations, Paul Cleal (right) as she explained what it takes for military personnel to act with incomplete information. Image: Robert Obreja \/ Leaders Performance Institute<\/p><\/div>\n

5. What are you ready to discard?<\/strong><\/p>\n

New initiatives, new processes and new ways of thinking are great, but what are you prepared to discard?<\/p>\n

\u201cOne of the things about strategy is making choices,\u201d says Paul Cleal, who spoke alongside Reay-Kemp in his capacity as Head of Strategic Development & Operations at the Football Association. \u201cIf you\u2019re trying to change something, it almost always involves stopping doing something else.\u201d<\/p>\n

However, as he has experienced, this is often easier said than done. \u201cIf things involve stopping doing something for the new thing you need, a lot of organisations struggle with that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Evidence, he explained, is critical in making those choices:<\/p>\n

When I walked in three years ago, my job was not to throw things in the bin and do them differently. It was to ask: is what we\u2019re doing now meeting the strategic aims and to what extent do we need to get closer to our strategic aims and what is it we can change?<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Paul Cleal, the Head of Strategic Development & Operations at the Football Association, explains why it’s important to discard programmes and processes when they no longer serve the collective. Image: Robert Obreja \/ Leaders Performance Institute<\/p><\/div>\n

See you at the Sport Performance Summit in New York?<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

The Sport Performance Summit New York<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n