04
11.2014
GameMan
Team
Changer
—
—
Thomas
Dimitroff
Billy
Beane
on
the
art ofon
team
achievingand
radical
building
disruptive
change
talent
evaluation
Insights from the leading figures in
sports performance & beyond
04 Autumn Issue
Welcome
Stephen Dobson
Executive Editor
Performance
Portability of Performance
here’s a great book written on talent
called Chasing Stars: The Myth of Talent
and the Portability of Performance. It’s
by a Harvard Business School Professor named
Boris Groysberg, who examined the careers
of more than 1,000 star analysts at Wall Street
investment banks. When these people change
organizations they take their skills, networks
and even clients with them. There’s a saying on
Wall Street that goes: “When an analyst moves
from one firm to another, the only thing that
changes is the letterhead.” Of all positions, this
is the one where performance of new hires
should be guaranteed.
Yet Groysberg found that star analysts often
suffered an immediate and lasting decline in
performance when they moved banks. Their
previous results appear to have been intimately
linked to their former employer’s unique
resources, environment, organizational
cultures, networks and staff.
In elite sport, where performance is ruthlessly
and openly scrutinized, and talent moves freely
around organizations, how often is predicted
future performance based on past results? Is
the context of that previous performance and
the unique aspects of our own organizations
properly understood? To help us explore this
idea we met with Thomas Dimitroff, who’s spent
his career evaluating talent and building teams
in the NFL. He told us that one of his biggest
mistakes when recruiting talent was not to look
at his organization as a whole and understand
how that player would fit in and adapt. He
described it as “the art of middle management
– understanding our coaches and our assistant
coaches, who they are, how they thrive and
whom they can thrive with before we decide
to invest a lot of money acquiring talent”. The
result is an insight into the inner workings of
an NFL franchise – the relationships, the team,
the organization, the city and everything in
between. Turn to page 20 to read more about
his approach to talent evaluation and
team building.
Of course, the other option to recruiting talent
is developing your own, and that’s the area
we’ve explored in our two other talent articles
in this edition, firstly with the Head of Learning
and Talent Development at global investment
bank BNP Paribas, a man who develops highflying ‘corporate athletes’ on a daily basis,
and secondly with a world expert in skill
development from the Australian Institute of
Sport, who told us that the “best coaches have
athletes believe they’re exactly the right
coach for them”.
Elsewhere in this edition we talk to legendary
rugby coach Sir Graham Henry about
what makes the New Zealand All Blacks so
special, we challenge traditional thinking on
testosterone and look at the tenets of great
leadership. It’s a collection of stories and ideas
to help you look at your team, athletes and
organization with fresh eyes.
Worth Knowing
01
1
04 Autumn Issue
Contents
08
34
30
50
48
Cover
Story
20
Thomas
Dimitroff
Team Man
The Art of Team
Building and Talent
Evaluation
20
42
54
20
Features
Insights
10
Michael Brooke
30
Robert Kaplan
Extracting the best
from the best
34
Sir Graham
Henry
You don’t coach
sitting down
42
Ashley
Merryman
Testosterone
A Common
Misconception
The tenets of
leadership
62
Mike Fincke
Out of This World
Columns
17
Mounir Zok
How? What? Why?
Wearable technology
and decision making
56
Chris Parker
The Dangers of
a Casual Glance
Around the
World
04
Leaders Sport
Performance
Summit
New York 2014
08
Reading List
Alastair Clarkson
58
5 Minutes With
Credits
Publisher
LEADERS
Executive Editor
Stephen Dobson
Editors
Matthew Thacker
Ed Davis
Matthew Stone
Art Director
Brilliant Path
Commercial
Manager
Justin Woolford
Writers
Mounir Zok
Chris Parker
Performance
Consultants
Mike Forde
Damien Comolli
Clive Reeves
Photographic Agency
Getty Images
Justin Moore
Associate Athletic
Director for Football
Texas A&M
50
Damian Farrow
In Pursuit of
Excellence
02
03
04 Autumn Issue
Leaders Sport
Performance
Summit 2014
New York
In June 2014, the Leaders Sport Performance
Summit returned to US soil for another
sell-out conference at Bloomberg HQ in
New York City. Three hundred and fifty elite
coaches, managers, sporting directors,
technical directors and performance directors
- representing 36 sports and 25 countries gathered at the event to share knowledge,
exchange ideas and listen to inspiring stories.
Maurits Hendriks
Chef De Mission Sochi 2014 and Rio 2016
Netherlands Olympic Committee
Michael Gervais
High Performance Sports Psychologist
Seattle Seahawks
“There are people here with absolutely
tremendous track records.”
“It’s a great experience to be able to
learn from the best in the world.”
Brian Cashman
General Manager
New York Yankees
Sir Graham Henry
Former Head Coach
New Zealand All Blacks
Trent Baalke
General Manager
San Francisco 49ers
David Epstein
NY Times best-selling author
The Sports Gene
Tom Crean
Head Coach
Indiana Hoosiers Men’s Basketball
“The best way to learn is a crash
course at a summit like this.”
“It was a pleasure to speak
at this conference.”
“Events like this are
extremely important.”
“The range of people here, and their
thirst to learn, is unlike anything else.”
“I was really excited to come.”
04
05
04 Autumn Issue
The Sport
Performance
Summit
In Numbers
394,722 miles
Total Distance Travelled
25
Countries
Represented
8
Expert Workshops in
Sports Performance
5,250 yrs
Combined Years
of Experience
75
International
Clubs
36
Different
Sports
350
15
Speakers
13
World
Champions
42
Sporting
Federations
Delegates
06
07
Alastair Clarkson,
Head Coach, Hawthorn FC
04 Autumn Issue
Alastair Clarkson is a former Australian
rules footballer and current coach of
Hawthorn Football Club. Following a
successful playing career he moved
into coaching in 2001 and was
appointed to his first senior coaching
position in 2005 at Hawthorn FC.
After a tough start, his side saw
rapid improvement, reaching the AFL
Finals in 2007 and claiming a Grand
Final victory in 2008, 2013 and 2014.
After years of sustained success,
Alastair is known as one of the most
progressive coaches in one of the
most competitive sports on the planet.
Reading List
Alastair
Clarkson
Alastair Clarkson, 2008, 2013 and 2014 Grand
Final-winning coach, discloses some of the
favorite titles that sit on his bookshelf.
Legacy
James Kerr
First published in 2013, this book
explores the philosophies that
have helped make the All Blacks
the world’s most consistently
successful international sporting
outfit and asks what can we – as
individuals, companies and teams
– learn from what they do.
Clarkson: “Marrying the significant
cultural influence of the traditional
Maori people with the business
priniciples required to endure and
enjoy sustained sucess, this book tracks
15 lessons of leadership and business
and gives some level of understanding
about the legendary deeds of the
All Blacks of New Zealand.”
08
Management Secrets
of the New England
Patriots
James Levin
An all-encompassing account of the
outstanding New England Patriots
team, this title analyzes the many
‘success factors’ underlying the team’s
three Super Bowl victories across four
seasons from 2001-2004. Managing
to be both entertaining and insightful,
it’s a must-read for anyone looking
to revolutionize their organization.
Clarkson: “The New England Patriots
have continued to reinvent themselves
under Bill Belichick. They are living
proof that if you select the right people
on and off the field, instill the right
mindset and reinforce those behaviors
that benefit the group rather than the
individual, the whole can be much
greater than the sum of its parts.”
Playing to Win
Michael Gordon
Playing to Win is an insider’s view
of how the Hawthorn Football Club
won its 11th Premiership in 2013
and, in the process, established
itself as Australia’s most successful
football club during the past 60
years. Written by an award-winning
author, it offers a fascinating insight
into what it takes to build a winning
culture at a sports team. If Clarkson,
the man at the helm of Hawthorn
FC during this incredible period,
endorses it then it must be good…
Clarkson: “Michael Gordon has
chronicled the progress of the Hawthorn
Football Club intimately over the past
six years. This account is a compelling
read for all football lovers, especially
those who enjoy observing the spirit
with which a group of people
band together to chase a dream.”
09
| Talent Development | Corporate Athlete |
Extracting
the best from
the best
When looking to enhance your own performance, much can
be learned from examining excellence within other fields.
Michael Brooke, talent specialist at global investment bank
BNP Paribas, explains exactly how he goes about training
and developing elite executives. These ‘corporate athletes’
come through a rigorous selection process, operate under
extreme pressure and make decisions everyday with
billions of dollars at stake. And – just like in sport – getting
their coaching right, fine-tuning their skills and ensuring
they are performing at their full potential provides a key
advantage in a ruthlessly competitive environment.
Michael Brooke
A chartered psychologist, consultant
and senior learning professional,
Michael has coached, designed
and delivered training in numerous
organizations and across a variety of
industry sectors. Clients have included
city solicitors, senior investment
bankers, traders, private equity
partners, advertising executives, board
directors and professional athletes. He
has extensive experience in the City
of London and has held various senior
learning and development roles. He is
currently the UK talent specialist for
global investment bank, BNP Paribas.
He also runs his own consultancy
specializing in high performance
coaching and is an Associate Fellow
of the British Psychological Society.
have worked in talent development
in various blue chip organizations
for more than 20 years. My
experience has been on both sides, as
a supplier and as an in-house ‘buyer’.
These organizations are characterized
by talented people who tend to share a
common need: they are generally hungry
to be developed – by credible experts –
but almost without exception are hard
to engage and extremely time-poor.
This is where some creative use of crossindustry expertise has proven successful
for developing elite talent in business. Here
are three informal principles I’ve used when
designing interventions and some of the
areas I’ve found to be rich with learnings.
Expertise Is All Around Us
The acting profession, as an example, has
an enormous contribution to make to the
business world. Actors have long been
helping business, typically by carrying out
roleplays to simulate business scenarios.
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04 Autumn Issue
The excellent feedback they provide comes
from a completely different school of thought.
Yet there is much more to be learnt from the
acting profession, for example from actor
and leading communication skills expert
David Gillespie of The Speechworks.
David works with some of the world’s leading
business executives and has based aspects of
his philosophy around his acting work. One
piece of his wisdom I’ve found resonates well
in business is the importance of status
in communication:
“It’s all about status – and the sort of status
we’re talking about has nothing to do with
position or power or any of the things we
might usually associate with the word. This is
about perception. How we are perceived and
how we want to be perceived. On a status
scale of 1-10, 10 is not the best and one isn’t
the worst – in fact they are both as bad as
each other. Ten is aloof arrogance that pushes
people away and one is timid apology that
closes us off for meaningful communication.”
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03 Summer Issue
“The right level to be effective communicators
is in the middle – 5-7 on the status scale, making
us open, accessible, warm, approachable and
strong – and it’s physical, vocal and emotional.
Status is the absolute bedrock to great
communication. Actors get to explore status
from one to 1,000 because that’s their job.
People in business don’t have that luxury. They
have to get their status bang on right first time
– every time.”
Having observed many tangible performance
improvements from working with actors, I have
progressed to exploring how the wider world of
entertainment can assist us, and have recently
worked with comedians and musicians in order
to extract even more incremental gains for the
talent pool within one organization. Of course
we are not trying to turn people into comedians,
but to help them understand that everything
from client pitches, to team meetings, to oneon-one conversations are actually opportunities
to give memorable performances and hence
improve outcomes.
“Actors get to explore
status from one to
1,000 because that’s
their job. People in
business don’t have
that luxury”.
Don’t Always Look In The Most Obvious Place
Naturally, the subject of confidence is talked
about in all professional circles – nowhere
more than in professional sport, which has
contributed significantly to the debate.
