E22 - Sir Ben Ainslie: The power of positive belief

Podcast: The High Performance

Published Date:

Sun, 13 Sep 2020 23:30:00 GMT

Duration:

57:56

Explicit:

False

Guests:

MP3 Audio:

Please note that the summary is generated based on the transcript and may not capture all the nuances or details discussed in the podcast episode.

Notes

Sir Ben Ainslie is the most successful Olympic sailor of all time, with four golds and one silver medal over a 16 year period.

Ben had the honour of being Team GB’s flag bearer for the London 2012 Olympic Closing Ceremony, was knighted in 2013 and in the same year added the America’s Cup to his list of achievements, with victory in the most remarkable of comebacks.

Ben is now the Team Principal and Skipper of British America’s Cup; INEOS Team UK.



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Summary

### Podcast Episode Summary: Sir Ben Ainslie's Journey to Sailing Success


**Synopsis:**

In this episode of the High Performance podcast, host Jake Humphrey and Professor Damian Hughes delve into the remarkable career of Sir Ben Ainslie, the most successful Olympic sailor in history with four gold medals and one silver medal over a 16-year period. Sir Ben shares his insights on maintaining focus and determination, the importance of having a clear goal, and the role of belief and preparation in achieving success.

**Key Points:**

1. **Early Passion for Sailing:**

- Sir Ben's passion for sailing began at a young age, inspired by watching the Olympics and seeing the America's Cup race.
- He set his sights on competing in the Olympics and the America's Cup, despite the fact that no British team had ever won the latter.

2. **The Importance of Focus and Determination:**

- Sir Ben emphasizes the significance of having a clear focus and unwavering determination to achieve success.
- He credits his father's support and guidance in instilling this focus and determination from a young age.

3. **The Role of Belief and Preparation:**

- Sir Ben highlights the importance of belief in one's abilities and the power of preparation in achieving success.
- He emphasizes the need to have a plan and to be fully prepared for any challenge that may arise.

4. **Handling Pressure and Emotions:**

- Sir Ben discusses the challenges of dealing with pressure and emotions in high-stakes competitions like the Olympics.
- He emphasizes the importance of learning to control emotions and maintaining focus on the task at hand.
- He shares his strategy for managing pressure during the Sydney Olympics, where he won his first gold medal.

5. **The America's Cup Challenge:**

- Sir Ben talks about his current endeavor to lead his team, INEOS Team UK, to victory in the America's Cup.
- He highlights the significance of this challenge, as no British team has ever won the America's Cup.
- He emphasizes the need for meticulous preparation, teamwork, and innovation to succeed in this prestigious competition.

6. **Post-Olympic Blues and Finding a New Goal:**

- Sir Ben reflects on the challenges he faced after retiring from Olympic sailing, including experiencing post-Olympic blues.
- He emphasizes the importance of having a new goal to focus on after achieving a major milestone.
- He shares how he found a new challenge and purpose in leading his team in the America's Cup.

**Overall Message:**

Sir Ben Ainslie's journey to sailing success is a testament to the power of focus, determination, belief, and preparation. His insights on handling pressure, managing emotions, and setting ambitious goals provide valuable lessons for anyone striving to achieve high performance in their chosen field.

# Podcast Episode Summary: Sir Ben Ainslie - The Most Successful Olympic Sailor

**Guest:** Sir Ben Ainslie, the most successful Olympic sailor of all time, with four golds and one silver medal over a 16-year period.

**Topics Discussed:**

* **The importance of honesty and self-reflection in high-performance sports:** Ainslie emphasizes the significance of being honest about one's abilities and performance, both as an individual athlete and as a team player. He believes this honesty allows for continuous improvement and adaptation.

* **The challenges of transitioning from an individual sport to a team sport:** Ainslie discusses the difficulties he faced in transitioning from solo sailing to team-based competitions like the America's Cup. He highlights the need to adapt to working with others, managing different personalities, and fostering effective communication within a large organization.

* **The focus on failure as a learning opportunity:** Ainslie stresses the importance of learning from failures and mistakes rather than dwelling on them. He believes that analyzing failures can lead to valuable insights and help teams grow and improve.

* **The significance of team ethos and non-negotiable behaviors:** Ainslie emphasizes the importance of establishing a strong team culture and non-negotiable behaviors that all members must adhere to. He believes that a cohesive team with shared values and expectations is essential for success.

* **The challenges of managing a large team and maintaining a positive atmosphere:** Ainslie acknowledges the difficulties of leading a large team and keeping everyone motivated and focused. He highlights the need for clear communication, effective decision-making, and fostering a supportive and enjoyable work environment.

* **The importance of enjoying the journey and savoring the experience:** Ainslie reflects on the need to appreciate and enjoy the journey of pursuing a goal, rather than solely focusing on the end result. He believes that finding joy in the process and savoring the experience can make the journey more fulfilling and rewarding.

**Key Quotes:**

* "I think a lot of it comes back to being honest, doesn't it? Where if you're not honest about your ability or the way you're performing, you know, a number of times when I was growing up and I heard mates of mine sailing they're like yeah, I was winning that race but then such-and-such happened and I was really unlucky. You're like hang on that is not what that's not the way it went down." - Sir Ben Ainslie

* "And so it took a little while to figure that bit out, if I'm honest. And then now, you know, into this team that we've had since 2013, 2014 yes again one of those processes of building a new team, the challenges of the design, technical challenges of the America's Cup, getting all that together, logistics of it and then getting out on the racecourse and you know like I said we've got over a hundred people here in the organization so that's really interesting how do you get everyone on the same page, everyone focused, different personalities." - Sir Ben Ainslie

* "So yes, sort of three key elements to it I guess depending on what position they are on the boat. If someone's not right for the boat, how easy do you find making ruthless decisions for the good of the team? Yeah, it's never easy losing someone, having to make a decision like that. But when you're in a team environment, it's almost easier than though I was only racing on my own, I had other people in the team, a trainer, you know, a coach and people who are working in that team." - Sir Ben Ainslie

**Overall Message:**

The podcast episode highlights the importance of honesty, self-reflection, and continuous learning in achieving success in high-performance sports. Sir Ben Ainslie's insights into the challenges of transitioning from an individual to a team sport, the significance of team ethos, and the need to focus on failures as learning opportunities provide valuable lessons for athletes, coaches, and leaders in various fields. The episode also emphasizes the importance of enjoying the journey and savoring the experience, rather than solely focusing on the end result.

# High-Performance Podcast Episode Summary: Insights from Sir Ben Ainslie

**Guest:** Sir Ben Ainslie, four-time Olympic gold medalist in sailing and America's Cup winner

**Topics Discussed:**

1. **High-Performance Mindset:**

- Ben Ainslie emphasizes the significance of adopting a high-performance mindset, which involves setting ambitious goals, embracing challenges, and continuously seeking improvement.

- He attributes his success to his unwavering belief in his abilities and his willingness to push himself beyond perceived limitations.

- Ben highlights the importance of self-reflection and self-criticism in identifying areas for growth and improvement.

2. **The Role of Emotion:**

- Ben initially struggled with expressing emotions, particularly in the context of competition.

- He recognized the need to embrace emotions, both positive and negative, as a source of motivation and a catalyst for improvement.

- Ben acknowledges that channeling emotions effectively can be challenging, but it's essential for achieving peak performance.

3. **High-Performance Culture in Team Sports:**

- Ben discusses the importance of creating a high-performance culture within a team, where individuals are motivated, accountable, and committed to shared goals.

- He emphasizes the significance of clear communication, trust, and mutual respect among team members.

- Ben highlights the role of a leader in fostering a positive and supportive team environment that encourages individual and collective growth.

4. **Balancing High Performance and Personal Life:**

- Ben reflects on the challenges of balancing the demands of high-performance pursuits with personal life and relationships.

- He acknowledges the sacrifices required to achieve success at the highest level but emphasizes the importance of finding a balance that promotes overall well-being.

- Ben stresses the need for effective time management, setting boundaries, and seeking support from loved ones to maintain a healthy work-life balance.

5. **Inspiration and Role Models:**

- Ben shares his admiration for individuals who have achieved extraordinary feats, such as Sir Chris Hoy and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.

- He emphasizes the value of seeking inspiration from others, learning from their experiences, and applying their insights to one's own pursuits.

- Ben encourages listeners to embrace the concept of "standing on the shoulders of giants" by building upon the knowledge and achievements of those who came before them.

**Overall Message:**

Sir Ben Ainslie's journey to becoming a high-performance athlete and successful team leader offers valuable insights into the mindset, behaviors, and strategies that contribute to exceptional achievements. His emphasis on self-belief, emotional awareness, and the creation of a positive team culture resonates with anyone seeking to excel in their chosen field. Ben's ability to balance his high-performance pursuits with his personal life serves as an inspiration for those striving to achieve success without compromising their overall well-being.

