{"id":8423,"date":"2021-09-10T10:00:00","date_gmt":"2021-09-10T10:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/performance-institute\/?post_type=article&p=8423"},"modified":"2025-12-15T05:11:44","modified_gmt":"2025-12-15T05:11:44","slug":"how-head-coach-paula-dunn-worked-to-become-a-better-leader-at-britains-paralympic-athletics-programme","status":"publish","type":"article","link":"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/performance-institute\/articles\/how-head-coach-paula-dunn-worked-to-become-a-better-leader-at-britains-paralympic-athletics-programme\/","title":{"rendered":"How Head Coach Paula Dunn Worked to Become a Better Leader at Britain\u2019s Paralympic Athletics Programme"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n
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\n 10 Sep 2021 <\/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 Head Coach Paula Dunn Worked to Become a Better Leader at Britain\u2019s Paralympic Athletics Programme<\/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\/how-head-coach-paula-dunn-worked-to-become-a-better-leader-at-britains-paralympic-athletics-programme\/<\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/section>\n\n\n\n\n
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A Leadership & Culture article brought to you by our Partners<\/p>\n

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By John Portch<\/h6>\n

The track & field athletes of ParalympicsGB excelled again at the Games in Tokyo.<\/h4>\n

Great Britain claimed 24 medals in athletics \u2013 nine gold, five silver and ten bronze \u2013 to contribute to the nation\u2019s second-place in the overall medals table. Overall, the team reached the podium in more sports than any other nation at a single Paralympics.<\/p>\n

The Games were just around the corner when the Leaders Performance Institute spoke to Paula Dunn, the Head Coach of the Paralympic Programme at British Athletics, who spoke with pride of her athletes\u2019 abilities.<\/p>\n

\u201cI always say we are athletes<\/em> with a disability,\u201d she says over Zoom on the eve of the Games. \u201cThe \u2018athlete\u2019 is the key one. People need to understand that genetics will flow through a person whether they\u2019ve got a disability or not. There are just going to be people who are more gifted, more talented.\u201d<\/p>\n

The talent was there, but these Games were postponed by a year due to the pandemic \u2013 and most para-athletes are in the demographic to whom Covid-19 poses the greatest risk. \u201cAt the start of the day, I\u2019ll usually connect with Amanda Evans, my Programme Manager, and Katie Jones, my Podium Potential Manager,\u201d Dunn continues. \u201cPre-competition and at the comps, we\u2019ll do a daily meeting just to see if anything has happened overnight in terms of athlete health and wellbeing. Amanda will then give me any logistical updates.<\/p>\n

\u201cCurrently, most of our updates are about Covid where we\u2019ll ask \u2018have any athletes been pinged? Does any athlete need an exemption letter?\u2019 That\u2019s generally what myself and the management discuss every day at the moment. Any changes with the athletes and any status change regarding Covid, travel and logistics.\u201d Dunn explains that she would expect things to be \u201cfull on\u201d approaching a Games but that Covid has \u201cadded an extra layer.\u201d<\/p>\n

All things considered, the sight of Hannah Cockcroft, Aled Davies and Jonnie Peacock further adding to their Paralympic medal hauls was one thing, but the success of the collective in delivering a team to the Games, keeping them safe and well, and enabling them to compete is perhaps a greater triumph.<\/p>\n

Dunn, as the Head Coach of a team that has enjoyed another successful cycle, has grown into her role since taking the reins in 2012 and, here, the Leaders Performance Institute highlights four considerations that have assisted her development as a leader.<\/p>\n

1. Create a fun but purposeful environment<\/strong><\/p>\n

For all the ways Dunn might have changed in her nine years at the helm, there has been one constant: an emphasis on creating an environment where staff members are having fun while simultaneously being challenged. \u201cI want us to have a clear direction of where we\u2019re going and how we want to work, but this is supposed to be fun,\u201d she says. \u201cIt\u2019s sport \u2013 we\u2019ve got to enjoy it. Yes, it\u2019s serious. Yes, it\u2019s hard, but, ultimately, we came into this because of a love of the sport. It has to be purposeful hard work, focused on doing all the basics really well. We also need to make sure we create an environment that is both challenging and supportive and where we work as a team.\u201d Her words strike a chord with Dave Slemen, Founding Partner at Elite Performance Partners [EPP], a performance consultancy and search firm working across elite sport. \u201cI completely agree with Paula,\u201d says Slemen, when asked to reflect on Dunn\u2019s comments. \u201cAt times people mix up seriousness with professionalism. Everyone knows the pressure the athletes are under and how hard training and performing is. We see that ability to switch on and off as vital to competing at your best when it matters.\u201d<\/p>\n