I have had great success with business
executives by deploying physician Dr Tim
Anstiss, who approaches the topic from a
well-being and human flourishing approach.
Here are Tim’s thoughts on confidence:
“A lack of confidence is common, and isn’t
always a bad thing. There are lots of things
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I lack confidence in, and that stops me
doing stuff that perhaps I should not or
am not ready to do. And we all know
people who are overconfident, and the
bad things that can happen as a result.
“One of the things I want to do as a doctor
working with patients with long-term
conditions is to help them become more
confident about managing their own
health in the future. To do this, I draw on
‘self-efficacy’ theory of Albert Bandura.
Self-efficacy (task-specific confidence) is a
major determinant of whether or not people
attempt adopting a behavior, and how long
they persist in the face of obstacles. And it
comes from four main sources: previous
mastery experiences, vicarious learning
(learning from others), persuasion from
an authority and physiological feedback.
So to help a patient become more confident
we get them to practice the required
behavior in small, progressive steps,
watch how other people do it and learn
from or with them, whilst providing an
optimistic coaching and supporting style of
communication and feedback. And this is
the same way I help anyone become more
confident at what they want to learn to do.
“But since anxiety and fear of failure
also get in the way of people attempting
new things, I also throw in a few proven
cognitive-behavioral and mindfulness-
based practices to help people either (a)
experience less fear or (b) experience
anxiety and do the behavior anyway.”
The Communication Is As
Important As The Content
Sometimes a story is more effective, more
memorable and more hard-hitting than any
other form of learning. A story engages
with people on a different level. Stories
stimulate both emotional and logical parts
of the brain. If you try to persuade through
facts and figures, you are more likely to
meet resistance, people will naturally look
for opposing arguments or flaws in the
data. Through stories we are more open to
new ideas. So, where appropriate, I have
used this methodology quite specifically
to engage people with new initiatives.
“If you try to persuade
through facts and
figures, you are
more likely to meet
resistance, people
will naturally look for
opposing arguments
or flaws in the data”.
So what easy steps can organizations
take in order to enhance the skills of their
people through cross-industry sharing?
Dr Chris Shambrook, psychologist to the
GB Olympic Rowing team, talks about
high performers (in any profession) having
an in-depth understanding of all of the
performance resources available to them, and
the importance of meticulous and deliberate
development of each of these resources. Chris
breaks these into six key components of high
performance: tactical, technical, physical,
psychological, emotional and contextual. This
simple framework when combined with the
aforementioned principles can be helpful to
almost any performer in virtually any context.
So how can this be adopted in practice? Firstly,
organizations (or individuals) might wish to
define their own list of key resources, (tactical,
technical and so on). The second key step is
to identify which of these are well developed
and which need attention. For example,
technical skills might be in pretty good shape,
but let’s say the thinking skills are not being
deliberately developed sufficiently, hence
there is a development opportunity there.
Step three is to look around with a very open
mind to identify where some real expertise
exists, and step four is to engage with that
expertise in a creative way considering all
the principles mentioned above.Truly highperforming organizations could do well to
adopt this strategy, not as a nice to have, but
as an essential mindset in order to survive.
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04 Autumn Issue
| Advertorial |
Unique
Information
Is Power
SenseCore
was really interesting to see and will be
influential during my next preparation.”
And what made him choose SenseCore over
the other options available on the market?
Did he have any concerns about incorporating
the technology into his training regime? “My
biggest concern regarding performance meters
has been the fit of the sensors,” Frodeno
says. “SenseCore is super-light and there’s
a fitting solution for every chest – you can
even put them on your back. And since I’ve
used SenseCore, I’ve found the wealth of data
is vastly superior – I basically own a mobile
science lab – and it’s made it easy for me to
check all parameters of my body that I need on
a daily basis.
Performance met with Jan
Frodeno, gold medallist
in the triathlon at the
2008 Beijing Olympics, to
find out how SenseCore’s
revolutionary technology is
helping him to expand his
performance boundaries.
used to be a feel only kind of guy,
but my coach has introduced me
into quantifying and analyzing my
performance,” Frodeno explains. “So far
the power meter on the bike has made the
biggest impact, since I use it on a daily basis.
The wealth of data I am now able to collect
through SenseCore has already helped me
make fundamental decisions on race clothing
and pacing for long endurance sessions. Now
I can’t leave the house without it, since it gives
me objective feedback of every session. In
long distance racing it’s important to see how
effective you’re working, as you seldom go
as hard as you can – rather you just go for as
long as you can. Gathering data on how hard
I’m working and being able to compare it is
something my coach and myself see as having
huge potential going forward in the future.”
The 33-year-old athlete has been one of the
leading lights in triathlon since he first took
up the sport in 2000, with career highlights
including his triumphant performance at
Beijing, strong campaigns in the 2009 and
14
2010 World Championship Triathlon Series
and a gold medal at the Mixed Relay
Triathlon World Championships at Hamburg
in 2013. Later that same year, he made
the decision to shift his attention from
the shorter forms of the sport and take up
the challenge of longer distance formats,
finishing second at the 2014 Ironman 70.3
World Championship in Mont-Tremblant,
Quebec. But at what stage did he make the
decision to incorporate SenseCore into his
training regime?
“I’ve been using SenseCore for roughly two
months and the immediate feedback from
testing clothing for the Hawaii Ironman [in
October] made it easy to make decisions as
to what to wear on race day,” Frodeno says.
“The main insight I was looking for was
body temperature monitoring in the heat
and how to optimize it. In the future I’m
going to build a sleep database in order to
optimize my recovery. Also the development
of heart rate versus pace versus temperature
“Since I’ve used
SenseCore, I’ve found
the wealth of data
is vastly superior – I
basically own a mobile
science lab.”
“Another big thing for me is the absence of data
loss. The sensors fit perfectly so I never have to
deal with false readings and my coach can work
with a complete set of data. A further big plus
is that I can get relevant data from swim sets
– something that was previously impossible,”
Frodeno adds. “Also the software is easy to use,
gives as much feedback as I choose and taps
into the mental side of the sport – one that is
often underestimated.”
SenseCore came about because of the
vision of two industry-leading experts.
Alexandros Giannakis, an MBA graduate
of EPFL in Lausanne and expert in risk and
technology management, recognized that the
groundbreaking new wearable technology
developed by Switzerland’s most prestigious
innovation centre to give astronauts the ability
to monitor their own biometrical data had the
potential to transform the sports and medical
industries. The technology, which utilizes dry
electrodes to provide outstanding biometrical
data while also offering exceptional comfort to
the user, offers its users high-quality data that
allows them to discern exactly how their
body is performing.
Recognizing that providing context around
that unique set of data is imperative if an
athlete is to interpret it correctly, Giannakis
partnered up with Dr Aki Hintsa. His methods
have helped Formula One drivers win nine out
of the last 11 World Drivers Championships (to
cite just some of the success enjoyed by his
athletes). Giannakis and Hintsa have worked
alongside a group of elite experts to develop
SenseCore’s products that enable not only the
monitoring of unique biometrical data but also
the assessment of all areas related to human
high performance and well-being: health,
training, biomechanics, recovery, nutrition and
mental energy. These products are now being
utilized by an array of athletes worldwide,
offering feedback on aspects such as medicalgrade ECG, respiration, three-axis acceleration,
body skin temperature the list goes on – all
in a manner that allows an athlete and coach
to easily interpret the information and thus
instantly adapt their training and recovery
regime to reflect it, a routine that Frodeno and
his coach now have refined to a fine art.
“I upload every session once I’m finished and
he analyzes it, gives me feedback and plans
the next few days,” Frodeno explains. “Rarely
do I know my training plans for longer than
three days and we believe this is the way to
prepare and adapt in the best possible way.“
And if SenseCore is helping an Olympic gold
medallist push himself ever harder,
then what could it do for others?
senseyourcore.com
15
04 Autumn Issue
SUPPORT
BUILT AROUND
YOU
Toshiba Medical Systems imaging equipment breaks
new ground in sports medicine
| Technology |
State-of-the-art medical imaging equipment is helping leaders in sports dramatically enhance player
and athlete well-being and performance.
In 2014 Toshiba Medical Systems UK has announced itself as the leading imaging
equipment provider for the sports medicine industry following a partnership
with Manchester United, through the design and installation of the world’s most
advanced onsite football medical imaging facility at its AON Training Complex
at Carrington. In addition, the development of an advanced medical centre and
Medical Imaging Academy at Barnet FC, and an innovative youth elite sports
science partnership with the Tessa Sanderson Foundation for young, gifted
athletes, has seen an increase in demand for Toshiba imaging equipment
and applications for high-profile, elite and developing athlete sport medicine
initiatives. Most recently, Toshiba Medical Systems was named as official provider
of diagnostic imaging equipment for the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games.
These four high-profile initiatives highlight the importance of world-class imaging
equipment for sports medicine and elite athlete development across a wide
variety of sporting disciplines. Today’s and tomorrow’s performance leaders
continue to embrace the imaging equipment that will advance player and athlete
availability, performance, injury detection and prevention, and rehabilitation.
Toshiba Medical Systems at Manchester United’s AON
Training Complex
Manchester United’s brand new medical facility at the AON Training Complex
sees a partnership between the club and Toshiba Medical Systems come
together in the use of state-of-the-art medical equipment within an elite sports
club environment. The collaboration promotes the rapid development of novel
sports medicine and exercise-related applications for CT, ultrasound and MRI
scanners developed by global leaders in the fields of football and medical
imaging. Beyond enhancing player well-being, employing state-of-the-art
equipment onsite will help reduce disruption to player and
team preparation.
The enhanced medical facility was one of the key objectives of the
redevelopment of the training ground, with Toshiba Medical Systems’ imaging
equipment being a major component. The range of imaging equipment
impacts on all areas from player performance and match availability, to injury
management and screening. The precision equipment provides the Manchester
United medical team with the ability to make the right clinical decisions at the
right time for both the player and the team.
Barnet FC partners with Toshiba Medical Systems for
advanced medical centre and Imaging Academy
Toshiba Medical Systems and Barnet FC are partners in the development of
an advanced medical centre that will provide elite footballers, athletes and the
wider community with world-class diagnostic imaging. This will enable access to
faster treatment options from Barnet FC’s international training facility in London
known as The Hive, which plays host to many top teams from all over the globe
including World Cup holders Germany, Brazil and other teams.
Putting you first
Toshiba Medical Systems UK
A new medical centre at The Hive will
house the UK’s first integrated Medical
Imaging Academy for diagnostic
imaging professionals, run by Toshiba
Medical Systems. The first of its kind
in the UK, the academy will provide
a centre of excellence for radiology
education as it relates to sports
medicine and wider applications.
Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games
Toshiba Medical Systems’ position as official provider of diagnostic imaging
equipment for the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games allowed it to launch
new, world-class imaging equipment and services specifically for the event,
providing imaging for the 6,500 athletes and officials from 71 nations and
territories across the world. Toshiba medical imaging equipment was available
for athletes competing across the 17 selected sports, from athletics and boxing,
to rugby sevens, swimming, wrestling and cycling.
How? What?
Why?
Wearable
Technology And
Decision-Making
Mounir Zok, Senior Sports Technologist
for the US Olympic Committee and
Performance’s technology columnist,
shares his views on the evolution
of technology and his personal
experiences on how to manage it.
The Toshiba medical imaging centre formed a fundamental part of the polyclinic
in the athletes’ village, specially designed for the provision of emergency care.
The centre housed the latest relocatable MRI and mobile CT, ultrasound and
mobile X-ray imaging equipment.
