May 30, 2025 Hi Reader Last week I shared a framework with you that I’ve used on different occasions with clients. And, in truth, on occasions there has been some pushback and it all hasn’t been straight-line success stories. I’ve really enjoyed pulling together this week’s edition as it shows that a lot of what I share here is iterative and we’ve got to evolve and iterate for different contexts and situations. Think of it this way…..you've identified the type of strategic opposition you're...
9 days ago • 7 min read
May 23, 2025 Hi Reader You're staring at the performance data again. Two months ago, you rolled out what should have been a game-changing initiative. The strategy was sound. The resources were allocated. The communication was clear. But here you are; watching mediocre results stumble in while your board starts asking questions you're not prepared to answer. What's eating at you isn't just the poor performance. It's the dawning realisation that you might be the problem. Not because you're...
16 days ago • 7 min read
May 16, 2025 Hi Reader An otherwise quiet Tuesday morning and a sporting director client name came up on my phone screen. No hanging about. Straight to business. "Remember that player development pathway we spent three months designing? It's dead." "Ok….What happened?" I asked. "Nothing happened. That's the problem. It never really made it past the f%$king PowerPoint." I wasn't all that surprised. It was kind of predictable. Last week, I revealed how top sports clubs/organisations lose 63% of...
23 days ago • 5 min read
May 2, 2025 Hi Reader Your club makes hundreds, maybe thousands, of decisions each year. Most of them never happen. At least, not in the way you intended. I watched it unfold recently. A Championship club's leadership team carefully crafted their player development strategy over three intensive, off-site days. Six weeks later, when I visited their academy, the coaches were implementing something entirely different. It wasn’t because they were rebellious. They genuinely thought they were...
about 1 month ago • 5 min read
April 25, 2025 Hi Reader An Eredivisie (Dutch Premier League) leadership team hired me after their most successful season in a decade. Puzzling, right? "We're winning," the Sporting Director told me. "But it's harder each week. Something's off." Not much to go on! But after observing for three days, it came clear. The Head Coach was getting results, but his influence required constant energy expenditure. He was winning through force, not flow. Five months later, despite continued success, he...
about 1 month ago • 5 min read
April 18, 2025 Hi Reader Sean McVay, head coach of the L.A. Rams is an interesting character. One story involving him prompted this weeks newsletter….. The room fell silent after Sean McVay finished outlining his game plan for an upcoming play-off game. Not the good kind of silence. The uncomfortable kind. His coaching & performance staff reportedly exchanged glances. No one spoke. Later, after a crushing playoff loss, McVay discovered his defensive coordinator had spotted a critical flaw in...
about 2 months ago • 5 min read
April 11, 2025 Hi Reader The loudest voices in sports leadership rarely share their most effective secrets. Why? Because these game-changing behaviours don't make Insta or YouTube reels. They aren't flashy. They often happen behind closed doors or in small moments that most people miss. Yet these quiet behaviours create outsized results. I discovered this truth the hard way. Early in my head-coach/management career, I chased the visible trappings of leadership; the big motivational speeches,...
about 2 months ago • 5 min read
April 4, 2025 Hi Reader You've read the books. Attended the courses. Maybe did a post-grad. You follow the experts. Do site visits. Yet something's missing. The gap between average, good and great leaders often isn't found in what everyone talks about. It hides in the wide open – in principles so fundamental they're nearly invisible. I've spent years studying sports leaders who consistently outperform their peers. The difference, largely, isn't talent or resources. It's their unconscious...
2 months ago • 5 min read
March 28, 2025 Hi Reader I think we've all seen it happen. You might well have felt (of feel?) it yourself. A talented head-coach with a decade of experience still makes the same mistakes they made in year one. A sports director who claims "extensive experience" but shows little growth in actual wisdom. The shocking and sad truth? Many sports leaders don't have ten years of experience. They have one year, repeated ten times. This isn't about intelligence, aptitude or work ethic. It's about...
2 months ago • 5 min read