Insights

Lessons on Leadership from the World of Sport

Reflections from our evening with Switch the Play Foundation

Authors

  1. Mary Few
  2. Siân Brown
  3. Kate Ludlow

Leadership potential doesn’t always follow a conventional path.

Last night’s event with Switch The Play Foundation was a powerful reminder of that.

We heard firsthand how elite athletes step out of high-performance environments, where expectations are clear, feedback is constant, and purpose is unquestioned, into workplaces that often struggle to recognise what they bring.

And yet, if you strip leadership back to its fundamentals, these are individuals who:

  • Perform under pressure
  • Show relentless discipline
  • Adapt quickly to change
  • Lead and contribute to high-performing teams
  • Build resilience through setbacks

In short: the very capabilities most organisations say they are looking for. The gap isn’t talent, it is how we identify and nurture it.

If we are serious about broadening leadership pipelines, we need to think differently about where potential comes from, and how we create pathways for it to thrive.

Huge thanks to our guest speakers Patrick Nevin, Eva Donaldson and Chris Dean for such an honest discussion, and to Rob Young MBE and the Switch the Play team for the work they continue to do in this space.

 

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