Boom of wearable technology
The world is changing and it is changing so fast
we will not be able to keep up with it very soon.
Experts have already declared the beginning
of the third industrial revolution – they’re
calling it the ‘Industrial Internet Revolution’.
Tessa Sanderson Foundation and Academy
Toshiba Medical Systems’ partnership with the Tessa Sanderson Foundation
and Academy sees a collaboration that will help promote the rapid development
of novel sports medicine and exercise-related applications for ultrasound
scanner equipment. The partnership will help Foundation medical staff, and
the wider community it serves, develop an understanding of ultrasound scanner
equipment, as a fundamental building block for young athlete well-being
and development.
Toshiba’s ultrasound equipment will
enable the team to develop scanner
applications and best practice guidelines
regarding the early diagnosis,
improved rehabilitation and preventative
care for young athletes as they travel
through the Foundation and Academy
programmes.
By using imaging in innovative ways
to track the physical and physiological
development of youngsters playing sport,
athletes can improve performances by
monitoring whether they are under- or
over-training, thereby lessening the risk
of future or long-term injury.
For more information call 01293 653700 or visit
www.toshiba-medical.co.uk
During the first one, we built machines to move
and power the world and steam power replaced
heavy, dirty, backbreaking work. During the
second, we changed how people learn, work,
and live by creating the internet and removing
the routine from our working practices. In
the upcoming revolution, we will transform
the way we move and power the world by
connecting minds and machines together.
Within this framework, those of us working
in the sports industry find ourselves today in
a fortunate position. Not so long ago, we had
to ask athletes to travel to a standardized lab
facility somewhere in the vicinity of their clubs
to get their performance measured. Moreover,
we had to work hard to find solid correlations
between the results that came back and the
performance of the athletes on the field.
Today, we have finally reached the stage where
collecting data is straightforward and easy.
Infinite choices
With the boom of the wearable technology
market in 2014, I’ve experienced difficulty
in tracking the numerous companies and
innovations sprouting on the market (although
frankly it’s a good problem to have). Even
the giants, who have previously been
renowned for their chipset and semiconductor
manufacturing businesses, are launching
wearable technology lines. In this crowded
environment, how do you decide which turn to
take? Among all of these choices, how can you
be certain that the technology you are settling
on is the best fit for you?
Allow me to share a story with you. My
relationship with the sports industry dates
back to the early 2000s. I was young and quite
arrogant and was working as an engineering
researcher. Along with some friends of mine,
we began toying around with one of the
first examples of commercially-available
wearable technology and set a challenge
for ourselves: we wanted to help our track
students gain a better understanding of their
performance directly on the track; we did
not want to be constrained by the walls of
our biomechanics lab. Being engineers, we
wanted to develop the most accurate and
precise mathematical algorithms to tackle this.
We knew we were onto something big and
we knew that there weren’t many groups
around the world who were performing
such challenging and daunting adventures.
After lengthy sleepless nights and countless
Customer support | MR | X-ray | Ultrasound | CT
17
Mounir Zok
Mounir is Senior Sports Technologist at the United
States Olympic Committee (USOC) and the Co-Founder
and Motion Capture Director at The POOL Factory.
Having studied at the American University of Beirut,
the University of Surrey and Bologna University, Zok
co-founded Sensorize, a company designed to fill the
technological gap in the sports and rehabilitation market,
and served as their Technical Director before standing
down from executive duties to link up with the USOC.
software code lines, about 12 months after
collecting the data we put our innovation into
the hands of our athletes. Nothing happened.
They didn’t want to use it. They complained
that there were too many buttons, too
many options to choose from and it didn’t
really give them any useful information.
“I failed not because of
a lack of engineering
brilliance or inadequate
technology, but
because I forgot to
include the one most
important variable into
the equation: them”.
‘You must be kidding me’ was my immediate,
furious reaction. However, after some selfreflection (and some unpleasant episodes…),
it became clear I had failed. Miserably. Not
because of a lack of engineering brilliance or
inadequate technology, but because I forgot to
include the one most important variable into
the equation: them. I failed to make sure that
my users (read clients) were involved in the
development stages from as early as possible.
I created a great engineering solution that was
useless. Moreover, I did not take the necessary
time to frame the challenge and problem
but jumped quickly to creating a solution.
Human-Centered Strategies
Over the past few years, I have received
numerous requests to help teams and
organizations best identify how to change
behavior through the use of technology. Over
and over again, I found myself repeating
the same concepts and I have included a
brief summary below. So, if you are the one
responsible for choosing the right technology
for your team, I suggest that you ask yourself
first and foremost this very simple question:
WHY? Ask yourself why at least five times and
18
THE HOME OF
the real cause for your technology needs will
begin surfacing (for the avid reader, you can
Google ‘Five Whys’ to learn more on this topic).
Then, follow these five steps. I call these the
‘5i Steps For Success’.
1. Innovate. Is the culture inside my team ready
for the new tech and have we laid down the
right processes? If not, don’t even bother with
the technology. Rather, begin exploring how
you can prepare the ground and create the right
culture.
2. Interact. Is the technology provider/expert
willing to engage with my team and learn about
our ecosystem and real needs? If not, pursue
another provider. Be aware that one year from
today your needs will evolve and you would
want your provider to be able to respond to
these needs.
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3. Implement. Is the technology provider willing
to implement several quick solutions that will
allow him to derive validated learning about the
real needs of my team? If not, try to find another
provider. You want the technology to fit within
your team dynamics and not vice versa (it is
2014 after all).
4. Inform. Are you creating the necessary
technical and narrative stories to keep all
stakeholders informed regarding the ‘why’ of
the technology? If not, invest quality time to do
so; everyone needs to be on board.
5. Impact. Are you truly impacting on your
team through the use of technology by driving
a change in behavior? If not, revisit the four
points above and roll up your sleeves again.
D E V E L O P. C O M P E T E . P E R F O R M.
S PORTI NG HE RI TAGE F OR OVE R 60 YE ARS
The experts are already talking about the
physical world evolving at the speed of
software. It is our responsibility to take the
time to frame our challenges so that we don’t
hastily rush down the undesired pathway.
Bisham Abbey and Lilleshall National Sport
Centres of Excellence provide the atmosphere,
environment and world class facilities
that can create and develop sporting success.
Call us today to discuss your training needs.
Bisham Abbey National Sports Centre
Bisham Village, Marlow Road, Bisham,
Marlow, Buckinghamshire SL71RR
tel: 01628 476911
e: [email protected]
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Lilleshall National Sports
& Conferencing Centre
Near Newport, Shropshire TF10 9AT
tel: 01952 603003
e: [email protected]
w: lilleshallnsc.co.uk
19
| Team Building | Talent Evaluation |
Team
Man
Thomas Dimitroff
on the art of
team building and
talent evaluation
Interview by Stephen Dobson
Performance
Thomas Dimitroff
Regarded as one of the most forward thinking
executives in football, Thomas Dimitroff has
used positivity, perseverance and passion
to transform the Atlanta Falcons into one of
the most competitive teams in the NFL since
taking the role as General Manager in 2008.
Named Sporting News’ Executive of the Year
in 2008 and 2010, Dimitroff is renowned for his
dynamic drafting and philosophical approach
to building a team. Atlanta posted five
consecutive winning seasons between 2008
and 2012 and earned three consecutive playoff
berths for the first time in franchise history
from 2010 to 2012.
20
21
Team Building | Talent Evaluation
reating a legacy.
Crafting a team of
winners from the
rawest of materials. It’s the
mission that every General
Manager worth their salt sets
out to accomplish, but making
it a reality requires many
things – careful analysis, focus,
camaraderie, the list goes on.
One man in the process of
building his team, his vision, is
Thomas Dimitroff, the General
Manager of the Atlanta Falcons.
Having joined the franchise in
2008, he’s set about establishing
a side that can consistently
challenge the very best, and
while a rash of unfortunate
injuries looks to have restricted
their ambitions this term,
many pundits are arguing it’s
only a matter of time before
the Falcons are Super Bowl
contenders. Performance caught
up with Sporting News’ 2010
Executive of the Year to find
out what building a team entails
when only the very best will do.
22
04 Autumn Issue
On The Atlanta
Falcons’ Philosophy
One of the things I am very
proud of – and this comes from
our owner and our chairman
– is that when it comes to
recruiting talent the Falcons
are a values-based organization
along with being a needs-based
one. We are very conscious of
having the right locker room,
the right chemistry across the
whole franchise. We invest a lot
of time and effort into making
sure the relationships across are
good, making sure that players
are not only talented on the field
but the sort of people we want
to represent us off the field.
A phrase I use time and again is
that the core of the team needs
to be positive, passionate and
persevering. These traits bring
success, and they apply not
only to players but to coaches
and administrators as well.
When we recruit, we consider
it very important to meet
with a prospective player and
discern where they are from
a personal standpoint. The
process includes thorough
interviewing, psychological tests
and seeing them on the field
in their ‘natural’ environment
to observe how they function,
both in optimum conditions
and when things aren’t exactly
right because it’s crucial to see
how they adapt and adjust. The
last point is arguably the most
important. I have a real personal
desire to ensure that we have
a good, youthful, passionate
and fiery team characterized
by a desire to improve.
On Scouting and
Player Recruitment
We have approximately
20 people in our scouting
department. We have the
country broken down into areas,
regions and then a national
set-up at the top of that, with
myself and our personnel
travelling all over the country,
or even the world, to learn
everything we can about a
player we are interested in.
our league, a big disconnect
between coaching and personnel
that can mean that the right
talent for our organization as
a whole isn’t being recruited.
We start our season off with
close to 4,000 prospects, and
obviously that has to be whittled
down some before it reaches
someone in my position. I rely
on our excellent personnel staff
to whittle down our draft board
before I become involved, so in
the end I am probably meeting
with 300 or so players. We are
very rigorous in our approach
– we have all hands on deck
when it comes to a potential
recruitment, we want everyone
to have input about whom we’re
going to work with in the future
and as a result our organization
is very collaborative. I believe
in the people we have, I believe
in their opinions and know we
aren’t always going to agree but
I want to hear them in order
to make the best decisions I
possibly can. In my position it’s
not about one omnipotent GM
pounding the table demanding
we sign a player or adopt a
certain policy, it’s about making
sure that I listen to everyone
and then draw my conclusions
from all the research. I take
huge pride in the fact that when
we recruit we involve not only
the personal department but
also the coaching department –
after all, the whole idea is about
working together. Scouts and
coaches, their relationship, their
interaction and the information
they share, is incredibly
important – we never want to be
forcing talent on our coaching
staff. It’s one of the major
mistakes that is often made in
On Evaluating Talent
From my experience, someone
who is good at evaluating talent
will have a very open mind. In
our sport, such a person would
understand that the NFL is very
much a ‘match-up’ league [Ed:
during games players are largely
engaged in one-on-one match
ups against a specific opponent
on the field] and that success
is often measured by a player’s
ability to dominate a particular
match up. The evaluator would
therefore have a very good eye
for movement, athleticism and
how abilities can be employed to
make the best of any particular
match-up and then look for the
best ‘package’ available. On
the other hand a less capable
evaluator is someone who
becomes ‘trait infatuated’. An
example is a scout becomes
hung up on a player having
a big heart and being an
overachieving tough guy, they
will often end up overlooking an
athlete who may not be oozing
with that toughness and fight but
has a lot of talent, athleticism
and movement ability. I think
that happens far too often, and
someone who evaluates in such
a way can end up overlooking
a lot of players. A poor talent
evaluator might also not have
an open enough mind to
comprehend that today’s athlete
is very different than they were,
say, 20 or 30 years ago. An
evaluator in today’s NFL has to
be very open to understanding
that Gen Y and Millennials
are very different to the players
of the 80s and 90s, they react
to things differently, they need
to be coached differently
and they adapt differently. If
we are not open enough as
evaluators to see that then we
can categorize players as ‘not
our type’ and we could end up
passing up some great players.