Raw Transcript with Timestamps

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[02:10.640 -> 02:12.240] Hi there, welcome along to this week's
[02:12.240 -> 02:13.680] high performance podcast.
[02:13.680 -> 02:16.060] As always, you can find us not just here
[02:16.060 -> 02:17.160] where you get your podcasts,
[02:17.160 -> 02:19.560] you can also track us down on our YouTube channel.
[02:19.560 -> 02:21.840] Just search for the high performance podcast.
[02:21.840 -> 02:24.380] You can see extended versions of all our interviews there.
[02:24.380 -> 02:30.880] You can also find me, Jay Humphrey, on Instagram. Damien Hughes, our extremely learned professor,
[02:30.880 -> 02:35.200] is at LiquidThinker. And of course, you can follow this podcast on Instagram as well,
[02:35.200 -> 02:39.680] at High Performance. Thank you so much for all the reviews and the ratings this week. They do
[02:39.680 -> 02:49.160] make a huge difference to us. A lovely one here from Neil Humphrey, can I just point out we are absolutely no relation. He says in a world filled with negativity almost
[02:49.160 -> 02:53.280] everywhere this podcast gives you a huge dose of positivity and truly inspires
[02:53.280 -> 02:58.520] you to take 100% responsibility for your actions. And another one here from KJF1414
[02:58.520 -> 03:02.760] via Apple Podcasts who said that they were looking for a new
[03:02.760 -> 03:08.560] podcast for a while, they stumbled onto this one and it's everything they were looking for and more.
[03:08.560 -> 03:13.600] He also wants us to get Thierry Henry on it so we'll find our way of getting hold of Thierry Henry.
[03:13.600 -> 03:18.400] He'd be an amazing guest. Talking of amazing guests, this is what's coming your way this week.
[03:18.400 -> 03:22.320] This is what I'm really into and go back to what my dad said you know,
[03:22.320 -> 03:26.680] if you're really into it, this is what you really want to do, then you're gonna be the best.
[03:26.680 -> 03:28.440] And so from quite an early age,
[03:28.440 -> 03:30.520] I had that focus that I really wanted
[03:30.520 -> 03:31.520] to try and be the best.
[03:31.520 -> 03:33.240] We can't wait for you to hear this episode.
[03:33.240 -> 03:35.000] Just a reminder that it was filmed
[03:35.000 -> 03:36.960] before the coronavirus pandemic,
[03:36.960 -> 03:39.280] so there is no mention of lockdown
[03:39.280 -> 03:42.120] or the impact on the sporting world
[03:42.120 -> 03:44.200] for this week's particular guest.
[03:44.200 -> 03:46.640] And talking of the impact of the coronavirus,
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[04:02.800 -> 04:07.040] And I'm so, so proud that Lotus Cars are our sponsor for these podcasts.
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[04:17.480 -> 04:18.640] Right time to get on with it.
[04:18.640 -> 04:22.600] It's time for this week's high performance podcast.
[04:22.600 -> 04:30.280] Hi there, thanks for joining us. I'm Jake Humphrey and you're listening to High Performance,
[04:30.280 -> 04:35.160] the podcast that delves into the minds of some of the most successful athletes, visionaries,
[04:35.160 -> 04:41.720] entrepreneurs and artists on the planet and aims to unlock the very secrets of their success.
[04:41.720 -> 04:47.720] Today we're on the south coast of England, the home of sailing. We're in Portsmouth to be precise and as always alongside me the
[04:47.720 -> 04:51.960] youth and the brains of the operation. Is that fair? It's very generous of you.
[04:51.960 -> 04:57.360] I know. My co-host, psychologist, professor, author, Damien Hughes. I've got a
[04:57.360 -> 05:00.640] slight sore throat so I'll let you do most of the talking today but I'm
[05:00.640 -> 05:06.720] particularly intrigued by our guest today. Are you? Yeah I'm absolutely ecstatic to come and actually spend some time and pick his brain. See I'm particularly intrigued by our guest today. Are you? Yeah, I'm absolutely ecstatic to come and actually spend
[05:06.720 -> 05:08.440] some time and pick his brain.
[05:08.440 -> 05:11.840] See, I'm really interested in the fact that this individual
[05:11.840 -> 05:14.560] that we're about to introduce spent four years getting ready
[05:14.560 -> 05:16.960] for something and then had like a moment to deliver.
[05:16.960 -> 05:17.800] Like I get nervous,
[05:17.800 -> 05:20.140] so I've got a week to prepare and then do a good job.
[05:20.140 -> 05:22.420] When you've got four years, there's a lot of resting on it.
[05:22.420 -> 05:24.900] So listen, let's get going and introduce a man
[05:24.900 -> 05:29.760] who started competing at the age of eight, was on the world stage at 12, an Olympic medallist
[05:29.760 -> 05:36.160] at 19, and now in his 40s he's a four-time Olympic champion. He's been knighted by Princess Anne and
[05:36.160 -> 05:40.480] leads his very own team in the multi-million pound sailing challenge, the America's Cup.
[05:40.480 -> 05:43.440] Like, that's quite a good CV Ben Ainslie, isn't it?
[05:43.440 -> 05:49.440] Ben Ainslie It's okay, but it's missing one thing, which is winning the America's Cup for Britain.
[05:49.440 -> 05:53.600] See, that is what I find really fascinating straight away. I talk about all of your achievements
[05:53.600 -> 05:57.240] and you immediately take the conversation to a place of something that you haven't yet
[05:57.240 -> 05:58.240] achieved.
[05:58.240 -> 05:59.240] So what's next? Yeah.
[05:59.240 -> 06:01.240] Or is it always like that with you?
[06:01.240 -> 06:10.320] Well, no, I think it, yeah, I think so. I think it's, I remember actually the first Olympics I won, I had a silver medal in 96
[06:10.320 -> 06:15.320] and I managed to win the gold medal in 2000. And I remember getting on the aeroplane home
[06:15.320 -> 06:20.080] and sort of sitting back and thinking, oh, you know, that's it, I've done it. I don't
[06:20.080 -> 06:29.360] need to worry about anything else again. And that feeling lasted for about 24 hours. And then it was okay what's next, what's next?
[06:29.360 -> 06:33.400] And then to the point and actually after those Olympics I sort of suffered I
[06:33.400 -> 06:38.920] guess probably you hear about it a lot Damian but it's sort of post Olympics in
[06:38.920 -> 06:43.560] my case or post event blues of you reach a milestone and then you haven't
[06:43.560 -> 06:47.720] really got anything else planned and you're at a loss because you, for all those years,
[06:47.720 -> 06:50.400] you've been waking up early, getting to training,
[06:50.400 -> 06:53.820] focused on one thing and then that's it, it's over.
[06:53.820 -> 06:56.000] And so for me, that was quite a good lesson learned.
[06:56.000 -> 06:57.520] Okay, you've always got to have a plan.
[06:57.520 -> 07:00.400] So whichever the Olympics I went to after that,
[07:00.400 -> 07:02.840] I always knew straight away after, you know,
[07:02.840 -> 07:04.120] what was the plan?
[07:04.120 -> 07:06.360] What was I working towards?
[07:06.360 -> 07:08.640] So that helped really, I think, from a career-wise
[07:08.640 -> 07:12.080] and a focus to move on.
[07:12.080 -> 07:14.800] So you're the kind of guy that always needs
[07:14.800 -> 07:15.640] to have something.
[07:15.640 -> 07:18.200] Like we're sitting here, we're in your office
[07:18.200 -> 07:21.420] at your team's headquarters.
[07:21.420 -> 07:23.760] You haven't just decided to do something
[07:23.760 -> 07:25.040] mildly interesting after retiring as an Olympian. You've decided just decided to do something mildly interesting after
[07:25.040 -> 07:28.400] retiring as an Olympian, you've decided to try and do something that we've never
[07:28.400 -> 07:32.520] managed to do in this country before. Is that part of this for you? You have to
[07:32.520 -> 07:39.680] have a really big, decisive, dynamic goal to aim for all the time in your life?
[07:39.680 -> 07:47.880] It's certainly helpful to have that drive, but I don't think it was, well, maybe it was
[07:47.880 -> 07:52.080] conscious. I mean, when I was a kid growing up, I had two goals really in being passionate
[07:52.080 -> 07:56.820] about sailing. One was the Olympics, obviously, and then the other was the America's Cup.
[07:56.820 -> 08:00.320] Like you say, this history, the fact that the race started around the Isle of Wight
[08:00.320 -> 08:08.960] in 1851 and no British team has ever won it despite trying on numerous occasions and getting really really close and so as a kid that was
[08:08.960 -> 08:13.440] always a passion and ambition so I guess in a way it was natural going out of the
[08:13.440 -> 08:18.240] Olympics and then turning that focus and attention to the America's Cup but if
[08:18.240 -> 08:21.400] that wasn't there I don't know I don't know if it would mean that I've had to
[08:21.400 -> 08:25.680] find something else whatever it is in life to have a clear focus. byddai'n golygu bod rhaid i mi ddod o hyd i beth arall, beth bynnag mae ar gael, i gael fy nghyfathrebu.
[08:25.680 -> 08:29.440] Ond pa oeddech chi wedi bod pan ddwy pethau hynny
[08:29.440 -> 08:31.200] ddod o hyd i chi?
[08:31.200 -> 08:33.840] Felly dweudwch, oedd yna, yn y blwyddyn?
[08:33.840 -> 08:35.920] Ie, roeddwn i'n 11 neu 12 oed
[08:35.920 -> 08:37.120] ac roeddwn i'n grwpio yng Nghaermawr
[08:37.120 -> 08:38.960] ac roeddwn i'n dysgu i ddweud roedd gen i
[08:38.960 -> 08:40.320] club ffantastig o'r Sailing,
[08:40.320 -> 08:41.920] ym Mhreirfa'r Sailing,
[08:41.920 -> 08:44.120] club leol ym Mhreirfa'r Sailing yng Nghaermawr.
[08:44.120 -> 08:48.320] Ac felly, i ddod i'rong at a sailing club, a local club near Falmouth in Cornwall. And so getting into dinghy racing and, you know, in that stage, I think it was
[08:48.320 -> 08:51.040] the 88, 88, was it?
[08:51.280 -> 08:55.960] 88 Olympics and then 92, Olympic Christie.
[08:56.160 -> 08:56.660] Yeah.
[08:56.880 -> 09:03.400] And watching those Olympics and being really into sailing and then, you know,
[09:03.440 -> 09:05.280] thinking, well, there's a potential there.
[09:05.280 -> 09:07.240] Even as a 12 year old, maybe, maybe, maybe
[09:07.240 -> 09:10.520] I could set my sights to one day being at the Olympic Games.
[09:10.520 -> 09:11.840] And then also at the same time,
[09:11.840 -> 09:13.480] there was a British Americas Cup team
[09:13.480 -> 09:16.000] that was actually training in Falmouth,
[09:16.000 -> 09:19.360] which was called Victory, the Victory Challenge.
[09:19.360 -> 09:20.940] And they'd raced, I think they were racing
[09:20.940 -> 09:24.200] for the 88 Americas Cup, 89 Americas Cup.
[09:24.200 -> 09:28.400] And seeing those boats, these amazing 12 meter boats ac rydyn ni'n meddwl ein bod ni'n rhacio ar gyfer y Cup America 88, Cup America 89 ac rydyn ni'n gweld y bwydau hyn, y 12-metrau anhygoel y bwydau,
[09:28.400 -> 09:31.400] sy'n ymweld â'r harbod, yn anhygoel, gallanol ac anhygoel
[09:31.400 -> 09:34.000] ac yna dysgu ychydig am y Cup America,
[09:34.000 -> 09:37.800] dyna'r peth sy'n eithaf hynny'n fy ymdrechu, y Cup America,
[09:37.800 -> 09:39.000] yng nghanol y Cymru.
[09:39.000 -> 09:43.000] Felly, er bod chi'n gweld hynny, fel bod Jake a fi'n siarad am y syniad hwn, Ben,
[09:43.000 -> 09:46.160] y syniad hwn o'r sylwad hwn, Ben, o'r sylwad hwn o'r gwyrion gwyrion,
[09:46.160 -> 09:49.740] y byddai Ffroed yn dweud bod pawb yn eisiau rhywun sy'n meddwl amdanoch chi,
[09:49.740 -> 09:53.920] cyn i chi ddweud y byddwch yn meddwl amdanoch chi eich hun. Felly, er mwyn i chi weld y pethau hyfryd,
[09:53.920 -> 09:59.680] pan oedd y peth sy'n rhoi'r credwyd hwnnw i chi, oedd y peth y gallech fod yn rhan o hynny, o ran eich narratwyr.
[09:59.680 -> 10:05.680] A dwi'n credu bod nifer o bobl pwysig, roedd fy nabod yn un, roedd yn gyffrous cymorth drwy'r I think a couple of key people, my dad was one. He was fantastic support through those
[10:05.680 -> 10:13.760] early years getting into the sport and instilling in me the focus I think and the determination.
[10:13.760 -> 10:21.300] I mean there's one great anecdote I often go back to where I was doing a practice race
[10:21.300 -> 10:27.800] at the club and I didn't do very well. I was a bit unlucky and I sort of half gave up and anyway I got back home at the end of the day and
[10:27.800 -> 10:32.520] my dad, as he was apt to do, asked me how the race went and I sort of said