2. There is nothing wrong with a leader displaying vulnerability<\/strong><\/p>\n

Dunn again emphasises the importance of teamwork. \u00a0\u201cI like working within a team, especially in a sport that\u2019s still growing,\u201d she says, adding, \u201cThere\u2019s different ways of looking at information and different pockets of expertise. Sometimes you have to make a decision and so I like clarity of information.\u201d<\/p>\n

In reflection on her first Paralympic cycle as Head Coach, she admits she too often tried to be across every detail. \u201cI\u2019ll now tell my team \u2018I need help\u2019,\u201d she says. \u201cIt\u2019s about being humble and saying you don\u2019t have all the answers, but you have to be really comfortable in your own skin to do that and you have to trust the people around you. In my first cycle, I did not do any of that.<\/p>\n

\u201cI thought I had to be in charge, I had to be tough, I had to work the longest hours, I had to have all the answers. It\u2019s never good to have a decision made by one person, so I\u2019ve tried to work with my team, understanding what their motivations are, and just being honest when I just don\u2019t know something or if I\u2019ve had issues.<\/p>\n

\u201cShowing vulnerability, people see it as a weakness \u2013 it\u2019s not a weakness. People just need to know that you don\u2019t have all the answers and I think a bit of vulnerability just makes people aware that you\u2019re a human being. You can have good days and bad days and sometimes you just need to go out and ask for help.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy team know I don\u2019t have all the answers, especially when it comes to budgets, so I don\u2019t even try anymore; or Excel spreadsheets. I know what I\u2019m good at, but then I know what other people are good at and I feel comfortable saying: \u2018this is your area of expertise, you lead on that.\u2019 And just doing that with the team has made them feel valued; they feel they\u2019ve played a major part and also they know they\u2019ve got a super strength that I haven\u2019t got, which is important to everybody\u2019s motivations to come to work and to keep working hard.\u201d<\/p>\n

Slemen agrees. \u201cVulnerability and authenticity are now being recognised as key attributes in successful leaders,\u201d he says. \u201cNo one gets there on their own, and showing you don\u2019t have all the answers allows others to step up and know where they stand \u2013 it also gives them permission to speak up too. Psychologically safe environments have been shown to be the key ingredients for successful teams and this is what Paula has created.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dunn is certainly proud of the multidisciplinary team that supported her athletes in Tokyo. \u201cI\u2019ve worked really hard to create a really good team of people where we all have the same voice, we all have a voice, we all use that voice appropriately and we all sit around that table as equals, but that takes time to create an environment where everyone feels that they have a voice and can input and feel that they\u2019re going to be listened to.\u201d<\/p>\n

As Slemen observes, this is the type of collaboration and open communication that leads to trust, which was a particular focus during Dunn\u2019s second cycle. \u201cI\u2019ve worked with this team and been the Head Coach for about nine years and, in my first cycle, it wasn\u2019t like that,\u201d she says. \u201cThey gave me information and I decided what was relevant and made a decision. This Tokyo cycle, I\u2019m now more comfortable in this role, it\u2019s definitely more now of a team working and people throw in information and we decide together. Some of my information might be no good; \u2018let\u2019s get rid of that idea, Paula, but this one\u2019s really good that so-and-so made\u2019. It definitely takes time for everyone to find their feet, but underlying everything is that we trust each other, and because we trust each other, we know that nobody is going to be dismissed.\u201d<\/p>\n