Ideally we want an ‘allencompassing’ evaluator. We
want someone who is open,
who understands evaluating
athleticism and movement
but also has an interest in the
intelligence of a player, so we
train all our evaluating staff to
be as well-rounded as possible.
On Talent, Character
and Team Players
I’m a huge believer in making
sure a player’s character and
values align with ours before
we bring them on board. It’s
something that I learned from
New England [Patriots] – it’s
about believing we can win
23
Team Building | Talent Evaluation
04 Autumn Issue
On Balancing a
Scouting Department
games with good people who
are also very good football
players. They don’t always
have to be the very best talent
available – although they
will definitely be very good
footballers on the field – but
they will have a very good set
of core values and understand
and buy into what our team
is doing. I will always favour
that approach over one that
‘over prizes’ excessive talent.
The basic tenets of being a
team player are a huge deal
for us. The last thing we want
to do is bring in someone who
is very talented but separates
themselves from the rest of
the group. We have probably
done that once or twice in
our quest to get better and it
has always come back to bite
us. It’s not something that
we believe in but every once
in a while an organization is
tempted to go in that direction
– they probably feel they have
a strong locker room and a
24
strong organization that can
handle that situation. What
I’ve found is whenever we
have deviated from recruiting
strong characters and team
players, the players we
brought in that are slightly
wayward stand out like a sore
thumb and the team quickly
realizes how different they
are from the rest, and the
situation can quickly spiral if
you let it. It’s amazing how
much angst there is when a
player on the field and in the
dressing room possesses traits
that everyone else doesn’t.
On Environment and
Retaining Talent
We have always been mindful
of creating what we feel
is a good environment, an
environment of people
wanting to come to Atlanta
and wanting to play for us.
An environment that is about
working extremely hard but
also about the journey and
making sure that journey
is enjoyable. We do not
want our organization to
be about drudgery. We still
want people to have fun
because we understand
how creative people can
be when they are enjoying
what they are doing. That
doesn’t mean people are
running down the halls
clicking their feet like
leprechauns, it’s about
making sure people keep
life in perspective. I believe
our coach has a really good
understanding of that and
I believe that together we
are creating that kind of
environment. At times
when the going gets tough
it can be challenging to
keep the environment
peaceful and together
but that’s the time when
management gets involved
– you have to be intuitive
and understand what
each situation calls for.
It’s important to have a
wide range of characters in
your scouting department.
We can have the older, wily,
crusty scouts and young guns
simultaneously. We don’t
have a lot of those older guys
right now, quite honestly we
were pretty much devoid of
them at one stage so this year
we brought back a couple of
experienced figures to bring
a bit more balance to our
scouting staff. The crucial part
of putting together a group of
individuals to evaluate talent
for your organization is to seek
out people who are openminded and willing to learn
from each other – we have to
have older individuals who
know how things have been
done but are willing to learn
more and a younger group who
understands and respects the
knowledge of the older scouts.
On The Next Frontiers
of Performance Within
The NFL
An area I think is going to be
very interesting is the cognitive
and neurological area, the idea
of neuroplasticity, training
the brain and simulation.
Pre-game cognitive warm-ups
are something that we’re very
interested in right now, our
quarterback especially. The
idea is that instead of the first
time Matt Ryan really forces
his brain to activate is when
the mayhem is happening,
he’s cognitively prepped right
from the word go. We have
a number of companies that
we deal with and Matt has
got one that he’s really dialled
in with. He preps two times
before a game, so he might
go in 15 or 20 minutes before
a game to go through some
of his tracking exercises to
make sure he’s ready mentally.
In the past we’ve believed in
doing our movement prep,
now we’re realising that
instead of just warming our
bodies up we should warm
our brains up – let’s make our
brain expand, let’s truly use
the neuroplasticity element
so that we’re that much more
cognitively ready when we
get out on the field. That is
going to be the next wave,
focusing on the brain activity
and the brain science of this
game. I’m quite interested
in some of the products.
On The Advice He’d
Give Himself On His
First Day With The
Atlanta Falcons
I’d remind myself of the
importance of always working
on our partnerships at the top.
A successful organization has
to have a good partnership
at the top. I’d tell myself to
stay true to my beliefs and
intuition – if we are swayed to
make a decision that we don’t
agree with to please other
people, it most often doesn’t
work. Once in a while we’ll
get a hit from that but most of
the time we won’t, and over
time one will be judged for
it. Finally I’d talk about the
importance of understanding
all the personality traits of
those that are working around
you. We need to have a really
good understanding of the
people who have a vested
interest in the organization,
from players to coaches to
shareholders. Only then will
we be able to decide how we
go about achieving our goals.
25
Team Building | Talent Evaluation
Hits
On His Biggest
Recruiting Success
Our biggest hit was drafting
Matt Ryan in 2008. Every year
he learns and grows – he is
like a sponge. He’s constantly
improving his talents and his
leadership and increasing his
understanding of what needs
to change each season. To
me he is a great example of
someone who has really strong
focus, character and leadership
ability, but is also very talented
on the field. He is the face of
our franchise. When a GM
goes out to pick the face of
their franchise they’d consider
26
04 Autumn Issue
themselves lucky to get just a
fraction of what Matt Ryan
offers.
He is very aware of what’s
going on around him. In his
first year he led very differently
to how he leads now, and I
would say the development has
been incremental – he didn’t
suddenly start pounding his
chest, telling everyone that he
was the quarterback, instead
he earned that respect. When
we first started interviewing
him I could tell that he had
something about him. He
played at Boston College – a
good football program but not
an elite football program – and
he had a roster that didn’t boast
too many high-profile stars, but
he navigated it extremely well.
That’s his great gift – he takes
what he is given and uses it to
excel. When you’re recruiting
athletes you tend to encounter
different blends of humility and
aggression, and he showed a
good balance. The last thing you
want is a quarterback to come in
that is all about himself. He may
be oozing with confidence and
cockiness but he won’t help your
organization become everything
you want it to be.
Misses
On His Biggest
Recruiting Mistake
The biggest miss I feel we have
had in the seven years I’ve been
here goes back to what I said
earlier about deviating from the
right values of the organisation.
When we were desperate for a
position we thought we could
cope with this one particular
player’s personality so we signed
him. He stood out like a sore
thumb. The team saw it, the
administration saw it and our
owner saw it – we ended up
cutting him after a year and a
half. He was a sound enough
guy in his way but he did not fit
in with our organization and he
had certain traits that frustrated
our coaching staff. In the end I
had to admit our mistake and
released him in the middle of
the season.
It’s so important to make sure
you’re not deviating from your
organizational values because
it’s so easy to think you can
reform a wayward soul. You end
up thinking ‘we can get the best
out of him, he’ll be okay and
we’ll just deal with the issues as
they arise’. I don’t think you can
ever just deal with issues. I think
if the issue is there it inevitably
becomes a real drain on an
organization, and in our case
a drain on the coaching staff
and a distraction to the team.
Ultimately we’re all trying to
eliminate distractions as much
as we can so we maximise our
efforts on what we want to focus
on.
Given another opportunity
I would have factored in our
coaching staff’s personality
characteristics and coaching
characteristics to that decision.
When we’re trying to acquire a
player, as a general manager, it’s
my job to look at our coaching
staff and the way they would
deal with the personality, traits
and quirks of that player. I have
a really good grasp on [Head
Coach] Mike Smith and I have
a really good partnership with
him, but doing the job well
means going down the line –
looking at our coordinators or
position coaches to make sure
27
Team Building | Talent Evaluation
BE PREPARED. BE POWERFUL.
STRENGTH & CARDIO EQUIPMENT FOR ELITE ATHLETES
& THOSE WHO ASPIRE TO TRAIN LIKE ONE.
they can also deal with the
player we’re acquiring. We all
know we can bring in this shiny
new product that hopefully is
going to produce for us, but if
their character traits are not
what we should be working with
then we have no chance of that
individual being successful. It’s
the art of middle management –
understanding our coaches and
our assistant coaches, who they
are, how they thrive and whom
they can thrive with before we
decide to invest a lot of money
acquiring talent. We can look for
the smartest person from Oxford
or Harvard and they may be
brilliant, but if there is not a fit
and they don’t buy into the team
ethos, then the chance of them
producing at the level we want
is very limited. So when you’re
bringing someone in, everyone
must understand what they’re
getting. That’s my responsibility,
and I don’t think I did a
good job with this particular
situation. I didn’t look at the
whole organization; it was just
about needing a player for that
position and thinking ‘Come
hell or high water we were going
to get that position taken care
of ’. That was a mistake.
KEISER.COM
28
04 Autumn Issue
very unfair. People will understand you
moving them on if you’ve been saying to
them for years: “You’ve got this strength,
this weakness and you’ve got to work
on this because this is what we need.” If
you don’t do that because you want to be
liked and you’re afraid of confrontation,
when you move them on, they will rightly
feel they’ve been unfairly treated.
| Leadership |
Robert Kaplan
The Tenets
Of Leadership
It’s difficult to overestimate
how dramatically effective
leadership can enhance
an organization. Robert
Kaplan, a world expert from
Harvard Business School
and former Vice Chairman of
Goldman Sachs, lifts the lid
on the principles that have
characterized his career.
Robert Kaplan
Robert Kaplan is the Martin Marshall
Professor of Management Practice
in Business Administration and
Senior Associate Dean for External
Relations at Harvard Business School,
where he teaches about best practice
and leadership. He was previously
Vice Chairman of the $74.46 billion
Goldman Sachs Group responsible
for the Investment Banking and
Investment Management Divisions.
30
Managing Yourself
Defining Leadership
Leaders need to act. Either speak up, or
develop an action plan or have the backbone
or inter-personal skills to take action when
you have conviction about what you believe.
Leaders need to have a focus on adding
value to someone else. There are a lot of
people who can figure out what they believe
and act on it in a way that’s solely good for
them, but I don’t think that’s leadership –
either you make the team better, you help
a customer or you help a community.
When I was younger I would go straight to
results. You ask some people out there: ‘What’s
a good leader?’ And they’ll say: ‘Are they
making money or not? Are they winning games
or not? If the answer’s yes then they’re a good
leader.’ The problem with that is as soon as
results turn bad you then apparently have a bad
leader! You have to have faith in a system and a
philosophy.
Putting It Into Practice
As a leader, you have to have a clear vision or
theory on how you add value that is distinctive.
Leaders need to be agonizing over this question
all the time. If you’re on a team – what do we do
as a team that’s distinctive? You need to always
be asking that question. That is the lens through
which you judge every action you take.
You need to set priorities, not 10 but three
to five, and then every other decision you
make can be viewed through that prism.
Everything you do, is it in or out of alignment
with achieving that distinctive value? You need
to learn to really zero in on that, it’s the lens
through which every decision is made. Does it
help us get in alignment or does it take us out
of alignment?
Managing Talent
A lot of leaders may give it lip service but they
don’t make talent management a priority and
they don’t compartmentalize it. Part of it is
attracting the best people and that’s a process
in and of itself. How do you hire? Do they fit?
Do they not fit? Most of the great leaders break
that down separately.