[10:32.520 -> 10:36.440] oh you know I was doing really well but then I was unlucky and this and that
[10:36.440 -> 10:39.880] happened and it was just really unlucky and I didn't you know think it was third or
[10:39.880 -> 10:43.800] fourth or something and he paused for a moment and he said that's really
[10:43.800 -> 10:46.800] interesting because I actually happened to watch the race
[10:46.800 -> 10:50.880] and I saw that you gave up, you know, so I was a bit stumped.
[10:50.880 -> 10:55.440] He said, look, if you want to really excel in sport and do really, really well,
[10:55.440 -> 10:58.640] which I think you want to do and I'm happy to support you to do that,
[10:58.640 -> 11:01.360] but if you're going to really make it, you've got to give it 100%.
[11:01.360 -> 11:02.320] And was he right?
[11:02.320 -> 11:04.000] Absolutely, you can't give up, you cannot.
[11:04.000 -> 11:04.480] And you have given up.
[11:04.480 -> 11:08.540] At any point, yeah, at any point you cannot give up because as soon as you do that it's
[11:08.540 -> 11:14.100] you're never gonna get back and and I was only about 12 or 13 and it wasn't he
[11:14.100 -> 11:17.760] wasn't ranting he was just saying look you know I'll support you but I'm only
[11:17.760 -> 11:21.280] gonna do that if you're gonna commit everything and you can't give up
[11:21.280 -> 11:27.240] otherwise if you just want to take part that's fine but don't you can't give up otherwise. If you just want to take part, that's fine, but you can't really expect me and your family
[11:28.240 -> 11:31.680] to drive around the countryside to events as you do
[11:31.680 -> 11:34.400] when you're competing at that level and so on.
[11:34.400 -> 11:36.160] And that really, as I say,
[11:36.160 -> 11:38.160] it really struck a chord where I felt,
[11:38.160 -> 11:40.120] no, he's right, I've got to commit to this.
[11:40.120 -> 11:41.840] So even being that young,
[11:41.840 -> 11:43.640] relatively young adolescent age,
[11:43.640 -> 12:06.680] that cut through the bluster. It did, and then another guy who was really instrumental for me in my career, Felly, nid oes y bydd y byddai'r adolygiad y byddai'n ymwneud â'r adolygiad y byddai'n ymwneud â'r adolygiad y byddai'n ymwneud â'r adolygiad y byddai'n ymwneud â'r adolygiad y byddai'n ymwneud â'r adolygiad y byddai'n ymwneud â'r adolygiad y byddai'n ymwneud â'r adolygiad y byddai'n ymwneud â'r adolygiad y byddai'n ymwneud â'r adolygiad y byddai'n ymwneud â'r adolygiad y byddai'n ymwneud ag y byddai'n ymwneud ag y byddai'n ymwneud ag y byddai'n ymwneud ag y byddai'n ymwneud ag y byddai'n ymwneud ag y byddai'n ymwneud ag y byddai'n ymwneud ag y byddai'n ymwneud ag y byddai'n ymwneud ag y byddai'n ymwneud ag y byddai'n ymwneud ag y byddai'n ymwneud ag y byddai'n ymwneud ag y byddai'n ymwneud ag y byddai'n ymwneud ag y byddai'n ymwneud ag y byddai'n ymwneud ag y byddai'n ymwneud ag y byddai'n ymwneud ag y bydd I've ever met. I mean he was a good sailor. He was a world-class sailor. He wasn't an exceptional sailing talent himself
[12:06.680 -> 12:12.560] But he had a really good understanding of the basics of the sport and going through into racing nationally and internationally
[12:12.920 -> 12:16.360] The way he was exceptional like I say was in instilling belief
[12:16.840 -> 12:22.200] That we could we could go on to achieve great things and at that point we didn't really have
[12:23.280 -> 12:26.000] I think we had in 1988 Olympics we had one gold medal in 92. I think we had a ac ar y pwynt hwnnw, dydyn ni ddim yn cael... Dwi'n credu ein bod ni'n cael... Ym 1988, roedd gennym un meddal golf
[12:26.000 -> 12:28.000] ym 1992, rydyn ni'n credu
[12:28.000 -> 12:30.000] roedd gennym meddal bron.
[12:30.000 -> 12:32.000] Dydyn ni ddim yn ymdrech yn hynny'n dda
[12:32.000 -> 12:34.000] yn ymweld â'r Games oedd yn ymweld â'r Games,
[12:34.000 -> 12:36.000] neu'n ymweld â'r Gymraeg,
[12:36.000 -> 12:38.000] ac roedd yn ffyrdd o'r dynion i mi
[12:38.000 -> 12:40.000] i ddweud hynny, y gallwn ni fynd allan
[12:40.000 -> 12:42.000] a gallwn ni fod yn gwaith gwag.
[12:42.000 -> 12:44.000] Mae'n ymdrech i'r hyn rydyn ni'n ei wneud yma,
[12:44.000 -> 12:48.000] rydyn ni'n ceisio creu rhywbeth nad oedd wedi'i wneud o'r blaen, be world beaters. It's similar to what you're doing here you're trying to create something that hasn't been done before so belief is based on the
[12:48.000 -> 12:52.120] frames of reference that you know what is possible to get you there so how
[12:52.120 -> 12:57.480] did Jim do that at that young age? Yeah and it was really just
[12:57.480 -> 13:01.600] giving us the confidence that we could go out and win because no one was really
[13:01.600 -> 13:07.760] winning internationally but he said well you absolutely... Was it just words or did he have techniques that he used?
[13:07.760 -> 13:11.480] A lot of the coaching was really good but like I said it wasn't as though
[13:11.480 -> 13:14.600] there was some amazing technique that he had that no one else had. I don't think it
[13:14.600 -> 13:18.480] was a lot of it was just the basics but it was about really the biggest thing he
[13:18.480 -> 13:22.760] gave us was that instilling that belief that we could do it and really telling
[13:22.760 -> 13:25.080] me he took me through and my
[13:25.080 -> 13:29.440] generation of really really successful sailors through our youth careers and
[13:29.440 -> 13:36.560] then I met him at a dinner after the Sydney Olympics I won a gold medal
[13:36.560 -> 13:41.920] and he said to me then and then sort of this continued on he said well you know
[13:41.920 -> 13:45.100] I think you know and I had no real concept of this
[13:45.100 -> 13:49.600] at that point but he said I think you can win four or five gold medals I think you
[13:49.600 -> 13:55.000] you had that ability and you should be trying to achieve that yeah you know
[13:55.000 -> 14:00.040] then I was like yeah nice idea but you know but he was he was absolutely right
[14:00.040 -> 14:04.160] and again it was just giving people that you know belief that you can do it and
[14:04.160 -> 14:08.160] you know and then you've got obviously have the self-driving determination.
[14:08.160 -> 14:10.960] You've got to have the assets and the facilities to do it.
[14:10.960 -> 14:13.360] But just having someone saying, come on, you can do this.
[14:13.360 -> 14:16.400] But he would have been saying that though, to lots of other people, right?
[14:16.400 -> 14:18.880] None of the other people managed to get four Olympic gold medals.
[14:19.440 -> 14:24.560] But right from early age, there must have been something about you that was a little bit different.
[14:24.560 -> 14:27.840] Not in a good way, not in a weird way.
[14:27.840 -> 14:33.440] I think yeah I mean I was really determined and and sailing was the one
[14:33.440 -> 14:36.320] thing that I was good at you know I played cricket and rugby and football at
[14:36.320 -> 14:41.160] school hockey and I was okay I sort of made a few of the teams and so on but
[14:41.160 -> 14:47.760] wasn't something I was exceptionally good at but sailing was something I clearly I really really loved really passionate
[14:47.760 -> 14:53.140] about it even from a really young age and I was was doing okay and then so I
[14:53.140 -> 14:57.560] saw that as my oh yeah this is what I'm really into and go back to what my dad
[14:57.560 -> 15:01.240] said you know if you're really into it this is what you really want to do then
[15:01.240 -> 15:08.000] you're gonna be the best and so from quite an early age had that focus that I really wanted to try and be the best.
[15:08.000 -> 15:10.440] Didn't mean I expected necessarily I was going to get there,
[15:10.440 -> 15:12.240] but that was my goal.
[15:12.240 -> 15:14.600] So I know it might be a semantic point on this, Ben,
[15:14.600 -> 15:17.600] but that's an interesting one because I like the message
[15:17.600 -> 15:19.320] you said about your dad's thing of,
[15:19.320 -> 15:21.960] if you're going to do it, commit to do it.
[15:21.960 -> 15:25.720] So did he ever put the pressure on you that you had to win? That idea of being
[15:25.720 -> 15:26.720] the best?
[15:26.720 -> 15:34.920] I think looking back, I think I'm really grateful to my dad in setting about the right balance.
[15:34.920 -> 15:40.000] You know there were a couple of times where he did get a bit grumpy because, and frankly
[15:40.000 -> 15:49.240] I was grumpy because I hadn't had a had a good good event or whatever But there was never he never put any pressure on me to get results or if you don't do X Y Z
[15:49.240 -> 15:52.120] We don't achieve such result. That's it. We're gonna start running like that
[15:52.400 -> 15:55.420] He just wanted to you know, he just wanted to help support me
[15:55.420 -> 16:01.000] I think he could see that I was into it enough that didn't really need you know, other than that one comment that he made
[16:01.720 -> 16:05.280] It didn't really need any more motivation. It was
[16:05.280 -> 16:09.120] there and he just needed to try and support it. It was more me actually
[16:09.120 -> 16:12.800] getting upset if I wasn't getting the results. And how did he handle those
[16:12.800 -> 16:17.880] moments then? Pretty well, you know if I'm now I'm much more mature and I look back
[16:17.880 -> 16:23.040] you know I wish perhaps there were times when he maybe could have helped me get
[16:23.040 -> 16:29.240] through that disappointment. I think when I was younger I really didn't handle disappointment that well. You know, I'd get frustrated and
[16:29.240 -> 16:33.840] you know, maybe lose the plot or whatever, you know, not enough, but just lose that focus,
[16:33.840 -> 16:38.080] which we all know when you're in the heat of competition, you can't afford to do that.
[16:38.080 -> 16:41.680] And so it took me a while to learn that myself really, that, you know, if things went wrong,
[16:41.680 -> 16:44.320] I needed to regroup pretty quickly and get back on track.
[16:44.320 -> 16:49.800] Yeah. And then fast forwarding to when the Olympic years began I'm really interested how you can
[16:49.800 -> 16:53.400] train and train and train for four years and of course you're competing in other sailing events
[16:53.400 -> 16:58.880] but what really resonates with people around the world is the Olympics. So when you've trained for
[16:58.880 -> 17:05.600] four years and there you are in an Olympic final how do you focus your mind on just performing on that day,
[17:05.600 -> 17:09.700] not allowing the thoughts to wander to four years of effort,
[17:09.700 -> 17:11.800] all the people that have helped you to get to that point?
[17:11.800 -> 17:14.500] What's your trick for delivering on that day?
[17:14.900 -> 17:16.300] It was a great saying, isn't it?
[17:16.300 -> 17:19.200] That luck is preparation, looking for an opportunity.
[17:19.700 -> 17:21.900] And I think for me that was the key.
[17:21.900 -> 17:24.400] I had to, if I'd done the preparation,
[17:24.400 -> 17:27.400] then yeah, there was pressure and expectation,
[17:27.400 -> 17:30.360] probably more so from within than externally.
[17:30.360 -> 17:32.080] But again, if I'd done the preparation
[17:32.080 -> 17:33.920] and I knew I'd done everything I could,
[17:33.920 -> 17:37.200] and then it actually, the trick then was to enjoy it,
[17:37.200 -> 17:38.780] enjoy the moment, enjoy the challenge
[17:38.780 -> 17:41.080] of being in that high pressure scenario.
[17:41.080 -> 17:43.200] So learning to actually enjoy that
[17:43.200 -> 17:44.040] rather than being afraid of it.
[17:44.040 -> 17:46.220] So the preparation gave you the serenity to think listen
[17:46.220 -> 17:50.680] I've done everything I possibly can I'm the best prepared person. Yeah water. Yeah, so come come on
[17:50.680 -> 17:52.740] My own you know form properly. Yeah, I think so
[17:52.740 -> 17:56.640] I think I think so and that's certainly how I managed to deal with it
[17:57.160 -> 17:59.120] Have I wonder that don't only them Ben?
[17:59.120 -> 18:04.220] So because you said this idea of learning to control your emotions and things like that was
[18:04.800 -> 18:07.360] Something that it was a process you went through when did that?
[18:08.120 -> 18:12.260] Yeah, very much trial and error the first Olympics. I went to
[18:13.280 -> 18:18.640] 96 I was close to the gold medal with Brazilian sailor Robert Scheidt and
