1. In Pursuit of Excellence: Learning from Elite Sport on Developing Talent Effectively Dr Bill Gerrard Professor of Sport Management and Finance Leeds University Business School

2. Session plan 1. “Let’s Go” 2. Ideas session 3. Group discussions 4. Report back 5. “Where are we?”

3. Who am I? Professor of Sport Management and Finance, Leeds University Business School Research focus: performance and value management in the pro team sports industry Recent teaching portfolio:  Corporate finance (MBA)  Value and performance management (MBA)  The football business (2 nd Year U/g) Qualified football coach (UEFA B License) FA psychology for coaching (Level 3) Assistant coach, University of Leeds Men’s Football

4. You can’t be serious! What can we learn from elite sport on developing talent effectively?

5. Goal Setting Coaching Winning Re-creating the Street Alternative World Views Holistic Approach EXCELLENCE Ideas session: in pursuit of excellence

6. What’s your coaching/ teaching paradigm? Transactional Paradigm Transformational Paradigm Knowledge Transfer Detachment Capability Building Involvement Coach-Led Command Style Player-Centred Guided Discovery Instrumentalist Efficiency Expressive Excellence

7. Performance: outcome or process? Performance as process Long-term perspective Get the fundamentals right Formative assessment Being mode Performance as outcome Short-term perspective Quick-fix solutions Summative assessment Having mode

8. Total football or 4-4-2? Tactical systems: top-down command Total football: player empowerment

9. Four corners model of talent development ABILITY AWARENESS ATTITUDEATHLETICISM ELITE PERFORMANCE SKILLSCO-ORDINATION MOTIVATION WELL-BEING

10. Mental skills training: concentration Close your eyes. Focus on your breathing. Count each breath until you are distracted. How far can you get? Mental skills training: MotivationConfidence Self talkProfessional attitude Goal settingImagery RelaxationFocus and concentration

11. Coaching Individual-focused Coach as teacher, mentor, motivator, facilitator … Holistic approach to understanding the individual Emphasis on positive and forward-looking approach – “who do you want to be”

12. The GROW model of coaching

13. The coaching process Preparation: Session plan Objectives “Fail to prepare. Prepare to fail” Typical structure: –Warm up –Drills –Conditioned games –Free play –Cool down Coaching formula: STOP-DEMO-REHEARSAL-LIVE “Tell me and I forget. Show me and I remember. Involve me and I understand.” Guided discovery: -Create problem situation -Give players freedom to explore options

14. Effective coaching ASPIRE INSPIRE INVOLVEDEVOLVE

15. SMARTER targets S pecific M easurable A ttainable R elevant T ime-bound E xciting R ecorded

16. Choose your goals carefully PROCESS GOALS PERFORMANCE GOALS OUTCOME GOALS CONTROL THE CONTROLLABLE OUTCOMES ARE UNCERTAIN TASK-ORIENTED INTRINSIC MOTIVATION EGO-ORIENTED EXTRINSIC MOTIVATION

17. Target specification COULD SHOULD MUST

18. But be aware of the language of targets “You MUST achieve this performance level” –Transactional –Extrinsic –Compliance “You CAN achieve this performance level” –Transformational –Intrinsic –Collaboration

20. It’s not about winning and losing. Don’t judge yourself or the team by something you can’t control. What matters is that you and the team strive to give of your best and to improve.

21. Dealing with failure Pro team sports has high failure rates Average teams lose 50% of their games Football managers get sacked every 2 years on average 85% of full-time football trainees exit professional game within 5 years But few support mechanisms Excessive focus on winning even in youth development. But winning is not a controllable

22. Re-creating the street environment Structured coaching can stifle creativity 10,000 hours required to develop expertise The street – real-life, uncertain challenges Streetwise – shrewd; practical; experienced “The street taught us. Messi grew up like this. Messi taught himself instead of a coach saying ‘run from cone to cone with the ball, do this, do that’.” Johan Cruyff

23. Group discussions Question 1: Is there a role for the coaching approach in university degree programmes? Question 2: Should we be concerned with all four corners of talent development? Question 3: Could small-group teaching be structured as a coaching session? Question 4: How could we do more to ensure that graduates are streetwise?

24. Wrap up Group discussion – report back Where has the journey taken us? Thank you