Second, there’s the idea of retain, develop
and coach. And that means blunt, direct and
clear expectations and making sure you have
enough discussions where everybody is on the
same page about what is expected.
Third is there’s a whole process which is
unpleasant but you’ve got to do it.
You need to assess people and regularly you’ll
need to move people out. It can be painful
but if you don’t coach and you’re not blunt
then when it comes to the time of moving
somebody on it comes across to them as
As you become more senior the biggest
dangers you face are isolation and the
shutting down of learning. They’re not
the dangers I anticipated. You can find
yourself in a situation where everyone in the
organization knows there’s a problem and
the danger is sometimes it’s everyone but
you. Sometimes I used to sit in my office,
the CEO’s office, and I could hear a pin drop.
People would tip toe around and lower their
voices and I’d think: What’s the matter? Why
don’t you speak up?’ But everyone’s a little
afraid and you get shut off from feedback.
There’s a huge power asymmetry between
the boss and the subordinate. As boss you
feel you’re the same as you were 10 years
ago, you feel you haven’t changed, but you
have and you get isolated. What you have to
learn to do in managing yourself is be open
to learning. Learn to say ‘I don’t know!’, ‘I’d
like your advice’, ‘I was wrong’ and so on.
You’ve got to empower people to tell you
things that they’re all thinking but you can’t
see. Because of the power and asymmetry
they’re not going to volunteer it unless you
create an environment that’s open to that.
The most important thing I’ve learned
with regards to managing myself is ‘Be
open to learning, not just strategically and
intellectually but about yourself’. There’s a big
danger when you become more senior and
you’ve had success that people are afraid to
challenge you and you can make some really
dumb mistakes when the organization has a
problem and the last person to know is you.
31
Michael Cooper
04 Autumn Issue
Michael Cooper is a speaker, trainer, coach and consultant.
He has used his experiences from sport, the US Navy and
his personal life, good and bad, to create in depth training
programs, such as the Missing Playbook ™, to help people
come back from adversity to achieve their goals with a
positive state of mind. Michael has trained and consulted
with individuals and organizations around the globe such as
ESPNHS, Purdue University, Miami Marlins, University of
Florida and Rick Macci Tennis Academy to name a few.
| Advertorial |
Human
Performance
Mentors
Achieving Your
Optimum
very day, we see amazing feats of
accomplishment – on TV, in the news,
around the office. We see Olympians
seemingly redefining the laws of gravity;
read about CEOs who build empires; hear
of athletes who achieve the supposedly
unachievable. But for every individual top
performer we hear about, there are millions
who come up short. Founder and CEO of
Human Performance Mentors, Michael Cooper
has committed his life to finding a reason
for those shortcomings and, perhaps more
importantly, a solution for them. The result?
Human Performance Mentors™and The
Missing Playbook™.
Mind Over Matter
“Growing up as an athlete, I was taught to focus
on the physical and technical parts of my game,
but never the mental,” says Cooper. “I find that
programs often focus on the how, but in fact
most people know how. I developed programs
that focus on why people get the results they
do and how to make lasting improvements.
We have the missing link to filling the gap
between what people know and what they do.
The process builds awareness and makes them
see and understand their potential, potentially
transforming their results, their team or their
sport. “Human Performance Mentors provides
junior, professional and corporate athletes with
a unique mental training experience with its
Missing Playbook™. Its methods are systematic
32
St Louis Rams
wide receiver
Emory Blake is
just one of the
athletes who
has improved
his performance
with assistance
from The Missing
Playbook™
and tangible, with six different modules that
help unpack emotions and feelings to gain
clarity, purpose and vision, getting to the source
of raw emotion, and reaction to that emotion.
“Michael’s approach
and knowledge are
so sincere that it is
impossible not to be
affected by him”.
“We do not just work with the actions, but
explain and teach the importance of the mind
and how it works, using the intellectual,
physical, and emotional part of a person.”
The Playbook
Cooper, a former athlete and US Navy SEAL
hopeful, had his dreams derailed when
he was told at basic training that his color
blindness made him ineligible for BUD/S (Basic
Underwater Demolition/SEAL). Despite the
setback, he finished his active duty service and
tried to remain mentally strong but realized
he was not equipped with the right mental
playbook to get back to the top. He began
to look into why and – after more than two
decades of training, studying and preparing –
HPM and The Missing Playbook™ were born.
Module One takes an in-depth look at the
subject’s character and levels of satisfaction
in life relating to finances, spirituality,
relationships, health and profession. The
unpacking of emotions and past experiences,
coupled with the mapping of purpose, vision,
and goals set the stage for the remainder of the
course. “You can’t progress if you don’t know
your true self,” Cooper says.
HPM’s second module challenges current and
past conditioning via a scientific approach to
the mind and its relationship with the body.
Once students grasp how the conscious
and subconscious function, they are able to
understand the root of attitude, perception,
emotions and, more importantly, how to
harness and use them to their advantage.
The third module follows up by teaching
how to manage those emotions to produce
desired outcomes. “Everyone has emotional
intelligence, allowing us to be effective as social
beings, so this ability is key to success.
Emotions give us very important clues about
what’s happening around us, and in us,
and they motivate action,” Cooper explains.
“For example, in sport it gives us the ability
to maintain control, despite the burden of
tremendous pressures and expectations.”
The fourth module focuses on the opponent,
whether on the field or in the boardroom.
Knowing and understanding obstacles and
challenges opens up a whole new world
of reaction, which HPM reasons is the real
enemy in any situation. A step-by-step formula
that is carried with the student at all times
ensures the right response to a given situation.
Module five consists of specific disciplines and
relationship skills that all true champions own
and embed as part of who they are, while the
final segment teaches initiative and leadership.
The Proof
HPM has worked with pro athletes, athletic
organizations, top-ranked coaches and even
“Once students grasp
how the conscious
and subconscious
function, they are able
to understand the root
of attitude, perception,
emotions and, more
importantly, how to
harness and use them
to their advantage”.
former pros looking to get a handle on life
after sports: two-time Super Bowl champion
David Diaz-Infante, Emory Blake of the
Saint Louis Rams, PGA golfer Eric Booker,
and the Rick Macci Tennis Academy.
George Dyer, former Denver Broncos
defensive line coach and two-time Super
Bowl champion says: “I am generally not
moved by this kind of thing but Michael’s
approach and knowledge are so sincere
that it is impossible not to be affected by
him. The tools he uses are unbelievable and
so well-presented that it stuck with me.”
“The Missing Playbook™ delivers the most
essential foundational tools I know of to
develop the awareness and mindset to
achieve optimal results,” Cooper concludes.
“It’s important to realize that understanding
and building awareness is a lifelong
process. If you make a commitment to
learning something new every day about
yourself, you’ll be able to reap the rewards
of growing awareness, day in and day out.”
For more information on Human
Performance Mentors™ and The
Missing Playbook™, head to
www.humanperformancementors.com
33
| Leadership | Culture |
04 Autumn Issue
Graham Henry
Widely regarding as one of the most
successful rugby union coaches of
all time, Graham Henry has enjoyed
success both in the northern and
southern hemispheres. After winning
six titles in Auckland and enjoying a
popular stint as Wales coach, he went
on to coach his native New Zealand.
After one World Cup, five Tri-Nations
triumphs and numerous team of the
year and coach of the year awards,
it was announced that he would be
knighted in 2012 for his services
to the sport.
You don’t
coach sitting
down
The benchmark for an entire sport, the pride and joy
of a nation devoted to a single game, the All Blacks
are – to put it mildly – something very special.
James Kerr, author of Legacy, caught up with the man
who led them to victory at the last World Cup and discovers
what it feels like to demand excellence as standard.
James Kerr met with
Graham Henry at
Bloomberg’s offices
in New York as part of
our Leaders in Sport
Performance Summit
Series. This is an edited
extract of that session.
New York,
June 2014.
I meet Graham Henry, the former World Cupwinning coach of the All Blacks, in the lobby of
Bloomberg. He’s pleased I haven’t worn a tie.
He hasn’t either. We sit down and go over the
structure of the talk we’re about to give.
GH: “How is the room set out?”
JK: “Raised stage, two seats, a table in between…”
GH: “Do you mind if we do it standing up?”
JK: “Fine by me.”
GH: “You don’t coach sitting down.”
The talk begins. It’s captivating.
34
35
Leadership | Culture
Can you tell us something of the All Blacks’
team culture you inherited in 2004 – and why
it had to change?
The All Blacks were very successful for a long
time, and they were successful when I took them
over, but the culture hadn’t changed in100 years.
The first year I coached them in 2004, the All
Blacks had a court session – a judge and a jury
for the senior players – and compulsory drinking.
You drink for your misdemeanors or your fictitious
misdemeanors, it doesn’t matter, you’re up on
the block and you do the business. And it got out
of hand, and it was embarrassing. In fact it was
worse than embarrassing, it was deplorable. I was
worried about people surviving. And I thought,
is this the All Black culture?
So, how did you go about fixing it?
We flew from Johannesburg back to Auckland
the next day, and I got a note from the guy I
respected the most in the All Blacks, Wayne
Smith, who was one of the coaches with me.
And he said, “Ted [Henry’s nickname] if this is
the culture of the All Blacks I don’t want anything
to do with it.” And that was a very important
statement.We got home and we had a meeting –
the three coaches, Steve Hansen who is the current
coach, Wayne Smith, myself, a bloke named Sir
Brian Lochore and about 10 senior players. We
met in Wellington and said, ‘Look, this is a bloody
shambles – we’ve got to fix this’. So we closed the
door and we were there for three days. And what
came out of that meeting is we decided that we
would integrate the players and the management
into an ‘us’ environment, rather than ‘me
and them’.
We know now the phrase that came out of
this meeting was ‘Better People Make Better All
Blacks’. How did it come about and
what did it mean?
‘Better People Make Better All Blacks’ was Sir
Brian Lochore’s phrase. We saw our roles – as
a management team and a coaching team – as
developing people. Not just as rugby players or
as athletes, but holistically – team people, people
who make other people feel good and have the
independence of thought and ambition to
become a great professional athlete. So the
team thing was huge.
36
04 Autumn Issue
Once you decided on your strategy, how
did you make it a reality?
What happened from there was we chunked the
season. The All Blacks would play about 15 Test
matches a year, there or thereabouts, and we
chunked up the season into six or seven pieces.
We then formulated an objective for those two or
three Test matches and [put in place] strategies
to achieve that objective. We then evaluated our
performance, figured out where we could do
better and then moved on to the next chunk
of two Test matches, and so on.You’re constantly
massaging [your strategy], fine tuning it,
making sure it is right, learning from the last
two Test matches, putting in the strategies for
the next two and then going again. So we’ve
got a team plan all the time that’s visible on
the wall. It’s the same for the individuals.
Tell us about that. What is the individual
development program that you put into place?
One of our strategies was individual players’
development. Each player has a personal
vision or a personal goal that they want to
achieve, things like skill development, strength
and conditioning, nutrition, game awareness,
mental skills or mental strength, handling
the unexpected, handling pressure and being
a team person, self-awareness, awareness
of others, adding to the team environment.
Each week on a Sunday there is the week’s
plan of what we are doing to prepare to play
the game on the coming Saturday. On that
plan the players put in their individual targets
for self-improvement. Maybe conditioning,
maybe skill development, it may be a mental
strength session, it may be being a better team
man and what he is going to do to be a better
team man. So there is a constant map of selfimprovement – and that is one of the strategies
for achieving the objective of each ‘chunk’.
What impact does this have on the players?