[18:20.240 -> 18:24.760] Just narrowly lost out and the final race made a bit of a mistake on the start line and
[18:24.720 -> 18:30.640] just narrowly lost out and the final race made a bit of a mistake on the start line and sort of reviewing that to realise that maybe I'd let the pressure of the situation
[18:30.640 -> 18:35.120] and the expectations get to me a bit and in a critical moment on the start
[18:35.120 -> 18:37.600] lost that focus and made the wrong decision
[18:37.600 -> 18:44.480] and there on in really moving between 96 Olympics and 2000 Olympics
[18:44.480 -> 18:45.080] and again
[18:45.080 -> 18:49.840] coming to this final race showdown against Robert it was about how
[18:49.840 -> 18:54.680] to control those emotions a bit more and execute better really.
[18:54.680 -> 18:57.560] What techniques did you use then?
[18:57.560 -> 19:07.080] I think again it came down to the preparation and then yes it was you know super high pressure
[19:07.080 -> 19:14.040] once every four years, revisit of what happened in 96 but also in that time
[19:14.040 -> 19:16.800] there'd be some other big events where I've managed to beat Robert at a world
[19:16.800 -> 19:21.640] championships and so on and again we'd had close races and tight races and
[19:21.640 -> 19:26.400] learning from from each one of, getting more confidence that I could
[19:26.400 -> 19:28.840] deal with those high pressure situations.
[19:28.840 -> 19:33.240] What was the conversation you were having with yourself at that moment while you were
[19:33.240 -> 19:35.680] standing there on the start line?
[19:35.680 -> 19:40.680] I was just really focused on the process really of what I needed to do. And so to hit the
[19:40.680 -> 19:47.120] Sydney race for example, it was quite complex in terms of the point scoring and sailing, but I had to try and get Robert
[19:47.120 -> 19:48.560] down to the back of the fleet
[19:48.560 -> 19:50.700] in order to secure the gold medal.
[19:50.700 -> 19:53.000] And that was a really big, big challenge
[19:53.000 -> 19:54.720] given his ability as a sailor.
[19:54.720 -> 19:58.120] And you can't just do that by ramming a guy off the track.
[19:58.120 -> 19:59.520] You've got to use the rules and everything.
[19:59.520 -> 20:03.120] It's quite complex, but that was a big enough task
[20:03.120 -> 20:03.940] really in itself.
[20:03.940 -> 20:04.780] So just-
[20:04.780 -> 20:05.560] I like the way you even considered running him off the track?
[20:08.720 -> 20:09.880] Yeah, I did consider it.
[20:09.880 -> 20:12.800] It was sadly, it was, it wasn't quite, that wasn't quite fair.
[20:13.440 -> 20:16.760] So, uh, it was just, you know, focusing, focusing on that task
[20:16.760 -> 20:18.520] and, and not, not being distracted.
[20:18.880 -> 20:21.320] But then go back just a bit earlier in that process.
[20:21.320 -> 20:28.720] And, but like the night before, for example, cause I like the idea that idea that like you say you're going through I've got evidence that I can do this
[20:28.720 -> 20:34.800] you've and that's where your belief is coming from like so did you formalize that process the
[20:34.800 -> 20:40.080] night before the race? Well I had to I had a plan A and a plan B and there were two races on the
[20:40.080 -> 20:46.880] last day and a lot depended on how that penultimate race of the series went.
[20:46.880 -> 20:51.120] Unfortunately Robert had a better race than I did and for me it was then at that point
[20:51.120 -> 20:55.920] just trying to keep within distance so I still had a shout to win going into the last race
[20:55.920 -> 21:00.680] and I made that by about one or two points so I was on a knife edge already.
[21:00.680 -> 21:05.880] And then very quickly I was into plan B which which was well, I've got to use the discard system
[21:05.880 -> 21:11.300] Which as I said earlier meant the best chance to to to to try and confirm
[21:12.520 -> 21:14.520] Winning the goal was to was to sell
[21:15.120 -> 21:20.980] Robert to the back of the fleet rather than I could have taken a strategy that if I go and try and win the race
[21:20.980 -> 21:26.640] And I had to I think if I won the, Robert needed to be outside the top 10 or 12,
[21:26.640 -> 21:28.980] which realistically it was a 45 boat fleet,
[21:28.980 -> 21:30.960] but like I said, his talent and ability,
[21:30.960 -> 21:34.340] it was, that was a pretty risky scenario.
[21:34.340 -> 21:35.940] Whereas if I took him,
[21:35.940 -> 21:37.940] if I could execute the plan of sailing him
[21:37.940 -> 21:38.780] to the back of the fleet,
[21:38.780 -> 21:41.840] then that would guarantee gold medal.
[21:41.840 -> 21:43.960] And so that was my plan B.
[21:43.960 -> 21:46.400] And in a way it was easier the fact that
[21:46.400 -> 21:51.480] after that that penultimate race it was pretty clear I only had one option that
[21:51.480 -> 21:56.440] actually made life even though it's a pretty extreme option it made life a lot
[21:56.440 -> 22:00.760] simpler really and and so just had to try and execute that. Four years previous
[22:00.760 -> 22:06.160] when you were in Atlanta had you had that had that plan B in your back pocket or
[22:06.160 -> 22:08.160] was that something that you'd learnt in that four years?
[22:08.160 -> 22:16.860] Yeah, I didn't really have too many options in Atlanta because of the points situation
[22:16.860 -> 22:23.400] so it was slightly different but definitely I was a wide-eyed teenager in Atlanta and
[22:23.400 -> 22:25.720] sort of blown away by the Olympic experience and
[22:26.360 -> 22:30.260] Actually, I wasn't expected to win. I wasn't really probably even expected to get a medal
[22:31.000 -> 22:33.600] And the fact I was challenging for the for the gold medal
[22:35.180 -> 22:37.180] Was
[22:37.520 -> 22:40.600] You know, like I said, I was perhaps a little bit out of my depth
[22:41.720 -> 22:45.400] interestingly my initial response on losing out and not getting a
[22:45.400 -> 22:49.960] gold medal was I was totally distraught because then I even I was only 19 years
[22:49.960 -> 22:54.160] old and I ended up having many more opportunities. In sailing you only get
[22:54.160 -> 22:58.720] one spot per nation and in a you know sailing nation like Britain where we've
[22:58.720 -> 23:02.760] got a lot of talent you might only get one opportunity to go to an Olympic
[23:02.760 -> 23:06.500] Games so straight away my thought process was like, you know, God,
[23:06.500 -> 23:12.500] this may be the only chance I've had in my life to win a gold medal and I've blown it, you know?
[23:12.500 -> 23:15.500] And so I was pretty distraught at that moment.
[23:15.500 -> 23:21.000] A couple of occasions Damien and I have tried to get you to talk about the emotion of sailing in an Olympic final
[23:21.000 -> 23:24.000] and straight away your answer has moved on to the process.
[23:24.000 -> 23:26.240] Is that
[23:26.240 -> 23:30.460] fair? You don't really allow yourself to go to emotional places when the pressure is on
[23:30.460 -> 23:34.640] and you actually think, right, I know exactly how to win this race by executing A, B and
[23:34.640 -> 23:41.960] C. So all your energy and all your spare capacity goes on the process of winning rather than
[23:41.960 -> 23:45.120] the emotion? I think so, yeah.
[23:45.120 -> 23:46.480] And it's interesting, emotion.
[23:46.480 -> 23:50.240] I hadn't really, you know, maybe it's just
[23:50.240 -> 23:52.400] subconsciously you think about the process a lot.
[23:52.400 -> 23:54.800] I've never really, never really thought about the emotion
[23:54.800 -> 23:56.720] of winning that much other than actually
[23:56.720 -> 23:59.360] if you can achieve that, obviously that's a great moment,
[23:59.360 -> 23:59.920] but the-
[23:59.920 -> 24:02.640] Would you have sat there on the start line on Olympic final
[24:02.640 -> 24:04.720] and thought about your dad?
[24:04.720 -> 24:10.840] No, no, no. So it was just yeah, like you say it was just about the job that needed to be done, right?
[24:10.920 -> 24:13.200] It's interesting that isn't it? Yeah, it is because
[24:13.800 -> 24:20.560] And it's fascinating because there was the famous example in the 2012 Olympics where it was don't make Ben angry
[24:21.680 -> 24:25.520] So it was very much that sense of it so emotion was fueling
[24:25.520 -> 24:31.400] fueling you there. Yeah yeah that but that was that was after that was in
[24:31.400 -> 24:37.880] between so I finished the race and I hadn't been performing very well really
[24:37.880 -> 24:42.480] up until that moment I was about halfway through the competition and frankly the
[24:42.480 -> 24:45.040] Danish sailor and the Dutch sailor were
[24:45.040 -> 24:47.680] sailing better, they were bigger and heavier and the strong winds they were
[24:47.680 -> 24:52.120] faster and the way things were going I probably wasn't gonna win unless I
[24:52.120 -> 24:57.560] changed something and so I kind of used that, there was an incident in a race
[24:57.560 -> 25:02.000] which really pissed me off and I and yeah so maybe that's I use I certainly
[25:02.000 -> 25:06.720] use that as a as a way to turn to try and turn my psyche around and say
[25:06.720 -> 25:10.520] No, I'm gonna fight back and you know that that was out of order
[25:11.160 -> 25:13.160] in that particular race I managed to
[25:13.660 -> 25:20.000] Do my penalty turns and then overtake the other two guys and then turn around at the finish line and basically
[25:20.880 -> 25:22.880] You know, yeah
[25:23.040 -> 25:25.560] You know without without getting too colorful language, you know explain to those, you know, yeah, no, you know, without without getting too colorful language,
[25:25.560 -> 25:30.320] you know, explain to those, you know, explain that. But I like the idea you said that you had to do
[25:30.320 -> 25:33.800] something different and therefore that is a very different strategy to draw on
[25:33.800 -> 25:39.320] the power of the emotion rather than just the process of just keep going
[25:39.320 -> 25:43.480] through doing the same thing. Yeah, yeah, I mean there are times when it clearly
[25:43.480 -> 25:51.760] isn't working right, so you gotta do something do something. You can't just keep doing... if you keep that in that mindset or process you're not going to win
[25:51.760 -> 25:58.240] and I think you do have to be able to adapt. That's been into an area that always fascinates me for
[25:58.240 -> 26:05.540] elite performers like yourself Ben is the courage to do that. You know, the courage to, you know,
[26:05.540 -> 26:06.940] if it's not working to rip it up
[26:06.940 -> 26:10.100] or to throw it out the window and try something different.
[26:10.100 -> 26:14.300] You know, I'm interested in your view on that.
[26:14.300 -> 26:17.960] Well, I think a lot of it comes back to being,
[26:17.960 -> 26:20.180] you know, and I think back to my early days,
[26:20.180 -> 26:22.820] learning the sport and learning how to compete.
[26:22.820 -> 26:28.040] A lot of it, and self-improvement, a lot of it comes back to honesty I think doesn't it? Where if you're not
[26:28.040 -> 26:34.040] honest about your ability or the way you're performing. You know a number of
[26:34.040 -> 26:36.840] times when I was growing up and I heard mates of mine sailing they're like yeah
[26:36.840 -> 26:40.240] I was winning that race but then such-and-such happened and I was really
[26:40.240 -> 26:44.720] unlucky. You're like hang on that is not what that's not the way it went down and
[26:44.720 -> 26:48.000] but you know I sort of sort of inwardly smiled
[26:48.000 -> 26:50.200] because they were sort of kidding themselves
[26:50.200 -> 26:51.880] that they thought their performance
[26:51.880 -> 26:54.960] was way better than the reality.
[26:54.960 -> 26:58.480] So as I said earlier, I was also almost my harshest critic
[26:58.480 -> 27:01.360] really in terms of evaluating my performance,
[27:01.360 -> 27:03.960] being really honest about how I could improve,
[27:03.960 -> 27:06.260] how I could get better. I think that then
[27:06.980 -> 27:10.860] Followed into the competition itself. So things something wasn't going well, I
[27:11.980 -> 27:17.360] Guess over time I became reasonably adapted saying okay, this isn't working pretty quickly
[27:17.360 -> 27:21.320] I've got a got to change something here or I'm not going to get the required result