3. Listening is a skill that can be practised<\/strong><\/p>\n

Making people feel comfortable enough to contribute means being ready to listen as a head coach. It is a skill that Dunn has had to work on. \u201cEverybody says that listening is probably the hardest skill,\u201d she says. \u201cEveryone goes with a pre-conceived idea or they want to be the one to talk. It\u2019s a skill I really practise.\u201d<\/p>\n

She walks the Leaders Performance Institute through a typical meeting. \u201cWhen I\u2019m in a room with that person I\u2019m actually in the room and not thinking about the next meeting or the next person, I\u2019m actually really investing quality time in what that person is saying. I\u2019m looking at their body language and I\u2019m listening to what they\u2019re saying and listening to what they\u2019re not<\/em> saying as well because that\u2019s sometimes a clue to what\u2019s going on. I have to really focus on what they\u2019re saying and what they\u2019re not saying to try and get out the real information that\u2019s important to that person.\u201d<\/p>\n

Anna Edwards, EPP\u2019s Managing Partner, explains that listening and being present is a real skill and, as such, EPP hosts workshops focused on the different levels of listening and the difference in depths of rapport they build. \u201cI think the key here is that most leadership skills like this can actually be learnt,\u201d she says. \u201cOnce learnt they have to be practised, ideally under pressure or coached with feedback \u2013 just like the sports their athletes compete in.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dunn adds that she tends to repeat an individual\u2019s words back to them to indicate her understanding. \u201cIf someone says \u2018I think we should do this at the start\u2019 I\u2019ll say \u2018so you think we should do this at the start?\u2019 So they know that I\u2019m taking onboard what they\u2019re saying. I also try to not come to a conclusion before they finish their sentence, which can be difficult and I know I used to do it, but I\u2019ve stopped myself now. I repeat \u2018this is what you want from this\u2019 so that they understand that I\u2019m actually invested in this conversation and I\u2019m not being dismissive and that I value the person in front of me. Listening is key. Talking is easy. Somebody said you\u2019ve two ears and one mouth for a reason and you should listen twice as much as you talk. That\u2019s really true.\u201d<\/p>\n

4. Tensions are inevitable, but people generally have good intentions<\/strong><\/p>\n

For all Dunn\u2019s talk of \u2018fun\u2019, tensions can and do emerge, but that is not necessarily a bad thing, particularly when there is trust, an open forum to discuss performance questions, and a leader able to act upon quality information. \u201cThat\u2019s why it\u2019s important to remember that everybody is in the room for the right reasons,\u201d she says. \u201cIf we all understand what the reason is then we should not be too far away from the same conclusions. When we\u2019re all in that room, we\u2019re all doing it to make sure that that athlete feels a sense of what we\u2019re working with and reaches their full potential.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ll have discussions but we\u2019ll know that we have to resolve it because, if we don\u2019t, it will impact on the athlete\u2019s performance. It always goes back to why we\u2019re in the room. It\u2019s not about my ego or someone else\u2019s ego, it\u2019s actually about how do we support the athlete to reach their full potential; and if we\u2019re arguing or decide that one point of view is more important than another then it will impact on performance; and if you bring it back to that, people think, \u2018yeah, it is about them, so what do I need to do to make sure that athlete reaches their full potential?\u2019 You always bring it back to the common denominator. Everybody is there for the athlete.\u00a0 If you bring it back to that, then it steadies the ship.<\/p>\n

\u201cI believe that everybody, even if it doesn\u2019t look that obvious, comes in to create upset. It may come across like that, but everything they do is coming from the right place. It\u2019s what the athlete needs to progress and it may be the way that something\u2019s been said or the way it\u2019s been received, but people have good intentions.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Download Performance 23<\/strong><\/p>\n

Our latest Performance journal has landed, with Gareth Southgate, Head Coach of the England men’s football team<\/strong> leading the way with his reflections on defining and developing resilience. Elsewhere we spoke to the Arizona Diamondbacks<\/strong> of Major League Baseball, as well as the world-renowned New Zealand Rugby<\/strong>, and British Wheelchair Basketball<\/strong>, who runs some of the finest programmes in the sport. Edd Vahid of Premier League club Southampton FC<\/strong> also penned a column focusing on talent pathways.<\/em><\/p>\n