We’re trying to move players from being
dependent to independent. On a 10-point scale,
we’ve got quite a few independent players in that
team. McCaw is a 15 out of 10. Carter, a 12
out of 10. Kieran Reid and a number of other
high-quality athletes and professional people are
down that totally independent end of the scale.
The youth that come in are down the dependent
end of the scale, usually. And we’ve got to develop
that independence so that they drive their own
development, so we’re not continually nudging
them to get there.
Could you tell us about the work that Gilbert
Enoka – the team’s mental skills coach – does?
Gilbert Enoka is the sports psychologist for the
All Blacks and he’s an outstanding person. He
facilitates the individual player development
program, the leadership development program
and facilitates the mental skills program. After
the World Cup in 2007 [the All Blacks lost in the
quarter-finals], we got some outside resourcing to
help us and they were very good.
The players grew to understand brain biology,
simple brain biology – what happens to the
37
Leadership | Culture
brain when it is under pressure. If you’re looking
at a continuum for 0-10, in a top international
sport you are probably playing at eight to nine on
that scale at times. So, we asked, what does the
brain do when it’s under pressure?
This is about being either red head or blue head
– either shutting down under the pressure
and choking, or remaining clear, accurate and
precise in the moment…
Understanding that concept was huge for the
players’ ability to handle those pressure situations.
In fact, they embraced the pressure; they walked
towards it and embraced it. So that was the first
thing that was very important, understanding
brain biology, the red head and the blue head.
The second thing was to develop skills to control
38
04 Autumn Issue
red-headedness, and get it back into the blue
state on the field. And so we spent quite a bit of
time doing that. It was a matter of taking the
focus away from the situation to something else
and then re-focusing on the next task. Some guys
look at something in the stand, the clock maybe,
and say that’s my re-focus; I’m back on task.
Other guys screw up their toes and boots, others
hit themselves on the hip. Another guy throws
water over his head. They all had different little
triggers that brought them back into reality,
that brought them back into ‘now’ – brought
them back into the blue. As a team, when the
momentum was against us, we had special calls.
We’re under pressure here, we need to stand
up and do the business – they then stood up
and did the business. And then we had plays
where we regained the momentum, which were
high percentage plays. No-risk plays to get us
going again.That was a very important strategy to
achieve the objective going forward – and a very
important strategy in the 2011 World Cup when
we ‘smashed’ the French 8-7 in the final!
And so we ran out of time. After the session
was over, I chatted to ‘Ted’ about mutual friends
and then he was off – keeping it real, always
moving, thinking on his feet…
A stand up kind of a guy.
39
Leadership | Culture
Graham Henry
The Timeline
1996-1998
Coaches the Blues in the
Super 12 competition. Wins
titles in 1996 and 1997
before losing the final in 1998
2001
Appointed the first British &
Irish Lions coach from outside
the Home Nations ahead of
the tour to Australia. The Lions
lose a hard-fought series 2-1
1992-1997
Hired as coach of Auckland’s
provincial team. Wins
four consecutive National
Provincial Championship
titles between 1993 and 1996
1998-2002
Appointed coach of Wales
and becomes the highestpaid rugby union coach in the
world. Nicknamed ‘The Great
Redeemer’ by the Welsh media
2004-2011
New Zealand appoint Henry as
head coach. The All Blacks win a
World Cup, five Tri-Nations titles,
the Lions series in 2005 and three
Grand Slam victories against the
Home Nations and are named IRB
Team of the Year five times under
his guidance. Henry is named
IRB Coach of the Year five times
during this period
2012
Knighted for his
services to rugby
Experience our Professional Weightlifting Equipment for
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Now
Undertakes a part-time role with
NZRU as a mentor of the country’s
Super Rugby and ITM coaches.
Also takes up a similar role with
the Argentine Rugby Union, as
well as serving as assistant coach
to their national team
40
FOR BETTER PERForMANCE
EMIRATES STADIUM • LONDON • 12-13 NOVEMBER 2014
www.eleikosport.com
| Human Performance |
04 Autumn Issue
Ashley Merryman
Ashley is an award-winning journalist
and joint author of the New York Times
bestsellers Top Dog: The Science of
Winning and Losing and NurtureShock:
New Thinking About Children.
Additionally, Ashley has written for
the New York Times, Newsweek,
Time, New York and many others.
Testosterone
A Common
Misconception
Mention ‘testosterone’ to most people and they think
about brawn and brute aggression. However, research
has revealed that the psychological effects
of the hormone are far more profound.
estosterone is nothing less than the
hormonal equivalent of competitive
fire. The biochemical manifestation
of motivation, passion and intensity, it
drives self-efficacy, persistence and more.
In fact, scientists have used testosterone
measurements to predict who would win a
competition – before the contest even began.
But comprehending testosterone’s impact on
high performance – that’s just the beginning
of the scientists’ work. Now, researchers are
looking at factors that influence testosterone
production, and how athletes, managers,
coaches and trainers can use these to their
advantage. Guest writer Ashley Merryman,
author of Top Dog: The Science of Winning
Losing, explains how we might be closer than
ever to understanding what drives an athlete
to compete.
If you hear someone say, “I don’t know, I
just wasn’t feeling it today,” the missing ‘it’
may be testosterone. However, the reality
is testosterone and motivation are locked
in a chicken-and-egg cycle. Testosterone
increases motivation, but it’s equally true
that motivation increases testosterone.
When you care – really care – testosterone
responds. Controversies over the use
of anabolic steroids have made us miss
that essential point. Testosterone levels
continually ebb and flow. What really
matters, therefore, are the changes in
testosterone that occur in the very moments
before, during and after competition. To
see just how wrongheaded a focus on
baseline testosterone can be, consider one
study of British surgeons. The physicians’
ages ranged from 42-60 – well past the
years of peak hormonal levels. However,
the morning before a particularly complex
procedure, some physicians had a phenomenal
500 per cent increase in testosterone.
Testosterone’s Rise In
High Performance
Understanding testosterone’s role in high
performance begins when we remember that
success in competition requires taking risks
normally constrained by fear. Testosterone acts
on the amygdala – the fight-or-flight part of the
brain – by dampening the fear response. At
the same time it binds to androgen receptors
in the brain’s reward system, making the brain
more responsive to the rewards of competition.
Testosterone increases positive moods and
alleviates depression. It reduces sensitivity to
one’s pain and reduces empathy for others.
The result: less fear of risk and more desire for
reward. Testosterone even teaches winners
how to win better the next time. New research
out of Simon Fraser University suggests
that testosterone helps the victor’s brain
43
04 Autumn Issue
Human Performance
“Those who’d heard
positive feedback
had increased their
testosterone as much
as 51 per cent and had
great performances”.
lock in the perceptual and motor skills that
were successful during one game so they
can be even more effective in the next.
The folk wisdom of testosterone is it makes
you irrational. If anything, with fear dampened,
testosterone can cause decision-making
to become almost hyper-rational. Chess
players with a jump in testosterone win
championships, even when their ELO rating
would insist they’re weaker players than their
opponents. London financial traders take
bigger risks and make more money on days
when their testosterone is higher.
The other adage about testosterone – it makes
you aggressive and not care about what others
think of you – is equally untrue. The truth about
testosterone is it makes you care more that
others hold you in high regard.
The Testosterone Boost
While studying a university American Football
team, Emory University’s David Edwards
had asked the team’s players to rate each
other on 35 different nuances of teamwork.
Edwards asked questions such as, ‘When
on defense, who were the players providing
support to teammates?’, ‘Who continuously
repositioned themselves, even if they
didn’t get the ball?’ and ‘Who coordinated
with teammates using facial expressions,
gestures and a tone of voice that didn’t
make teammates feel bossed around?’.
44
Then Edwards compared the teamwork
ratings with players’ testosterone levels
during an important home match. Edwards
was surprised to discover that the more
a player’s testosterone level increased
during a game, the higher his teamwork.
During the game, athletes with the highest
ratings as team players had testosterone
boosts of almost 60 per cent. Players with
low ratings didn’t get the testosterone boost.
They didn’t care what their teammates
thought of them; they didn’t share the ball,
didn’t make runs and didn’t communicate.
Testosterone wasn’t making the better team
players pass the ball more. What it did
was make them care about the regard of
their mates and do the hard work to get
their respect. In this sense, testosterone
adjusts to the social circumstance. Whatever
it takes to earn the high regard of others,
testosterone will increase that behavior.
Inducing Valued Behavior
High testosterone firefighters are fearless,
running into burning buildings and
attempting daring rescues. But hightestosterone paramedics aren’t known for
daring. They’re known for conscientiousness
– communicating well with doctors at the
hospital and meticulously delivering
triage treatment.
Thus, testosterone doesn’t drive a certain
type of behavior. Instead, it will induce
whatever behavior is valuable. At its core,
testosterone is a social hormone and both
external and internal forces influence its
response – especially in the lead-up to
competition. Track record matters. Elite
competitors may have greater increases
of testosterone prior to competition, and,
physiologically, they’ve trained themselves
to respond to the steroid’s even slightest
increase. Opponents have an undeniable
effect: testosterone often declines when
competing against friends or teammates.
Duration of competition is important –
testosterone fluctuates within the day, even
from week-to-week. Location, too, has an
effect: increased testosterone is an unseen
part of home field advantage. (Unless it’s an
inexperienced athlete, and pressure of the
home crowd is too much to bear.)
Expectations And Uncertain Results
Testosterone responses are driven by
expectations. Does an athlete expect to win? If
so, by how much? How does his expectation
match up with his opponents’ (because theirs,
too, has an effect)? An athlete needs to believe
that he’ll win, but an anticipated lopsided
victory doesn’t lead to a huge surplus of
testosterone. Instead, the biggest spikes in
testosterone occur during an exciting, close
contest with an uncertain result. The tighter the
margin, the higher the testosterone level.
Stress
Stress is an enormously important factor. Stress
triggers the production of cortisol, in many
ways the hormonal opposite of testosterone.
(For example, testosterone decreases pain
sensitivity, cortisol increases it.) And the body
can produce only one of these hormones at a
time. So as long as someone is distressed, his
ability to produce testosterone is at a standstill.
45
03 Summer Issue
Human Performance
Belief
Another crucial question – does the player
believe his skills and resources will enable
him to succeed? Researchers have studied
testosterone of team starters and non-starters,
and there’s not much of a difference between
the groups. Actual playing time doesn’t have
much of an effect, either. The decider is when
the athlete believes that his contribution is
important to the team’s overall efforts. If he
believes his efforts are meaningful to the
outcome, then his physiology will be as
committed as he is.
Feedback And Hormonal Priming
Imperial College’s Blair Crewther and Christian
Cook asked 12 professional rugby players to
have weekly one-on-one meetings with their
coach, reviewing videos from the previous
day’s match. But the scientists scripted the
coaches’ commentary, so in any one session
athletes would hear only positive or negative
feedback. In the positive condition, they saw
successful plays and heard, ‘You performed
that well’ and ‘Well done, that’s how you do
it’. In the negative condition, athletes watched
mistakes and were told things like: ‘You did
that poorly’ and ‘Why couldn’t you do that
right?’.
Remarkably, hormonal after-effects of these
meetings persisted for an entire week. From
the Sunday meeting to the game’s start, those
who’d heard positive feedback had increased
their testosterone by as much as 51 per cent
and had great performances. Those who’d
heard negative feedback had roughly half as
much testosterone, and they performed poorly.
Admittedly, it’s a small study, but Crewther and
Cook have done a number of other versions
of this experiment. The scientists have studied
pre-game chalk-talk. They’ve had athletes
watch game-film alone or in groups. Athletes
have watched different types of videos before
46
exercise. (Just four minutes of an aggressive
rugby match led to a 10 per cent increase in
testosterone and a 5.4 per cent improvement
during a workout.) Every iteration has
affected both the players’ hormone levels
and subsequent performance.
