England, once again, fell short of achieving World Cup glory – and you may be tempted to analyse: Where and how did we go wrong? As leaders, a more valuable question is: What can we learn from Spain’s victory? We know it was anything but accidental. Having been eliminated at the group stage of the Euros in 2004, Spain recognised the need to undergo a cultural and tactical rebuild. They went on to win the Euros in 2008, 2012 and 2024; the World Cup in 2010 and 2026; and the Wo

As a Manchester lad who grew up close to Old Trafford, supporting Manchester United felt almost inevitable. I was also fortunate to grow up watching a team led by one of the most successful managers in the history of football. As my interest in leadership and high performance developed, so did my admiration for Sir Alex Ferguson. His greatest achievement was not simply building a successful team. He created an organisation capable of sustaining success through changing player

Carly got in touch with me in the summer 2013, she wanted to work with a sports psychologist to help with competition nerves and performing in front of crowds. For some reason, she just could not focus her mind and do what she knew she was capable of. I agreed to meet Carly at her home in Manchester to make it easier for her, she has a condition called Cerebral Palsy, which mainly affects movement and coordination and is caused around the time of birth. Carly was not a wheelc

In 2017, I flew to San Diego to spend three days at a leadership academy founded by a former Navy SEAL commander. The academy was setup to increase the success rate of recruits into the Navy SEALs. I had spent years studying mindset, resilience and high performance. I had taught many of these ideas to other people. But I wanted to experience them in an environment where there was nowhere to hide. The Navy SEALs are widely considered among the mentally and physically toughest

I recently had the great pleasure of being the keynote speaker at the Manchester City Council Leadership Summit. It was a proud moment for me as a Mancunian to be surrounded by so many passionate people who were determined to make our city an even better place to live and work. The closing comments from the Chief Executive, Joanne Roney OBE, captured the mood perfectly: “This city goes from strength to strength. It’s unstoppable.” During my keynote, I shared three big ideas f