[27:21.540 -> 27:25.560] So when you take that same characteristic outside into the real world,
[27:25.560 -> 27:28.440] cause that's, cause that self-reflection
[27:28.440 -> 27:31.900] is quite rare outside of elite sport.
[27:32.760 -> 27:35.640] Have you tried to adopt that same philosophy
[27:35.640 -> 27:37.600] in other fields outside of?
[27:37.600 -> 27:39.440] Yeah, well, it's been fascinating going
[27:39.440 -> 27:41.960] from an individual sportsman to a team sportsman,
[27:41.960 -> 27:44.440] which is what I've had to do in the America's Cup.
[27:44.440 -> 27:49.320] You know, and I first got involved with the America's Cup in 2001 so I was 23 years
[27:49.320 -> 27:53.280] old I got involved with a US team called One World. I then sailed for
[27:53.280 -> 27:58.620] Team New Zealand for the 2007 America's Cup. We then had a British team called
[27:58.620 -> 28:05.000] Origin for the 2010 Cup and then Oracle Team USA for the 2013 Cup in San Francisco
[28:05.200 -> 28:08.840] and then moving into starting a British team.
[28:08.840 -> 28:11.880] And so that early career in the America's Cup
[28:11.880 -> 28:15.560] was really in conjunction with the Olympic career.
[28:15.560 -> 28:17.960] And so I was making that transition
[28:17.960 -> 28:20.640] and to start off with, I'm pretty honest,
[28:20.640 -> 28:22.440] I was rubbish at it.
[28:22.440 -> 28:25.100] Going from being a selfish, self-focused individual. What were you rubbish at it. You know, going from being a selfish,
[28:25.100 -> 28:26.540] self-focused individual.
[28:26.540 -> 28:27.380] What were you rubbish at?
[28:27.380 -> 28:29.860] Individual sports was, well, really relating
[28:29.860 -> 28:32.700] to other people, especially in a sporting environment,
[28:32.700 -> 28:34.420] high pressure environment.
[28:34.420 -> 28:37.380] And I, you know, set really high standards for myself.
[28:37.380 -> 28:40.360] And then you have those expectations of others
[28:40.360 -> 28:42.360] and not that they didn't also have high standards,
[28:42.360 -> 28:45.280] but if someone was making a mistake,
[28:45.280 -> 28:48.200] rather than actually trying to support that person
[28:48.200 -> 28:51.560] and help them adapt and grow as a team,
[28:51.560 -> 28:53.200] you know, quite often I just get frustrated
[28:53.200 -> 28:56.480] and not only with myself, but with the team.
[28:56.480 -> 29:00.400] And so it took a little while to figure that bit out,
[29:00.400 -> 29:01.800] if I'm honest.
[29:01.800 -> 29:03.720] And then now, you know,
[29:03.720 -> 29:12.480] into this team that we've had since 2013, 2014 yes again one of those processes of building a new team, the
[29:12.480 -> 29:15.800] challenges of the design, technical challenges of the America's Cup, getting
[29:15.800 -> 29:19.120] all that together, logistics of it and then getting out on the racecourse and
[29:19.120 -> 29:22.000] you know like I said we've got over a hundred people here in the organisation
[29:22.000 -> 29:27.200] so that's really interesting how do you get everyone on the same page,
[29:27.200 -> 29:30.320] everyone focused, different personalities.
[29:30.320 -> 29:32.240] You got a lot of really creative designers
[29:32.240 -> 29:34.520] and engineers out there who perhaps aren't
[29:34.520 -> 29:37.120] maybe the best communicators at times.
[29:37.120 -> 29:40.000] Some really hungry athletes or sailors
[29:40.000 -> 29:42.040] who want to just get out on the water and race
[29:42.040 -> 29:43.400] and marrying all that together.
[29:43.400 -> 29:46.000] So that's really been a fascinating learning process.
[29:46.000 -> 29:47.040] How do you do that?
[29:48.040 -> 29:50.760] Well, yeah, I mean, a lot of it has been,
[29:50.760 -> 29:52.120] again, trial and error.
[29:52.120 -> 29:53.440] A lot of it's been learning from,
[29:53.440 -> 29:56.960] like I said, it was with the New Zealand team for 2007.
[29:56.960 -> 29:59.160] That was a fantastic learning opportunity
[29:59.160 -> 30:02.040] because behind the All Blacks,
[30:02.040 -> 30:03.840] probably the sailing team and the cricket team
[30:03.840 -> 30:07.760] are the next highest profile teams in New Zealand's sport.
[30:07.760 -> 30:13.520] And they take, you know, we in that team, in that, in that America's Cup cycle we
[30:13.520 -> 30:17.120] did actually spend quite a lot of time training with the All Blacks and going
[30:17.120 -> 30:20.480] between different camps and learning a lot about that organisation which was
[30:20.480 -> 30:23.440] fascinating. And then going into sailing with the
[30:23.440 -> 30:28.840] Oracle team for 2013, which had a lot of the key people who were from the original Team New
[30:28.840 -> 30:33.560] Zealand that won the Cup in 95 and had then moved on and gone through different
[30:33.560 -> 30:40.160] teams but marrying that with a sort of an American approach to sport and a kind
[30:40.160 -> 30:45.280] of completely different approach really in the end, but equally successful.
[30:45.280 -> 30:46.560] So trying to learn from those really
[30:46.560 -> 30:49.040] and then incorporate that into this British team.
[30:49.040 -> 30:51.880] The focus on failure is an interesting one for me
[30:51.880 -> 30:54.480] because when I've obviously, I've grown up in television.
[30:54.480 -> 30:56.440] So in TV, we're really nice to each other all the time.
[30:56.440 -> 30:58.720] We tell each other how great everything is.
[30:58.720 -> 31:01.600] Our first ever meeting after the first Grand Prix
[31:01.600 -> 31:03.320] that I hosted for the BBC, we all sat down
[31:03.320 -> 31:06.880] and the producer went into this big long ramble about how great everything was
[31:06.880 -> 31:08.640] until David Coulthard stopped him and said,
[31:08.640 -> 31:11.940] sorry, sir, you're wasting air and you're wasting my time.
[31:12.840 -> 31:15.740] I don't want to know ever again in a meeting
[31:15.740 -> 31:17.800] about the good stuff, because it's already good.
[31:17.800 -> 31:19.600] I want to know about the bad stuff.
[31:19.600 -> 31:21.200] And from that moment onwards,
[31:21.200 -> 31:22.800] for the four years that I did Formula One
[31:22.800 -> 31:26.880] and going forwards now with all the other things I'm doing, the focus on the failure, the focus on the
[31:26.880 -> 31:32.120] bad, is so much more useful than the focus on the good, but it's quite a rare
[31:32.120 -> 31:34.880] thing. I think people like to look at the good stuff and the bad, they kind of
[31:34.880 -> 31:39.360] sweep under the carpet because it's not nice to look at.
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[32:12.160 -> 32:16.560] On our podcast, we love to highlight businesses that are doing things a better way so you can
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[33:45.360 -> 33:50.080] restrictions apply. See Mint Mobile for
[33:47.520 -> 33:52.320] details. Yeah. But obviously you've
[33:50.080 -> 33:54.280] created a mindset where focusing on the
[33:52.320 -> 33:56.400] failures, focusing on the bad stuff, you've
[33:54.280 -> 33:58.880] realized the huge learning that can come
[33:56.400 -> 34:01.400] from that. Yeah it has to and you're
[33:58.880 -> 34:03.360] absolutely right and you know we we had
[34:01.400 -> 34:04.680] an interesting with the sailing team we
[34:03.360 -> 34:07.080] went and we did some training with some
[34:04.680 -> 34:06.000] special forces groups
[34:06.000 -> 34:12.000] and one of the fascinating approaches that they had and I think it really resonated with our sailors was
[34:12.000 -> 34:19.000] you know, when they're out in the field and they have a debrief that, you know, they have to be brutally honest because it's, they're in
[34:19.000 -> 34:31.400] you know, do or die scenarios, people's lives are at stake and there can't be any niceties and I think when you look at it in that just that that level of intensity I think for
[34:31.400 -> 34:34.280] our for our sailors it helps us say actually you know we've got to be
[34:34.280 -> 34:38.080] honest with another and you know doesn't mean you know they're gonna be some
[34:38.080 -> 34:41.360] difficult conversations but we're far better being brutally honest we're gonna
[34:41.360 -> 34:49.640] develop more as a individually and as a group if we take that approach. But one of the big mantras of like the special forces or
[34:49.640 -> 34:53.320] the all blacks or some of the other environments that you've seen and I've
[34:53.320 -> 34:58.440] been fortunate enough to be in is that feedback is often on behaviors not on
[34:58.440 -> 35:02.880] personality. So it's the saying that you can behave disagreeably without being a
[35:02.880 -> 35:08.040] disagreeable person. So what would you say are the behaviors
[35:08.040 -> 35:10.680] that have been common to the successful teams
[35:10.680 -> 35:13.000] when you've integrated into them?
[35:13.000 -> 35:16.080] What are the behaviors that are consistently present?
[35:16.080 -> 35:17.240] Oh, I think that, you know,
[35:17.240 -> 35:19.320] the team ethos is absolutely key.
[35:19.320 -> 35:20.920] And to your point, you know,
[35:20.920 -> 35:22.160] people often ask me,
[35:22.160 -> 35:25.460] so what do you do about really super
[35:25.460 -> 35:30.100] talented individuals that can't work within a team? And my experience from
[35:30.100 -> 35:33.220] other successful teams and with this team is that we don't have them in the
[35:33.220 -> 35:38.460] organisation because we've got 11 guys on the boat this time, we had six in the
[35:38.460 -> 35:43.740] last America's Cup and if one of those guys isn't behaving as a team player and
[35:43.740 -> 35:45.680] doesn't matter how talented they are,
[35:45.680 -> 35:48.160] it just disrupts the whole group.
[35:48.160 -> 35:50.000] And you can't operate.
[35:50.000 -> 35:51.840] Yeah. Yeah.
[35:51.840 -> 35:54.560] I mean, we don't, I mean, maybe it's different.
[35:54.560 -> 35:55.840] It's different in our sport.
[35:56.640 -> 36:00.400] Perhaps I can think of maybe if you had a star striker,
[36:00.400 -> 36:00.960] I don't know.
[36:00.960 -> 36:02.400] No, I think it's not, is it?
[36:02.400 -> 36:04.640] I mean, you use the phrase FIFA, fit in or fuck off.
[36:04.640 -> 36:05.000] It's yeah. I think it's not, is it? I mean, you use the phrase FIFO, fit in or fuck off.
[36:05.000 -> 36:06.000] It's yeah.
[36:06.000 -> 36:07.000] Yeah, it is.
[36:07.000 -> 36:08.000] It's true, isn't it?
[36:08.000 -> 36:09.000] Yeah.
[36:09.000 -> 36:11.440] And it's not just on the boat, is it?
[36:11.440 -> 36:13.760] I mean, we can, you can probably hear in the background, actually, they're building your
[36:13.760 -> 36:14.760] boat downstairs.
[36:14.760 -> 36:16.880] We can hear drilling or whatever they're doing.
[36:16.880 -> 36:18.680] I mean, you've got over a hundred people here.
[36:18.680 -> 36:19.680] Yeah.
[36:19.680 -> 36:22.920] What are the behaviors that you see that ring alarm bells for you?
[36:22.920 -> 36:25.720] Not just on the boat, in an organisation?
[36:25.720 -> 36:28.160] I think when you get to our scale, 100 plus people,
[36:28.160 -> 36:30.880] the biggest issue is the communication.
[36:30.880 -> 36:33.160] And community, it sounds so simple, communication,
[36:33.160 -> 36:35.520] when you get to that many people, it's so hard.
[36:35.520 -> 36:37.440] And you've got lots of decisions being made
[36:37.440 -> 36:39.680] at different levels in the organisation,
[36:39.680 -> 36:41.640] and getting that across clearly to people
[36:41.640 -> 36:43.520] what we're trying to achieve,
[36:43.520 -> 36:45.540] and in each department
[36:45.540 -> 36:49.500] what decisions have been made what's expected of people and for sure we can
[36:49.500 -> 36:52.920] be way way better you know I said we just had a team meeting and that was
[36:52.920 -> 36:58.360] kind of like a we're halfway through the campaign this is our review and let's
[36:58.360 -> 37:02.240] move move forwards what are the lessons learned and going into building and
[37:02.240 -> 37:07.200] designing our second boat and one of the key things that's come up is communication and we can, we can, we
[37:07.200 -> 37:08.000] can be better.
[37:08.040 -> 37:09.560] We've got to be better.
[37:09.560 -> 37:11.520] So that's something I'm taking away from that.