As a whole, the research argues that any
form of feedback – good or bad – should
be considered a stressor with biological
consequences. Overall, positive feedback
should be the starting point. However,
perhaps a particular player’s a bit too fired
up? Then a very careful mix of positive
feedback and a bit of negative commentary
might be productive. Is a player still
smarting from a previous loss? Then even
more positive feedback may be required.
Discussion of opponents’ strengths and
weaknesses has an exceptionally negative
effect on testosterone, and Crewther
cautioned that it should only be given when
a coach is sure their athletes have the time
and ability to process the information.
What exactly should be said or done will,
of course, depend on each athlete – his
age, experience, abilities, whether he
functions better in a stressed or calmer
state, the specific context and so on.
And there is much more research to be
done. However, at this point, Crewther and
his colleagues have already concluded that
‘hormonal priming’ should be included in
teams’ pre-competition routine – and is as
essential as any physical warm-up.
For more information
on Top Dog, visit:
www.topdogbook.com
47
04 Autumn Issue
| Advertorial |
The Key
To A Cool
Performance
Air Products
ice starts to melt as soon as it comes into
contact with the body, so it can be difficult to
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each session. The ice bath also needs to be
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Players may have wounds following a match
and would not be able to use an ice bath
for safety and hygiene reasons. With WBC,
even if a player has a cut – providing it can
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And among the players, there’s kudos in
having access to the latest in advanced sports
medicine; they’re drawn to the technology
and it reaffirms their elite status.”
Performance and Air Products
met with the Performance
team at Sale Sharks to chat
about training, recovery and
Whole Body Cryotherapy.
Michael Paterson plays as a
lock for Sale Sharks
“The therapy involves subjecting your body to
incredibly cold temperatures – far colder than
using ice baths,” adds Sharks forward Michael
Paterson. “Those changes in temperature help
your body to recover quickly so that you feel
refreshed and raring to go again.”
ith the new rugby season underway,
clubs across the country are striving
to take their performances to the
next level. For Adam Grainger, performance
manager at Sale Sharks, his job is to keep
his players performing at their optimum.
Fortunately, he’s got at his disposal a new
technique that will help him achieve
his goal.
It has many applications, but WBC is particularly
applicable in sports medicine to enhance
sporting performance as part of a training
program, and biological renewal after an injury
in professional sportspeople. The therapy
eliminates the negative effects of exercise as
well as helping athletes prepare for further
training. WBC is safe, it lasts for just two to
three minutes and is easy to use.
Whole Body Cryotherapy (WBC) is among the
many advances in sports medicine aimed at
boosting performance by speeding up recovery,
and it has become an integral part of the
Sharks’ recovery system. Using the Kriosystems
chamber supplied by industrial gas supplier
Air Products and supervised by Cryopod Ltd,
500 sessions have already been administered
to help the Sharks squad recover rapidly from
intense training.
What Makes WBC So Compelling?
Recovery sessions tend to be the least exciting
part of a player’s routine. For most it’s a tick
box exercise, far less important than a match.
However, they’re essential to maintaining
peak performance. “We have several recovery
options to choose from,” says Grainger,
“including massage, ice baths, compression
garments, active swim recovery, muscle
recovery devices and WBC.
When Should You Use WBC?
The message from Adam Grainger is to
balance the relaxing and regenerative effects
of WBC with the need to train efficiently
during a typical seven-day cycle during the
season. “We’ll typically play on a Saturday
and straight after the match the players
will have a treatment session,” he explains.
“The squad will have Sunday off and then
on Monday morning they’ll have another
session. On Tuesday morning the team will
have a rigorous training session followed
by further WBC in the afternoon. No more
sessions take place until after the next match.
Our use of WBC will depend on logistics and
a player’s response to the therapy. In general
though, the closer the WBC treatment is to
the end of the game, the better. However,
when we are away there may be no time to
fit in a session post match, but we’ll then
change the recovery regime to an early
session the morning following that match.”
Whole Body Cryotherapy Explained
WBC is a non-invasive therapy. Short bursts
of extreme cold – lower than -120°C – to the
surface of your body evoke physiological
reactions which prompt healing and recovery.
“When faced with alternatives such as an ice
bath there are some important benefits that
come with WBC, not least the precise control
we have over the temperature to which our
players are exposed. With an ice bath, the
What Role Does WBC Play In
Measuring Performance
“We implement strict performance measures
which players must meet in the days after
each match to help us gauge the readiness
48
of players to train and perform again,” says
Grainger. “These measures include activities
such as a bench press, maximum velocity
test or jump test. We also ask the players to
complete a well-being survey that assesses
their muscle soreness, energy levels, sleep
patterns and mood. Each player has to reach a
certain threshold to be judged ready to train.
Based on the results we might recommend
increased rest and recovery for players.
WBC is one of the tools in our recovery
system for players who fail to reach the right
performance. If their performance measure is
lower than expected and they haven’t received
WBC post match we’ll ask them to do a
session. In addition, each player must achieve
a certain amount of recovery points after each
competitive game. Their score is based on a
five-point system and is dependent on their
use of various recovery therapies, of which
WBC is one.”
What Do You Say To Players Who
Are Reluctant To Use WBC?
Grainger has no doubts about the value
of WBC when it comes to optimizing
performance: “Sale Sharks have experienced
considerable increases in subjective well-being
– the figures of which need further research
– but this, combined with anecdotal evidence
on rapid recovery from trauma and injury,
suggests that WBC is making a real difference
to our players’ performance, helping them
to train harder, play harder and excel.”
Air Products, global supplier of industrial
gases, servicing and equipment, will
exhibit its complete offering for Whole
Body Cryotherapy with partners,
Kriosystem and Cryopod at Leaders Sport
Performance Summit in November.
airproducts.com/cryotherapy
The benefits relating to Cryotherapy described in this
article are derived from research supplied by Sale
Sharks RFU and The University of Rouen, France.
49
| Talent Development |
Damian Farrow
04 Autumn Issue
Professor Damian Farrow holds a
joint appointment within the College
of Sport & Exercise Science, ISEAL,
and the Australian Institute of Sport
(AIS). In 2002 he was appointed
the inaugural AIS Skill Acquisition
Specialist, then became the Discipline
Head of Psychology and Skill
Acquisition in 2009. In this position
he was responsible for research and
support of coaches seeking to develop
the skills of Australian athletes. He
has worked with a range of AIS and
national sports programs including the
AFL, Cricket Australia, Tennis Australia,
Netball Australia, Swimming Australia
and the Australian Rugby Union.
In Pursuit
of Excellence
Responsible for driving
research and support of coaches
seeking to develop the skills of
Australian athletes, Professor Damian
Farrow is a man passionate about
unlocking the secrets of how we learn.
Here he walks Performance through the
secrets he’s picked up following a
lifetime devoted to sport.
Interview by Stephen Dobson
Performance
50
ow would you describe what you do?
I’m fascinated by the idea of identifying
and understanding the factors that
influence sport expertise. In the last 30 years the
research community have defined a range of
qualities that we know separate the best from the
rest. So that’s our starting point – what are the
qualities that characterize the best in a particular
sport? Then once we know what those qualities
are, how do we develop them in our emerging
talent? What’s the most effective way to do that?
What do you consider to be the key factors
within skill development? Do you have a
philosophy of what you would consider to be
the ideal?
My philosophy is firstly the athlete has to be put
in situations where they invest heavily in their
performance – in their practice performance.
Most people in the field of sports coaching will
be aware of Anders Ericsson and the 10,000
hours idea. What I like about Ericsson’s theory is
that it requires the athlete to engage, to commit.
Forget about every other aspect of that theory for
now – for me it’s really important that the athlete
puts a lot of mental effort into the practice that
they are doing, I think that is non-negotiable. I
also believe that we need to vary the practice that
athletes are doing extensively. I think it’s one of
the classic misconceptions in sport that you simply
get better by repetitive drilling and replication of
movement patterns,we see a lot of inefficiency
in talent development simply because that’s the
way coaches have always done it. I believe the
way to get the best from an athlete is by varying
their training so they always have to be alert and
100 per cent invested in what they are doing. I
think that – in general – not enough planning
and not enough systematic thought goes into the
organizing of practice repetitions to maximize
the volume and variability in training. That’s
something that can be rectified and improved.
What are the most common coaching
misconceptions you encounter at the
elite level?
I’d phrase it another way – there is some low
hanging fruit that coaches could make use of to
get more out of what they do, primarily around
instruction and feedback given to athletes.
Key to that is harnessing the technology that’s
available and using the information it provides as
effectively as possible, being able to prioritize that
information and frame it positively or negatively
depending on the circumstances. I think there
is a lot of unexplored potential there. Often
coaches can use technological information as a
crutch, and when it’s used like that it can lead to
athletes becoming too reliant on it and not taking
ownership of their own development.
That flows into psychology as much as it does
skill development – more and more we’re reading
about the importance of self-regulatory behavior
in athletes, but that requires education about
what they’re looking for and the correct way of
utilizing it. Something I often see is an athlete
that’s very keen to get immediate gratification
and feedback, and then the coach lets them look
at their numbers and video replay without there
being that critical reflection by the athlete prior
to seeing the data. Feedback should confirm or
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04 Autumn Issue
Talent Development
through it, asking why did he move here?
Why is he running there? That’s valuable, but
I still see the prospective training as having
the bigger impact. But technology is really just
the icing on the cake – the physical training
environment is the really important element.
Is getting that right what you would
suggest coaches concentrate on?
Yes. I think where the gains can be made is
by drilling down and isolating what are the
key decision-making contexts that you want to
use to improve your athletes’ skills. Can you
simulate those situations with as few players as
possible? Could a breakdown game where it’s
five on five rather than 11 on 11 produce the
same results?
“I believe the best
coaches are very
good at adapting and
having their athletes
believe that they
are exactly the right
coach for them”.
disprove your view of your performance, and
the athlete should be reflecting on that first.
It’s becoming more common – whether it’s a
generational thing or it’s always been like this
and there’s just more instant feedback available
now I’m not sure – but it’s a problem.
Are there any other issues that strike you as
being unique to modern coaching?
I’m not sure we see as many modern athletes
investing as heavily in themselves as they need
to in order to refine their skills to the levels they
need to be at for them to compete internationally.
The other critical generational issue that we’re
observing more and more with the data we’re
collecting goes beyond the elite level. Many of
the children of this current generation don’t have
the fundamental movement skills and motor
52
competencies that perhaps the generation or two
prior to them had; their foundational skills are a
lot poorer and so the baseline that we’re working
from as coaches is compromised – kids just
aren’t as ready to play sport as they used to be.
Your work has focused a lot on decision-making
skills and cognitive training. In sports like
American Football virtual reality simulation is
currently being used to help players fine-tune
those skills. Have you seen other examples
of that kind of technology being used to help
athletes improve?
Obviously the better simulators or training aids
are the ones that elicit a sports-specific response
– the athlete has to feel like they’re immersed
in doing what they would do in their normal
performance setting as much as possible. The
best tools are undoubtedly the virtual ones,
which are becoming more commonplace.
