Success, education, swimming naked and alignment challenges

sent by Nick Grantham | 11th January 2022

"You can't count on success; you can only leave open the possibility for it, and be ready to jump in and take the ride when comes for you."

Austin Kleon

share this on twitter

The one time I got ahead of myself and thought that success was a given was also the time the opportunity evaporated in front of my eyes, leaving me to lick my wounds. At that moment, I decided I wouldn't get ahead of myself again. I don't count on success. Instead, I do precisely what Austin Kleon suggests. I try to create situations for myself and the athletes I work with to be successful, and if the opportunities arise, I make sure we hang on for dear life and enjoy the ride.

Source: Austin Kleon


"When you counsel someone, you should appear to be reminding him of something he had forgotten, not of the light he was unable to see."

Baltasar Gracian

share this on twitter

When trying to explain something, have you ever found yourself saying, “how do you not understand? It's so obvious...”. How do you think that makes the person feel? It's been said to me in the past, and more worryingly, I know I've said it myself to others. When we are coaching, we should help the athletes we work with remember what they have forgotten!

Source: Baltasar Gracian


"When the tide goes out we will see who's swimming naked."

Matthew McConaughey

share this on twitter

Plenty of practitioners in high-performance sport talk a good game and will tell you what they are going to do or what they've done in the past. I pay little attention to either. Instead, I prefer to observe what they actually do when the pressure comes. And when it does come, I don't like to be around anyone with their arse hanging out!

Source: The High Performance Podcast - Episode 30 with Matthew McConaughey??


"We don't have a competence challenge, we have an alignment challenge."

Denis Logan

share this on twitter

When faced with a dysfunctional support team or department, many leaders will wrongly assume that the misfiring is because members of the support team don't have the appropriate competency to operate effectively. It's rarely a competence issue. It's nearly always an alignment issue. A group of incredibly talented and competent practitioners all wanting to do their own thing. Get the team members to align toward a common goal, and many of the problems will fade away.

Source: Denis Logan


Join Me

Thanks for reading. You can get more insights from my popular email newsletter. Each week I share performance insights in my exclusive For the Win newsletter. Sign up with your email now and join us.

Join Now

P.S. Follow me on Twitter and Instagram.