[37:11.640 -> 37:15.960] Do either of you think that there is, there is a moment where a maverick is okay.
[37:16.000 -> 37:19.040] Like, obviously you wrote the Barcelona way and in the book, you talk about
[37:19.080 -> 37:24.120] Ibrahimović signing for Barcelona, not fitting in and FIFA, they got rid of him.
[37:24.720 -> 37:27.160] Equally, you may have had at times,
[37:27.160 -> 37:29.580] Mavericks in your world where you think,
[37:29.580 -> 37:31.240] they're so fantastic.
[37:31.240 -> 37:32.440] Like let's take Lewis Hamilton is,
[37:32.440 -> 37:33.960] I would say Lewis Hamilton is a Maverick.
[37:33.960 -> 37:36.320] Yeah, he operates in an environment
[37:36.320 -> 37:38.120] very similar to an America's Cup team.
[37:38.120 -> 37:41.120] It's all about a technology-based sport,
[37:41.120 -> 37:41.960] trying to beat everybody else
[37:41.960 -> 37:44.080] and the competition is so intense.
[37:44.080 -> 37:47.480] Is there ever a situation where a maverick is okay?
[37:47.480 -> 37:53.020] well I think in your case of a Formula One driver it probably is because it's
[37:53.020 -> 37:57.400] one guy in the car doing his thing right so he doesn't matter who he pisses off
[37:57.400 -> 38:01.600] because it's part of my language again but you know he's responsible for
[38:01.600 -> 38:07.200] getting that car getting maximum performance, he's got to work well as engineers and designers.
[38:07.200 -> 38:10.000] And he, and you know, I think the interesting thing
[38:10.000 -> 38:11.400] about Lewis Hamilton, people often say,
[38:11.400 -> 38:12.880] oh, well, you know, he's in the best car.
[38:12.880 -> 38:14.320] So of course he's going to win.
[38:14.320 -> 38:16.320] Well, firstly, he's beating his teammate,
[38:16.320 -> 38:17.960] who from what I've experienced,
[38:17.960 -> 38:21.080] are pretty talented guys as well.
[38:21.080 -> 38:23.700] But also, you know, that development has come
[38:23.700 -> 38:27.680] from him working with his technicians, his engineers, you know, and that's a team game.
[38:27.680 -> 38:32.080] So I think you can probably get away with it when he's in the car and he's doing his thing in competition.
[38:32.080 -> 38:38.720] But when he's out of the car, he's got to perform in terms of his relationship with the team.
[38:38.720 -> 38:45.000] Yeah, I agree with Ben. I think that comes across that I think there's certain non-negotiable behaviours that every team has to sign up to. Ben, rwy'n credu bod yna ddifrifnau anodd-draig
[38:45.000 -> 38:47.000] y mae pob tîm yn rhaid i'w ymrwymo.
[38:47.000 -> 38:51.000] Yn gynllun Barcelona, un o'r pethau gwych
[38:51.000 -> 38:53.000] oedd pan ydyn nhw'n ymrwymo yn Suárez
[38:53.000 -> 38:56.000] a'r bobl creduodd bod y tîm yn mafric
[38:56.000 -> 38:58.000] neu'n ddifrifol,
[38:58.000 -> 39:01.000] ond pan ydych chi'n siarad gyda phobl
[39:01.000 -> 39:03.000] sy'n ei weld diwrnod ar diwrnod o'r gynulliad,
[39:03.000 -> 39:06.160] dywedodd y tîm ei fod yn gweithiwr mwy anodd, mae'n ddifrifol, mae'n ddifrifol, mae'n ddifrifol, mae'n ddifrifol, mae'n ddifrifol, mae'n ddifrifol, mae'n ddifrifol, mae'n ddifrifol, mae'n ddifrifol, mae'n difrifol, mae' he's the hardest worker, he's a pretty humble bloke,
[39:06.160 -> 39:08.840] he's a guy that is a team player,
[39:08.840 -> 39:10.680] when he's been impetuous, he's done it
[39:10.680 -> 39:12.160] to try and help the team develop.
[39:12.160 -> 39:14.920] So I think they're the three non-negotiable behaviors
[39:14.920 -> 39:16.200] in their world.
[39:16.200 -> 39:17.800] And then you can sometimes allow some of that
[39:17.800 -> 39:20.720] more maverick tendency on top of that,
[39:20.720 -> 39:23.040] like say in a race,
[39:23.040 -> 39:27.000] that ability to see things that nobody else does is a huge advantage. You don't want to knock that out of people Iawn, i gyd, fel dweud, mewn rhyw fath o gwmpas, mae'r gallu i weld pethau a ddim yn gwneud eraill yn ychydig o ddiddordeb.
[39:27.000 -> 39:32.000] Ie, oherwydd dydych chi ddim eisiau gwneud hynny allan o bobl, oherwydd dyna'n llawer o'r amser oedd y talent yn dod o.
[39:32.000 -> 39:36.000] A gofyn i'r talent hwnnw ddangos, ymdrechu'r talent honno.
[39:36.000 -> 39:38.000] Dwi'n credu, fel gynllun o Suarez.
[39:38.000 -> 39:48.900] Felly dyna'n ddod o'n gydnabod, dwi'n meddwl, fel gynllun. manager you got to encourage those superstars to do their thing but also try and keep a
[39:48.900 -> 39:51.760] strong team ethos, again find that balance.
[39:51.760 -> 39:57.760] So what would you describe then as, so in your team of 11 people, what are the trademark
[39:57.760 -> 40:02.600] behaviours, like the non-negotiable behaviours that you've recruited them against and that
[40:02.600 -> 40:07.920] they've signed up to? Well it's interesting we have out of our we have about 16 well we have 16 guys in
[40:07.920 -> 40:15.640] our in our sailing squad and 10 of those are what we call our grinders who are
[40:15.640 -> 40:21.320] the muscular guys who are grinding the coffee grinders and creating the power
[40:21.320 -> 40:26.840] that we need to be able to sail the boat and if they can't create that power then we won't be able to push the boat hard enough, it
[40:26.840 -> 40:31.640] won't be fast enough. So they have to be absolutely the fittest team out there
[40:31.640 -> 40:36.360] they can be. And then we have six guys who are more to do with the performance
[40:36.360 -> 40:40.400] of the boat. So they're either in my case driving the boat or trimming sails or
[40:40.400 -> 40:44.320] working on the tactics. You know Giles Scott for example is our gold medalist
[40:44.320 -> 40:45.040] in 2016, he's our gold medalist in 2016,
[40:45.040 -> 40:48.560] he's our tactician and he's helping decide where the boat goes on the course.
[40:48.560 -> 40:55.240] And there's a bit of a split really in the personalities and the skill sets.
[40:55.240 -> 41:01.600] The grinders, we need guys who are phenomenal athletes really and they're prepared to do what
[41:01.600 -> 41:07.720] it takes day in day out like any other high-performance sports pretty hard grind you know yeah training two or
[41:07.720 -> 41:12.920] three times a day day in day out it doesn't stop and and they've got to be
[41:12.920 -> 41:18.260] committed to that and then the performance guys a lot is about their
[41:18.260 -> 41:21.880] their experience what they've achieved having been able to perform in
[41:21.880 -> 41:27.560] high-pressure situations yet so we know that they've got the talent but we also know they're Olympic gold medalists or
[41:27.560 -> 41:30.680] they're world champions. We know that when the pressure's on they'll perform
[41:30.680 -> 41:37.440] for us. They won't, well, in the pressure of the America's Cup. So yes,
[41:37.440 -> 41:42.640] sort of three key elements to it I guess depending on what position they are
[41:42.640 -> 41:49.480] on the boat. If someone's not right for the boat, how easy do you find making ruthless decisions for
[41:49.480 -> 41:50.760] the good of the team?
[41:50.760 -> 41:58.800] Yeah, it's never easy losing someone, having to make a decision like that. But when you're
[41:58.800 -> 42:05.880] in a team environment, it's almost easier than though I was only racing on my own, I had other people in the team,
[42:05.880 -> 42:09.600] a trainer, you know, a coach and people who are working in that team.
[42:10.800 -> 42:17.120] Um, so in a way, the performance was just down to me on the water, and that was easier.
[42:17.700 -> 42:23.320] When it's a group on the water and you're not performing, that's hard because you're gonna make some tough decisions.
[42:23.800 -> 42:25.000] But when you bring it back down to the team,
[42:25.000 -> 42:29.000] you say this is the right decision for the team rather than individuals.
[42:29.000 -> 42:32.000] And unfortunately that individual, we've got to change them out.
[42:32.000 -> 42:35.000] Then it's easier if you take that approach to it.
[42:35.000 -> 42:38.000] I get the sense that you're massively self-critical, right?
[42:38.000 -> 42:41.000] You will sit and stew over things if you haven't done the job right.
[42:41.000 -> 42:43.000] You don't hold back with yourself, do you?
[42:43.000 -> 42:46.040] Probably to a fault, but yes, yeah.
[42:46.040 -> 42:48.440] Are you that critical to the people around you?
[42:48.440 -> 42:50.920] Or do you find that you're harsher with yourself
[42:50.920 -> 42:53.360] and actually you have to work quite hard
[42:53.360 -> 42:55.120] at just editing yourself or just pulling yourself
[42:55.120 -> 42:57.240] back a little bit with the people around?
[42:57.240 -> 42:59.520] Because if you gave them what you give yourself,
[42:59.520 -> 43:01.400] they might not cope as you can.
[43:01.400 -> 43:02.600] Yeah, that's absolutely right.
[43:02.600 -> 43:03.440] You know, as I said earlier,
[43:03.440 -> 43:10.880] that's one of the early things I learned was I can't, you can't in a leadership role, in managing people and
[43:10.880 -> 43:15.720] yes, set really high expectations, but you've got to find, and it depends on the individual,
[43:15.720 -> 43:19.300] right? Some people you can push harder than others. And it's, you've got to try and work
[43:19.300 -> 43:25.580] out those guys in your team, which need nurturing day in, day out out which can take a bit of a hit
[43:25.580 -> 43:29.960] and actually respond to that and that's that's I guess it's a key of leadership
[43:29.960 -> 43:34.380] and management. I think often we're so focused on we on the struggle we forget
[43:34.380 -> 43:38.840] to think about the end goal yeah and if you haven't what what you don't want to
[43:38.840 -> 43:43.720] do is get to I don't know what you're now 42 yeah let's say you've got another
[43:43.720 -> 43:47.140] two America's Cup in you you decide at 50 I'm done what you don't know what you're now 42. Yeah. Let's say you've got another two Americas cup in you. You decide at 50, I'm done.
[43:47.140 -> 43:49.720] What you don't want to do is get to 50 and think,
[43:49.720 -> 43:52.080] shit, I never actually stopped and enjoyed that.
[43:52.080 -> 43:54.140] I never smoked the, you know, I've run my own team.
[43:54.140 -> 43:55.160] I stood at a window.
[43:55.160 -> 43:56.240] There's a window to our right now.
[43:56.240 -> 43:58.880] And you can see down below us building boats,
[43:58.880 -> 44:00.120] people everywhere.
[44:00.120 -> 44:01.040] Do you enjoy it?
[44:01.040 -> 44:02.080] Do you take the moment?
[44:02.080 -> 44:03.320] I use the phrase, savor it.
[44:03.320 -> 44:04.640] Do you savor it?
[44:04.640 -> 44:08.240] Yeah, you're absolutely right. And there are times when I do have that conversation with myself
[44:08.240 -> 44:12.800] that I need to remember that because it's so all-consuming, these kind of campaigns,
[44:12.800 -> 44:18.240] and everybody's working really, really hard, and you've got to support that. And it's difficult.
[44:19.680 -> 44:25.160] There's a reason why Britain's never won it. hard frankly because to go up against a
[44:25.160 -> 44:28.420] really good defending team like we have this time with the New Zealanders and
[44:28.420 -> 44:31.800] beat them on the home patch you've really got to hit it out of the park in
[44:31.800 -> 44:34.720] terms of getting the right design of boat and then and sailing it to its
[44:34.720 -> 44:39.840] maximum so it's really intense everyone's under a lot of pressure but
[44:39.840 -> 44:49.120] you're and I tried to remind myself of it daily maybe not daily but it has to be it has to be enjoyable and we have to make it fun for the people here
[44:49.120 -> 44:54.400] Otherwise if it's they're not I'm not a lot of people here Ben. Yeah, I'm talking about you for me
[44:54.460 -> 45:01.060] Yes, do you enjoy like maybe you don't you know, maybe you're so involved in it. You can't stop and look outside it, but
[45:01.460 -> 45:03.860] Yeah, I do when I when I start to think about it
[45:03.860 -> 45:06.360] I do but wait so quite often when your head's in
[45:06.360 -> 45:12.820] it and you've got difficult moments, but I think in a way, in a perverse way, that's
[45:12.820 -> 45:16.440] also enjoyable because you want to be pushed, you want to be under pressure and you want
[45:16.440 -> 45:21.680] it to be hard because if it was just easy, well, I wouldn't feel the achievement going