Over in Belfast, Professor Cathy Craig is doing
some fascinating work in terms of trying to
understand what are the key features of a virtual
display that are most important to the user, and
some of her work would point to the fact that
it’s all about the timing – if I have a defensive
rugby pattern running at me, it’s how the timing
of that unfolds that dictates how successful that
simulation is. I think this type of tool is still in its
infancy in terms of how we use it but clearly it
has advantages – you can do a lot of repetitions
with it and you don’t need the rest of your team
there to do them. It would also be useful for what
I would call educational training – a coach could
put up a pattern of play that they’ve gotten from
a broadcast or the like and take their players
If so then that’s more efficient because more
players can get through more repetitions in a
shorter period of time. I think we’ve always got
to be looking for how we can scale the game
to elicit the right decisions and maximize our
repetitions because one of the key problems is
if you start doing full simulations, the number
of full repetitions you get in any training session
is limited. Another key point is using different
constraints to influence the game. The concept
of futsal progressing into full football is a good
example – the different type of ball prompts
different decision-making but uses similar skills.
Coaches could take greater advantage of that.
Finally, I’d remind coaches to give core skills
their due – if a player can’t perform a skill, like
a specific kind of pass, their decision-making
options are not the limiting factor on their
performance. If I can’t perform a skill well but
53
04 Autumn Issue
Talent Development
try and deploy it, I don’t have much cognitive
capacity free to be devoted to another task, such
as decision-making. Coaches need to make sure
that core skills are up to scratch before launching
into things like video reviews.
much later in their career they’ll probably
never bridge that gap and you’ll always
have that other ‘early’ player who’s more
effective and looks more naturally gifted.
coaching sessions in a way that keeps athletes
engaged. Improving something as simple as
that could have a massive influence on how
the next generation of athletes develops.
So is decision-making all about experience
and repetition? Or are some athletes naturally
better decision-makers?
“Often coaches can
use technological
information as a crutch”.
There’s a growing school of thought
that coaches should be looking more
closely at working with players that are
suited to them, that respond best to
their feedback and expertise – essentially
specialist coaching taken to the next
logical step. What’s your take?
I subscribe to the view that an athlete’s
childhood experiences have made them the way
they are. The athletes that have been exposed
to unstructured games and deliberate play and
all those sorts of concepts as a young child
invariably are the ones that we end up talking
about as the gifted decision-makers that have
more time and space than everyone else. I think
that’s possibly the most important thing when
selecting talent – look at their background
history and make some decisions based on
what you see there. I certainly believe that,
even with all the training in the world, if a
player gets exposed to those sorts of activities
54
What’s the big focus for you at the moment?
What are you devoting your time to over the
next five years or so?
My primary focus is the talent development
pathway, getting 6-10-year-olds – our talent
base in short – moving more, developing that
fundamental movement confidence that is
currently waning, and doing what we can to
iron out the inefficiencies in how we actually
coach young talent – things like working
out how we can build more repetitions into
I believe the best coaches, and maybe I’m
talking about the very best coaches, are very
good at adapting and having their athletes
believe that they are exactly the right coach
for them, and so I think there are plenty of
examples of coaches who can get the best
out of the whole gamut of different athletes.
But I also think that there’s something in
that, especially from the skill point of view.
There are certain coaches that are fantastic
at development that might not be so good at
team systems, so those coaches being specialized
and then adopting a systematic approach when
matching up players to those coaches would bring
benefits. It’s often a resources issue though – how
many specialists can you have? – but it would
definitely help maximize player development.
Could sport learn anything from the way
other disciplines, say elite musical or dance
institutions, nurture talent?
I think most of the areas you’re probably
thinking of – music, the military – have pockets
of brilliance and so I don’t really know if there’s
one domain that does it better than others, and
I’m sure that sport has methods that could help
these domains in return. The music conservatories
do things very well in terms of appreciating
the volume of training that needs to occur and
sequencing that training, and I think closed sports,
like golf or shooting, could gain something by
looking at what they do. I don’t think any domain
has got it 100 per cent right, we can all learn from
each other.
55
04 Autumn Issue
| Communication |
The Dangers
Of A Casual
Glance
Training Yourself To See
Firstly, few of us have been trained
rigorously and well in how to gain insight.
Just because our eyes are healthy doesn’t
mean that we know how to see and it
certainly doesn’t mean that we know how
to see consistently and constantly. Like every
other skill, seeing requires a progressive
training methodology and a willingness to
practice. Stamina is developed over time.
Managing Stimuli
Secondly, we are all bombarded constantly
by a mass of stimuli. We manage this by
deleting, distorting and generalizing much
of what we experience. We are encouraged
by many sources and in many ways to seek
out and accept the first obvious answer or
interpretation, and it is all too easy for us to do
just that. Doing so gives us the space and time
to move on to the next thing, confident that we
understand what is happening.
Observation is a key
ingredient when it comes
to communication and
high performance. Expert
Chris Parker explains the
importance of recognizing
what’s in front of you.
Having explained their point of view during
a recent conversation, a client asked me:
“Do you see what I’m saying?” I was pretty
sure that I did, but I still did a thorough
check before we moved on.
For clarification, when I talk about seeing
I mean the process of gaining accurate
insight. I appreciate others might
use the term in different ways. I also
appreciate that gaining accurate insight
requires the use of all our senses, but for
now I’m simply looking to explore the
fundamentals of insightful observation
and how they can be utilized.
Being Attentive
So, without further ado, cast your eyes over
the diagram above right and answer the
question: How many triangles are there?
56
I wonder for how long you gave your
attention to the task, and what answer
you arrived at? One thing I do know for
sure is that you won’t be right if you
gave it only a casual glance. Therein
lies the challenge and the danger. We
cannot gain accurate insights into those
with whom we are communicating –
and, therefore, we cannot offer them
appropriate leadership, guidance,
coaching or any other manner of
support – if we offer them only a casual
glance. We have to know how to see.
The Casual Glance
It’s all too easy to give a casual glance
to people, places or situations, even
when we mean to be attentive, even
when we think we have been. There
are a number of reasons why.
Seeing Is Believing
Thirdly, our current beliefs and biases blinker
our perception. They make it easy for us to see
what we expect to see, rather than what might
actually be happening. Beliefs are essential.
They underpin our worldview and our sense
of self. At their best they help bring out our
most positive qualities, often in the face of
adversity. However, they also make it easy for
us to delete, distort and generalize and – at
their worst – they create the most negative sort
of tunnel vision.
Thinking Within
Fourthly, our natural tendency to focus on our
own needs means that at least some of our
attention is focused inwards rather than on
what is happening around us. A wide range
of personal factors including our emotional
and physical state and our own agenda can
combine to limit our visual acuity.
even some problem, the less likely we are
to really see, because our expectations – our
presumptions – get in the way. Unless it is
managed deliberately and with great care,
familiarity blinds.
In Conclusion
So if you want to show that you really care, if
you want to demonstrate your commitment
to working together to create the very
best desired outcomes, give those people
with whom you are working and those
environments you are working in far more
than a casual glance. In fact, do everything
in your power to banish the casual glance.
Instead develop – and keep developing – your
ability to see. It is at the heart of powerful and
deliberate communication. Which is why in
the next issue I will share with you a tried and
tested method for seeing and gaining insight.
Oh! Sorry. I almost forgot.
How many triangles are there in the diagram?
See for yourself. The answer is in sight.
Sight Recognition
The final factor behind the danger of a casual
glance is familiarity. The more familiar we
become, the more we are sure that we know
and understand someone, or some place, or
57
04 Autumn Issue
5
Minutes With
Justin Moore
Associate Athletic Director
for Football, Texas A&M
“The biggest influence
on my career has been
Kevin Sumlin. He hired
me in 2008 as his
Director of Football
Operations at the
University of Houston
and we have worked
side by side ever since”.
Years in the sports industry?
What are you most of proud of in your career?
Nine years.
We are judged on wins and losses and I’m
proud we have been able to produce results
at two different universities at a level
they had never seen before. Also we have
done so without compromising our
integrity and have gained a reputation
for being creative and innovative.
First job in sport?
I was hired by the Senior Associate Athletics
Director at Texas A&M University as a
Special Assistant while I was enrolled in
graduate school there. I worked with him
to manage the internal components of the
athletic department, which included sports
performance, sports medicine, financial aid for
student-athletes and student-athlete welfare.
Who has been the biggest influence on
your career so far and why?
Kevin Sumlin. He hired me in 2008 as
his Director of Football Operations at the
University of Houston and we have worked
side by side ever since. He has influenced
me tremendously through his leadership, the
example he sets every day and the freedom
he has given me to do my job effectively.
What’s been the biggest change in your
role in the last five years?
Social media in recruiting student athletes.
It’s completely changed how we communicate
with and recruit 15-18-year-old prospects.
What’s the first thing you do when you
start work in the morning?
Shut my door and give myself
uninterrupted time to think about issues
to be discussed and addressed with the
staff. I then make a list of everything we need
to discuss in our staff meeting that morning.
Justin Moore
Justin Moore oversees every aspect
of the Texas A&M football program.
Over the last two seasons the Aggies
have registered the highest GPA
that the program has ever seen
in recorded history. Similarly, the
team’s Academic Progress Rate
(APR) – measured by the NCAA –
has been the highest in recorded
history over the past two years.
58
59
Mike Fincke
Mike Fincke is an American astronaut who
currently holds the American record for
the most time in space (381.6 days). He is a
United States Air Force officer and a NASA
astronaut, and served two tours aboard the
International Space Station as a flight engineer
and commander. He flew on one Space Shuttle
mission, STS-134 as a Mission Specialist.
| Viewpoint |
Out Of
This World
Mike Fincke, the current
American record-holder for
the most time spent in space,
on what it takes to make it at
the most exacting institution
on Earth.
The world’s most
prestigious sport
performance
summit
Lots of people want to go to space but
NASA only hires a certain number, so I did
as much preparation as I could to make
myself the best candidate I could be. It’s a
very thorough selection process – the most
recent intake was eight people from a field
of 8,500 applicants. I became a test pilot. I
studied rockets as an aerospace engineer. I
learned Russian, which has turned out to
be incredibly useful now Russia is our
partner. I now hold Russian space records
primarily because I learned the language.
There is no substitute for being prepared.
I didn’t have a seamless journey to the top.
After six months training the Air Force let me
go. In fact, they released me on my birthday
and my girlfriend had dumped me the day
before. It wasn’t a great couple of days. But I
believe we find ourselves through adversity,
so I remembered that my dream wasn’t to
be a test pilot, it was to be an astronaut – the
former was just a means to an end. I put
aside Plan A, started to look for Plan B and I
found a different way to achieve my dream.
Becoming an astronaut requires lots of patience
and perseverance because there are so many
setbacks along the way.
Mental toughness is a key requirement, so a
lot of time is spent on assessing a candidate’s
psychology – we have to make sure that people
can cope with what is going to be demanded of
them, especially as we don’t assemble teams in
isolation. The way the space program works is
Russia chooses their candidate, we choose ours,
60
Europe chooses theirs and so on – we have to
treat each candidate on a case-by-case basis.
A crew is never an absolute, from the ground
up ‘ideal’ – we make sure we pick exceptional
people so that the crew commander has an
excellent chance of making it all work.
NASA puts a lot of effort into helping
astronauts adjust to life after a mission.
There’s such a massive comedown when you
work on a four-year cycle. You come back
home and see everyone and it’s all fantastic
for a couple of weeks, but after that you get
a sense of ‘Okay, what’s next?’ Dealing with
that is hugely important if you want people
to stay and buy into what you’re doing.
We have counseling sessions, we include
the partners and families of the astronauts,
and speaking personally I’ve found those
sessions a crucial part of being an astronaut.
Date
30 June – 1 July 2015
—
Venue
The Times Center
New York
Invitation-only
61
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