June 20, 2025 Hi Reader You used to be someone before you became someone “important”. But when was the last time you remembered who that person was? You used to have interests that had nothing to do with winning. Conversations that weren't about performance. Dreams that existed outside the scoreboard. Now, when people ask what you do, you don't just describe your job, you become it. "I’m the Sporting Director at XXXX FC" or "I’m the Performance Manager with XXXX or “I’m the Head Coach for...
18 days ago • 8 min read
June 13, 2025 Hi Reader You're surrounded by people all day, yet you've never felt more alone. Staff meetings. Board presentations. Player briefings. Media interviews. Your calendar is packed with human interaction from 7 AM until well past dinner. But when did you last have a real conversation? When did someone last ask how you're actually doing? And actually wait for an honest answer? When did you last speak to someone who truly understands the weight you carry, without needing to explain...
25 days ago • 7 min read
June 6, 2025 Hi Reader You check your phone at 11:47 PM. Again. Three new messages from coaching staff. Two "urgent" emails from the board. A text from your performance director about tomorrow's session changes. You tell yourself you'll just quickly respond to the critical ones. Twenty minutes later, you're still scrolling, your mind racing with decisions that can't wait until morning. Sound familiar? Yeah, and I’ve been there too. Here's what no one tells you about reaching the apex of...
about 1 month ago • 7 min read
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...
about 1 month 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...
about 2 months 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...
about 2 months 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...
2 months 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...
2 months 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...
3 months ago • 5 min read