2012 Leaders in Performance

There comes a time when one must take their learning to another level. The Leaders in Performance conference was one of the five conferences within the Leaders Sports Summit program. Held on the grounds of Stamford Bridge of Chelsea FC in London, this full conference consisting of 1700 delegates was not only an opportunity for networking, but more importantly, a means to uncover applicable best practice strategies from multi-disciplinary panels of global leaders in sports today.​

With a conference of this magnitude and a delegate list of such high caliber, it was of utmost important for me to unravel the most practical of messages and lessons for my current day to day work. And unlike much of the educational conferences I am accustomed to attending, it is certainly easy to fall in awe of the glitz and glamour of the environment. Aside from the keynote lectures that started off each day, the sessions were formatted in a manner whereby leaders and experts sat together in a panel, sharing their knowledge and viewpoints in question and answer format. Thus, leading to insightful discussions of sports performance.

But amongst the discussions, it was clear to me that the most prominent message was the importance of a strong and foundation of culture in sports performance success. And inherent within this message, lies the inextricable being of the human.
So without further ado, here is the summary.

Day 1

Aspetar Pre-conference Sports Medicine Symposium

• Panel:Prof. Roald Bahr, Prof. Louise Burke, Dr. Rob Duffield, Dr. Sebastien Racinais, and Prof. Martin Schwellnus
• This pre-conference discussed strategies for the attainment of best performance through training hotter environments. The ongoing debate in the literature pertaining to deliberate increase critical core temperature for performance adaptation versus performance decrement was recognized as was the wisdom of the subconscious body to thermoregulate. Similarly discussed was the reminder that levels attained in the lab, in controlled environments, while important, may be missing key elements (i.e. the central governor) that on field data do not. Also discussed was the importance of recognizing individual physiological responses to exercise intensity - in addition to environmental temperatures - since it is not uncommon for athletes (i.e. open water swimmers) to suffer from hyperthermia in colder conditions. One key element discussed, often underrecognized, was the importance of food and beverage as "equipment" in thermoregulation, that timing, quantity and quality of consumption is equally as important. Finally, heat acclimation was heavily discussed specifically relating to the positive adaptation through improved thermoregulation (i.e. sweat loss) not only for performance in hotter environments but also in more familiar temperate environments.

Keynote - Leading from the Top: How Team Culture Predicts Team Success

• This address by Stuart Lancaster, the Head Coach of England Rugby, was a vital jumpstart to this two-day conference. Stressing that "it's about culture (and being connected) and leadership (that drives this culture)" Stuart navigated his way through the last nine months of his experience in revitalizing the English national program of rugby. Here are the seven lessons he learned about culture in sport:
• 1. Culture comes before performance - How you define your future environment shapes your behaviour.
• 2. A "Star" team, not a team of stars - Self belief and team belief are more important than experience.
• 3. Focus on the reason why - It's not about what you can get out of it, it's what you can give back.
• 4. Demand commitment & sacrifice - Identity, purpose and standards are important.
• 5. Connection & Extension - Connect with the hear first and connect at a grassroots level. Leadership is about influence
• 6. Effective leadership is key - Give authority as well as responsibility. Even young members of the team need to feel like leaders
• 7 . Inspire a vision for the future - Behave like champions way before you become champoins
• 8. The score will take care of itself - This was borrowed from Bill Walsh and it was suggested that there's no time table for winning. Build a culture and the score will take care of itself.

Fail to Plan? Plan to Fail: How to Get Your Team Ready for Action

• Panel: Charles van Commenee and Mark Verstegen
• Like most of the other sessions, this was in the format of a formal "question and answer" with the panel members. The first question, asking of their underlying philosophies, was answered by Charles as being the preparation of athletes to win under pressure, when it counts. Thus, mentioned was made of the psychological component of this philosophy. The philosophy of an underlying foundation of mindset, culture, nutrition, movement and recovery was made by Mark, likely unsurprising to those of you who are familiar with his work. That it is important to treat every day as game day, so that game day comes easy...not dissimilar to Gambetta's "race as you train" philosophy.
• On fostering athlete responsibility - Charles mentioned that he deliberately builds one mistake within each phase of his program in order to ask the athlete what they did about it and what they felt. Mark stressed the importance of understanding what intrinsically drives them so that their "it" becomes recognized in order to prepare, train and recover for "it".
• On technical excellence - Charles reminded us that there's more than one way. That bad or poor technique and mechanics create injuries but precise technicians don't always win. Therefore, he noted that in addition to stressing biomechanics at early ages, equally important is the need for a great eye and objective input (i.e. technology).  Mark suggested that technical proficiency is actually a broad term or concept, but one that includes technical competency in fueling and recovery as well. Thus, he suggested that we embrace the individual's biomechanical input but not forget to improve movement to maximize efficiency for their sport and style of play.
• On engaging with specialists - Charles recommended that coaches need to create a strong bond with their performance staff due to the need to understand all areas of support since it is the coach that ultimately has the big picture in mind. Mark suggested the "one team" philosophy and the negative influence of having 10 different voices in the athletes' ears. The message rendered needs to be consistent for maximal interpretation..."high definition" communication to deliver the outcomes.
• Finally, on monitoring - It was agreed that while in this day in age, data collection may be popular, we are also in a time of information overload. Therefore, it was suggested that data must only be collected to support the coach's tactics and styles.

The Perfect Storm: Innovation, Technology and Performance

• Panel: John De Witt, Scott Drawer and Jonathan Neale
• One of my favorite sessions, this panel comprised itself of a senior biomechanist from NASA who is also a coach within the Houston Dynamo's Academy, the head of research and innovation of UK sport and the managing director of Vodafone McLaren Mercedes F1. An all-star cast if you will. Being one of the more rich sessions of this conference, several thought provoking and lesson learning ideas were brought to surface in the relationships between technological innovation, human behaviour and performance. Specifically, the significance of "the question being asked" in modelling, the importance of the aggregation of data and the necessity of practicality in technology application and lastly the inextricable nature of human behaviour in modern day science.
• The question being asked - Although many scientists are building models - read modelling - few remember to actually possess a question that must be answered.  Because the question is most important and the model is only as good as the question it asks as well as the data you put into it.
• Data aggregation & practicality - It was made clear by Jonathan Neale that we need to make decisions at the point of most knowledge - a meritocracy and not a lottery - and that we must possess an attitude also embraces risk and failure. With the growth of data analysis in sport today, Scott Drawer reminded us that we must filter information for quality and that the only possible way is to truly understand the components of performance and the relevance of the data to such components.
• Inextricable Nature of Human behaviour - That humanity must always be viewed in parallel to innovation and technology in performance.

Testing in the Pursuit of High Performance: The Do's and the Don'ts

• Panel: Matthew Wilson, Jean-Pierre Meersseman and Fabrice Muamba
• Much was spoken of the role of testing in pre-participation pertaining to risk-screening and injury prevention but perhaps one key lesson was to be learned: That although testing is extremely important, perfect accuracy and sensitivity is never guaranteed.