[45:21.680 -> 45:25.200] through the difficult moments, coming out the other side and achieving
[45:25.200 -> 45:28.480] the end goal that makes it that much more rewarding.
[45:28.480 -> 45:31.520] Damien sent me a message about today and he said one of the things he was most looking
[45:31.520 -> 45:36.760] forward to finding out is sort of bouncing back from adversity. Would you say that the
[45:36.760 -> 45:40.560] America's Cup failure in Bermuda was your lowest moment of your career?
[45:40.560 -> 45:43.640] It was definitely right up there, yeah. It was really, really tough.
[45:43.640 -> 45:45.040] Do you think about that every day?
[45:45.040 -> 45:48.880] Is that almost an energy source for you now going ahead to 2021?
[45:49.240 -> 45:52.880] Yeah, it's definitely a motivation, you know, in terms of you're talking about career,
[45:52.880 -> 45:56.480] it wasn't a disappointment, but it was definitely the most challenging moment in my career.
[45:57.540 -> 46:03.800] Individually being hugely frustrated with the situation we're in, but having to try and lead the team through it.
[46:03.800 -> 46:08.440] And like I say, in the end, we're all really proud of the way that the team reacted to that okay we
[46:08.440 -> 46:13.960] didn't win it but we we we improved massively as an organisation as a team
[46:13.960 -> 46:17.800] and I think through that set ourselves up for this next challenge.
[46:17.800 -> 46:20.960] Listen we're running out of time quickly a couple more things I just want to
[46:20.960 -> 46:26.680] mention we've got a quickfire round, but first, what still motivates you?
[46:26.680 -> 46:27.680] What is this all about?
[46:27.680 -> 46:29.120] Sitting here, running this whole team,
[46:29.120 -> 46:31.360] all these people under you, why?
[46:31.360 -> 46:33.600] Well, I come back to the America's Cup.
[46:33.600 -> 46:34.960] We've never won it for Britain.
[46:34.960 -> 46:37.240] That is, for me personally, that's a big motivation.
[46:37.240 -> 46:39.480] I know for a lot of people here, it is as well.
[46:39.480 -> 46:42.340] And the fact that we started something,
[46:42.340 -> 46:43.720] so many people involved,
[46:43.720 -> 46:49.160] putting a huge amount of effort into it, and just them their families and so on the commitment they're putting
[46:49.160 -> 46:55.640] in and what it would mean to them and to you know sport I think in the UK so it's
[46:55.640 -> 46:59.760] only saving community in the UK to win the America's Cup would be a huge huge
[46:59.760 -> 47:03.000] moment for us so that's that's really why we're doing it. So what are your
[47:03.000 -> 47:09.620] three non-negotiable behaviors? Commitment, resilience and team ethos. What advice
[47:09.620 -> 47:13.520] would you give a teenage Ben just starting out? Learn as much as you
[47:13.520 -> 47:17.480] possibly can from your coaches and your peers. So how did you react to your
[47:17.480 -> 47:23.720] greatest failure? I reviewed it hundreds of times in my head and tried to learn
[47:23.720 -> 47:27.020] the key lessons and set that straight.
[47:27.020 -> 47:28.920] Not make the same mistake twice.
[47:28.920 -> 47:31.440] How important is legacy to you?
[47:31.440 -> 47:37.320] Yeah, legacy is pretty key. It's something that you set a goal and a target, you want
[47:37.320 -> 47:40.120] to achieve that, you don't want to finish until you've achieved that. I guess that's
[47:40.120 -> 47:41.120] part of a legacy.
[47:41.120 -> 47:42.560] And the final one.
[47:42.560 -> 47:47.280] What would you say is your one golden rule for living a high performance life?
[47:47.280 -> 47:48.520] Never give in.
[47:48.520 -> 47:49.360] Love it.
[47:49.360 -> 47:50.920] Listen, it's been a fascinating hour
[47:50.920 -> 47:51.760] to sit and chat with you.
[47:51.760 -> 47:52.960] Thank you so much for making the time
[47:52.960 -> 47:54.020] when you've got all these people
[47:54.020 -> 47:55.940] and it feels like a long way away,
[47:55.940 -> 47:57.500] two years till the next America's Cup,
[47:57.500 -> 47:59.080] but it's gonna be in the blink of an eye, isn't it?
[47:59.080 -> 48:02.260] Yeah, 18 months now till it's March, 2021.
[48:02.260 -> 48:09.100] And yeah, we're finishing off our first boat. We're building our second boat and we've got some regattas next year starting in
[48:09.100 -> 48:14.340] Cagliari in Sardinia in April and then through to America's Cup in
[48:14.340 -> 48:18.840] in January 21 so it's gonna go pretty quick like you're saying the team's
[48:18.840 -> 48:25.700] working incredibly hard and get that cup home. Thank you very much for your time. Thanks guys. It's fascinating.
[48:25.700 -> 48:26.800] And savour it, right?
[48:26.800 -> 48:27.640] Absolutely.
[48:27.640 -> 48:28.460] Enjoy it.
[48:28.460 -> 48:29.300] Yes.
[48:31.120 -> 48:33.080] Well, Ben's now left the room.
[48:33.080 -> 48:34.880] How interesting was that?
[48:34.880 -> 48:37.080] I was just saying, I thought it was fascinating.
[48:37.080 -> 48:38.520] I think the thing that jumped out for me
[48:38.520 -> 48:41.760] was just the searing self-awareness
[48:41.760 -> 48:43.480] and self-honesty that he has.
[48:46.340 -> 48:47.340] I bet that's exhausting though. Yeah, I was thinking that.
[48:47.340 -> 48:49.340] Yeah, I was thinking how exhausting.
[48:49.340 -> 48:51.340] When I asked him the question about do you actually enjoy it,
[48:51.340 -> 48:53.340] that it's hard to see this on a podcast because you can't see it,
[48:53.340 -> 48:56.340] but he, you could see this sort of flicker come across his face of like,
[48:56.340 -> 49:00.340] hold on, yeah, that's an element that I perhaps haven't quite got right.
[49:00.340 -> 49:01.340] Yep.
[49:01.340 -> 49:03.340] And you do, you do wonder what this is all for,
[49:03.340 -> 49:25.540] like where does that burning energy to constantly do this come from? Yeah, yeah, very much. yn dda iawn. Iawn. A rydych yn meddwl beth yw hyn i gyd? Iawn. A rydych yn meddwl beth yw hyn i gyd? Iawn. A rydych yn meddwl beth yw hyn i gyd? Iawn. A rydych yn meddwl beth yw hyn i gyd? Iawn. A rydych yn meddwl beth yw hyn i gyd? Iawn. A rydych yn meddwl beth yw hyn i gyd? Iawn. A rydych yn meddwl beth yw hyn i gyd? Iawn. A rydych yn meddwl beth yw hyn i gyd? Iawn. A rydych yn meddwl beth yw hyn i gyd? Iawn. A rydych yn meddwl beth yw hyn i gyd? Iawn. A rydych yn meddwl beth yw hyn i gyd? Iawn. A rydych yn meddwl beth yw hyn i gyd? Iawn. A rydych yn meddwl beth yw hyn i gyd? Iawn. A rydych yn meddwl beth yw hyn i gyd? Iawn. A rydych yn meddwl beth yw hyn i gyd? Iawn. A rydch yn meddwl beth yw hyn i gyd? Iawn. A rydch yn meddwl beth yw hyn i gyd? Iawn. A rydch yn meddwl beth yw hyn in i gyd? Iawn. A rydch yn meddwl beth yw hyn in i gyd? to switch between being a father and being a competitor starts to get blurred.
[49:25.540 -> 49:28.420] So yeah, I can imagine it is exhausting for him.
[49:28.420 -> 49:29.260] Amazing.
[49:29.260 -> 49:31.840] But I suppose that's part of the thing of an elite mindset
[49:31.840 -> 49:33.940] or a high performance mindset is actually,
[49:34.860 -> 49:37.200] it might be hugely rewarding if you can nail it,
[49:37.200 -> 49:40.560] but actually it isn't the easiest way to live, is it?
[49:40.560 -> 49:41.400] No, exactly.
[49:41.400 -> 49:45.000] I think that conversation that Ben recounted that his dad had said about, if you want to be average, carry on doing what you're doing. Na, yn unig. Rwy'n credu bod y sgwrs y mae Ben Macounter wedi ei ddweud,
[49:45.000 -> 49:47.000] a dweud ar ei fath, os ydych chi eisiau bod yn cyffredin,
[49:47.000 -> 49:49.000] gweithio ar y peth rydych chi'n ei wneud.
[49:49.000 -> 49:52.000] Neu pan ydych chi'n ysgrifennu'r profiad hwnnw
[49:52.000 -> 49:54.000] yn y chwaraeon America's Cup o'r ddiwedd,
[49:54.000 -> 49:55.000] byddwn ni'n mynd i ddod yn ddiweddar,
[49:55.000 -> 49:57.000] er mai dyma'n gwneud rhywbeth wahanol.
[49:57.000 -> 50:01.000] Ac mae'r ddewis i fynd i'r zon ymdrechion hwnnw,
[50:01.000 -> 50:02.000] mae'n anodd.
[50:02.000 -> 50:03.000] Dyna lle mae'r mwyaf o bobl yn gadael, nid oes?
[50:03.000 -> 50:12.840] Ie, yn unig, dyna'r cwp. Ac we it and sometimes it's it's ego that gets in the way sometimes it's it's the idea of not wanting to look stupid, but I think the
[50:12.840 -> 50:14.300] fact that he's
[50:14.300 -> 50:18.400] Faced that down is where that idea of belief comes from. I don't know what you think
[50:18.400 -> 50:24.200] But of all of the elite performers, I've spent my career working alongside or interviewing
[50:24.720 -> 50:28.960] It's left me feeling that everyone can be a high-performance individual I
[50:28.960 -> 50:33.960] honestly believe anyone can do that but you have to really be able to put
[50:33.960 -> 50:37.360] yourself there mentally and that is what a lot of people struggle with you can
[50:37.360 -> 50:41.840] get there but the amount of effort it takes is really quite a lot and you you
[50:41.840 -> 50:48.240] hear from Ben you know right from an early age he obviously didn't really want to say it too overtly, but he just thought differently to all the other
[50:48.240 -> 50:51.920] eight, nine, 10 year olds around him. I often think it's a really good point,
[50:51.920 -> 50:57.920] Jake. And I often think of sometimes when I might speak to people that are like casual golfers and
[50:57.920 -> 51:02.320] they'll say to me, or can you help me with my golf game? And the first question is, well,
[51:02.320 -> 51:05.920] not really, no, but tell me what's your gwybod, ond dweud wrthym, beth yw'r broblem a'r beth ydyn ni'n eisiau?
[51:05.920 -> 51:11.280] Dwi eisiau cael mwy a'n gyntaf y cwestiwn yw, wel, sut yn aml y gynnal? Ac ymdrechon yw, mae'r un
[51:11.280 -> 51:15.280] o'r bobl sy'n dweud, oh, dwi ddim yn gynnal, dwi'n gwneud, a dweud, wel, dydych chi ynddo,
[51:15.280 -> 51:20.800] lle ydych chi yna, ydych chi'n ddym, fel y mae'ch canlyniadau yn cynnwys. Felly mae un o'r ddau pethau,
[51:20.800 -> 51:28.960] yna ymuno am y lefel rydych chi ynddo a mwynhau gwneud golff fel y lle rydych chi ynddo, there's one of two things either settle for the level you're at and just enjoy playing golf as at the level you're at or do something different train harder
[51:28.960 -> 51:33.260] go and invest more time practicing if you want to get better but like you say
[51:33.260 -> 51:37.640] that that willingness to push yourself and do something different goes against
[51:37.640 -> 51:41.480] a lot of what our natural instincts are and that's what I think separates people
[51:41.480 -> 51:45.280] like Ben from from from many of us.
[51:45.280 -> 51:47.360] I think people find it hard to be too harsh on themselves.
[51:47.360 -> 51:48.180] Don't they?
[51:48.180 -> 51:50.940] I think that Ben probably couldn't be harsher on himself
[51:50.940 -> 51:51.880] if he tried.
[51:51.880 -> 51:53.240] Yeah. And that was,
[51:53.240 -> 51:55.840] see that bit fascinated me when I was asking about
[51:55.840 -> 51:59.080] how much does he have to moderate that,
[51:59.080 -> 52:02.480] that critical voice when he then applies it to standards,
[52:02.480 -> 52:05.540] to others in a sense that is that he's had
[52:05.540 -> 52:10.440] to do that and it and he recognizes the pain that causes because like say a lot
[52:10.440 -> 52:15.200] of people don't like that self that self-reflection and interesting when he
[52:15.200 -> 52:18.120] said that when I pulled him up on the whole emotion thing because every time I
[52:18.120 -> 52:22.080] tried to go down the emotion road he was like well the process well the process
[52:22.080 -> 52:27.600] he's got to go there at some point now hasn't he because I think emotion is probably the reason for the success he just doesn't
[52:27.600 -> 52:32.560] realize it yeah but I think I think the way he's rationalized it again listening
[52:32.560 -> 52:35.880] to him was that he's done it in moments of desperation when things aren't
[52:35.880 -> 52:42.080] working it's a well he draws on that's his plan B he's an interesting guy to be
[52:42.080 -> 52:50.320] in the company off though isn't he you'd the intensity burns bright with him yeah it does but again I'd say that like we were speaking before we came on air about
[52:50.320 -> 52:56.080] just the humility of these guys as well that there's a you know there's an ordinariness to him
[52:56.080 -> 53:10.560] as well that I think it I think that emphasizes your point that anyone can adopt this high performance mindset. Listen, if my son grows up to be like Ben Ainsley, I'll be a happy dad.
[53:10.560 -> 53:12.380] Let's put it that way.
[53:12.380 -> 53:13.380] Really interesting.
[53:13.380 -> 53:14.380] I think we both got a lot out of that.
[53:14.380 -> 53:18.720] And I hope that you at home feel exactly the same that that last little while listening
[53:18.720 -> 53:23.140] to Ben Ainsley talk about his high performance lifestyle gives you plenty of food for thought.
[53:23.140 -> 53:25.240] Thanks for listening and plenty more to come soon.
[53:29.800 -> 53:31.560] Well, Damien, it's nice to chat as well.
[53:31.560 -> 53:35.080] And I mean, it's fair to say our mailbag was overflowing somewhat this week after
[53:35.080 -> 53:36.920] the chat with Frank Lampard, right?
[53:37.120 -> 53:37.680] Hi Ajay.
[53:37.720 -> 53:38.040] Yeah.
[53:38.080 -> 53:41.920] The reaction has been phenomenal to people listening to Frank.
[53:41.920 -> 53:45.760] I think people have really connected with his messages, just the way that he shared i bobl sy'n clywed Frank, rwy'n credu bod pobl wedi cysylltu gyda'i gwybodaethau, dim ond y ffordd
[53:45.760 -> 53:51.600] y gafodd ei rannu, rhai o'i meddwl, y bydd yn ymgyrchu ei hun, sut mae'n dod i mewn i wneud penderfyniadau,
[53:51.600 -> 53:56.160] ac yn y blynyddoedd, mae'n debyg bod ei gysylltiad gyda bywyd yn wir yn ymwneud â'i gysylltu, felly
[53:56.160 -> 54:01.600] mae wedi bod yn ddiddorol iawn ac yn ddiddorol iawn i clywed y cyfathrebu o bobl i hyn.
[54:01.600 -> 54:07.940] Os yw hwn yma'r cyntaf rydych chi'n clywed y the High Performance Podcast what Damien and I like to do is just sort of reflect on
[54:07.940 -> 54:11.260] some of the messages that you've sent in to us so if you just listen to this
[54:11.260 -> 54:15.220] episode with Ben Ainslie and you'd like to share a comment please do get
[54:15.220 -> 54:18.540] involved either leave the message and the comment wherever you get your
[54:18.540 -> 54:22.460] podcasts or dive onto our social media accounts and leave them there
[54:22.460 -> 54:25.200] Damien's at LiquidThinker I'm at Jay Comfrey.
[54:25.200 -> 54:27.920] The podcast is at High Performance.
[54:27.920 -> 54:31.000] Send us your thoughts and your comments about Ben.
[54:31.000 -> 54:32.480] We'd love to hear them, but we're reflecting
[54:32.480 -> 54:35.720] on last week's episode right now, which is Frank Lampard.
[54:35.720 -> 54:38.560] And the nice one from Alex Smith, he said,
[54:38.560 -> 54:41.520] to what extent can a coach or a manager
[54:41.520 -> 54:43.400] inspire their players or their people
[54:43.400 -> 54:45.040] to live a high performance life
[54:45.040 -> 54:46.240] without living one themselves?
[54:46.240 -> 54:47.760] And obviously this comes off the back of Frank
[54:47.760 -> 54:49.400] saying numerous times,
[54:49.400 -> 54:51.560] he has to live to the standard
[54:51.560 -> 54:53.440] that he expects his players to perform.
[54:53.440 -> 54:55.040] It's a fascinating question.
[54:55.040 -> 54:57.360] And I think it comes down to the idea
[54:57.360 -> 55:00.720] that people just don't follow hypocrites, Jake.
[55:00.720 -> 55:03.160] And I think what Frank was saying is,
[55:03.160 -> 55:07.520] in his responses about talking about being hardworking and investing in that, ac rwy'n credu y byddai yr hyn y mae Frank yn dweud yn ei gynhyrchiad yw ymddiriedol am y bydd yn gweithio'n anodd ac yn gweithio'n anodd yn hynny.
[55:07.520 -> 55:14.960] Mae'n gwneud dwy pethau yn ei gynhyrchiad. Mae'n gyntaf yn siarad gyda gwirioneddol am ei gwaith amlwg
[55:14.960 -> 55:21.120] os ydych chi'n rhaid i chi gweithio yn eich talent a chweithio'n anodd arno. Ac yna'r peth cyntaf y mae'n ei wneud yw ei gweithio
[55:21.120 -> 55:26.000] gyda'r cyd-destun yw os ydych chi'n chwaraewr ac ydych chi'ndod â'r cyd-dod â'r cyd-dod â'r cyd-dod â'r cyd-dod â'r cyd-dod â'r cyd-dod â'r cyd-dod â'r cyd-dod â'r cyd-dod â'r cyd-dod â'r cyd-dod â'r cyd-dod â'r cyd-dod â'r cyd-dod â'r cyd-dod â'r cyd-dod â'r cyd-dod â'r cyd-dod â'r cyd-dod â'r cyd-dod â'r cyd-dod â'r cyd-dod â'r cyd-dod â'r cyd-dod â'r cyd-dod â'r cyd-dod â'r cyd-dod â'r cyd-dod â'r cyd-dod â'r cyd-dod â'r cyd-dod â'r cyd-dod â'r cyd-dod â'r cyd-dod â'r cyd-dod â'r cyd-dod â'r cyd-dod â'r cyd-dod â'r cyd-dod â'r cyd-dod â'r cyd-dod â'r cyd-dod da. cyd-dod. cyd-dod.
[55:26.000 -> 55:28.000] cyd-dod.
[55:28.000 -> 55:30.000] cyd-dod.
[55:30.000 -> 55:32.000] cyd-dod.
[55:32.000 -> 55:34.000] cyd-dod.
[55:34.000 -> 55:36.000] cyd-dod.
[55:36.000 -> 55:45.120] cyd-dod. it very difficult to assume that you can't do it or that his messages are
[55:45.120 -> 55:48.880] very relevant to you because he's role modeling the behaviors he's asking
[55:48.880 -> 55:54.520] people to do. So to summarize yeah people don't follow hypocrites. And there might
[55:54.520 -> 55:57.560] be some of you listening to this thinking well you know I've worked hard
[55:57.560 -> 56:00.600] I've got to the top of the tree I'm in charge of a bunch of people so it's my
[56:00.600 -> 56:05.420] turn to relax and it's their turn to work hard. I think from my perspective
[56:06.320 -> 56:12.240] It's very hard to judge whether people are fully committed and whether they're given their role and whether they are working to their limit if
[56:12.240 -> 56:16.320] You haven't done it yourself because if you haven't been there Damien, you can look at someone and go
[56:16.320 -> 56:20.720] Yeah, I think there I think they're working really hard, but you kind of you don't know what you don't know
[56:20.900 -> 56:28.160] So you've got to put yourself in that place. You've got to go to your limits. You've got to fail beth y dydych chi ddim yn gwybod. Felly mae angen i chi ddechrau yn y lle hwnnw. Mae angen i chi fynd i'ch gwastraffau. Mae angen i chi ddiflannu. Mae angen i chi ddweud ymdrech. Mae angen i chi ddod i'ch
[56:28.160 -> 56:32.560] pwynt gyrhaeddus er mwyn deall a yw rhywun arall yno wedi cael y pwynt. Rwy'n credu eich bod chi'n
[56:32.560 -> 56:37.120] iawn, Jake. Rwy'n credu, mae'n fy nghlymu i mi o ddynion llawer o blwyddyn pan roeddwn i'n gweithio gyda
[56:37.120 -> 56:42.320] un o'r tîm penodol ac roeddwn i'n ymweld â'r coach ar y ffordd o ddod o hyd at y
[56:42.320 -> 56:46.560] ymdrech. Roedd yn ymgynghorwyr arbennig a roedd yn wirioneddol ffyrdd a'n ymdrech ar y coac ar ôl ymddygiad arbennig ac roedd yn ymddygiadwr newydd ac roedd yn wirioneddol ffwrdd a chael y
[56:46.560 -> 56:51.040] reakción o rai o'r chwaraewyr ar y bus a gweld iddynt yn rhagor a'n edrych fel
[56:51.040 -> 56:57.040] maent yn mwynhau ac roedd yn teimlo y byddai'n ddod yn ymddygiad ac yn ymddygiad
[56:57.040 -> 57:03.120] ac yn wirioneddol yn y ddyn. Ac rwy'n ei ddweud i hi mewn rhai deunyddau bod,
[57:03.760 -> 57:05.840] dim ond oherwydd ei ddefnydd o
[57:05.840 -> 57:09.840] ymdrechu at y llwyddiant, nid oedd yn cael ei ddod o'u hun, nid oedd eiddo ddim,
[57:09.840 -> 57:13.760] neu ddim yn ymwneud â nhw, roedd eiddo, mae pawb yn ymdrech yn ffyrdd gwahanol,
[57:14.480 -> 57:19.600] ac rwy'n credu mai dyna'n gweithgaredd pwysig iawn i bobl i'w ddod o'r podcastau hwn,
[57:19.600 -> 57:29.520] y byddai, dim ond oherwydd y byddai Frank Lampard yn siarad am gwawaith hawr, y ffordd y byddai hynny'n cyflawni'n ei gilydd arnoddol iddo, efallai y byddai'n gwahanol na'r ffordd y byddai'n cyflawni'n ei gilydd arnoddol i Chris Hoy
[57:29.520 -> 57:34.000] neu i Ole Solskjaer, yr oeddwn i'n ymweld âd-gyfraith ar ddechrau'r series o'r podcast.
[57:34.000 -> 57:38.720] Mae'r holl podcast yma am i chi weld y byd o ran perspectif rhywun arall,
[57:38.720 -> 57:43.840] rhoi'r cyfle i chi ddod i mewn i'r byd eu hunain a gweld yn ei ddwylo
[57:43.840 -> 57:46.360] a deall bod eu sefydliadau'n ymwneud â nhw, ac yn eich hyrwyddo i to step in to their world and see it through their eyes and understand that their definitions
[57:46.360 -> 57:52.320] are relevant to them and encouraging you to think about how you can take the lessons and
[57:52.320 -> 57:55.560] apply it to be pertinent and relevant to your own world.
[57:55.560 -> 57:59.280] And what I really like when you talk about that is that we're still getting people who
[57:59.280 -> 58:01.200] are listening to all kinds of different episodes.
[58:01.200 -> 58:06.200] You know, we had Anthony Joshua, the world champion boxer sharing on his Snapchat this week,
[58:06.200 -> 58:07.120] the fact that he was listening
[58:07.120 -> 58:09.320] to the Robin Van Persie episode and saying,
[58:09.320 -> 58:10.820] brilliant interview, get involved.
[58:10.820 -> 58:14.640] We had Jimmy Dunn talking about how much
[58:14.640 -> 58:17.960] Sean Dyche is motivating before training.
[58:17.960 -> 58:20.920] You know, all of the different episodes
[58:20.920 -> 58:22.240] that we've recorded with people,
[58:22.240 -> 58:25.200] I think they offer a different insight
[58:25.200 -> 58:30.720] into hard work and into leadership, but probably with common themes. Yeah, I know that one of the
[58:30.720 -> 58:36.160] things that we've both expressed a concern about is that are we worried sometimes that our listeners
[58:36.160 -> 58:47.760] are hearing some of the same messages and feeling that there's a degree of repetition here. And I mae yna nifero o gyfraith yma ac rwy'n credu bod y pwynt i'w gynhyrchu yw bod pob gwestiwn
[58:47.760 -> 58:53.760] wahanol ac eto eu cyfrifoldeb o rhai heriau sy'n wahanol, felly os ydych chi'n meddwl yn ôl
[58:53.760 -> 59:00.160] y seried hwn, mae defnyddio Sean Wayne o sut y gweithiodd eich haf i greu diwylliannau a chyflawni ar Wigan Warriors
[59:00.800 -> 59:07.200] yn wahanol o'r ffordd y mae Sir Ben Ainslie wedi'i ddysgu i ni sut y byddai wedi gweithio'n fawr i greu
[59:07.200 -> 59:13.520] ddynion gwych gyda'i tîm Cwp America. Rydyn ni'n rhoi'r cyflawni i bobl. Un o'r cwipoau ffavorit
[59:13.520 -> 59:18.800] i mi yw bod cyflwyniad yn dod â cyflawni ac rydyn ni'n rhoi cyfleu i chi o bobl sydd wedi bod yn
[59:18.800 -> 59:24.160] cyflwyniol ac maen nhw'n rhannu'r cyflawni o ran sut maen nhw'n ei wneud. Ac nid yw hyn am bobl
[59:24.160 -> 59:25.600] yn ei weld fel gimics a sut y gallant ddod â'r cyflawni, mae'n sut y gallant ddweud y methodoleg the clues as to how they do it and this isn't about people seeing them as gimmicks and how
[59:25.600 -> 59:31.200] they can sort of copy other people it's how they can take the methodology of our high performers
[59:31.760 -> 59:38.000] and then apply them to the specific challenges in their own world to create high performance.
[59:38.000 -> 59:46.320] All right here's a question for you this is coming from Dragonwhales 9. Can a leader be humble and ferocious?
[59:46.320 -> 59:54.000] Wow that's a good one. I suppose those two elements of humility and ferociousness are
[59:54.000 -> 01:00:01.680] two separate characteristics and they don't contradict each other. So humility is accepting
[01:00:01.680 -> 01:00:05.560] that we don't know things so we know what we don't know,
[01:00:05.560 -> 01:00:07.480] when we're willing to open our mind up
[01:00:07.480 -> 01:00:11.340] and learn and listen and ask questions of others.
[01:00:11.340 -> 01:00:14.680] So that's how I would interpret humility.
[01:00:14.680 -> 01:00:17.640] It's not about coming in and assuming a knowledge
[01:00:17.640 -> 01:00:20.640] of a situation that we don't have.
[01:00:20.640 -> 01:00:22.520] The ferociousness is an interesting one,
[01:00:22.520 -> 01:00:24.280] because again, that could be defined
[01:00:24.280 -> 01:00:25.560] in so many different ways, but this ferociousness is an interesting one because again, that could be defined in so many different ways,
[01:00:25.560 -> 01:00:28.400] but this ferociousness of wanting to learn
[01:00:28.400 -> 01:00:31.920] and wanting to improve and wanting to get better
[01:00:31.920 -> 01:00:35.680] seem to dovetail with what my definition of humility is.
[01:00:35.680 -> 01:00:39.560] So I absolutely agree that a leader can demonstrate humility
[01:00:39.560 -> 01:00:43.080] and ferociousness without them being contradictory.
[01:00:43.080 -> 01:00:44.760] Listen, mate, thanks so much for your time.
[01:00:44.760 -> 01:00:46.260] As always, really appreciate it. Thank you all at Thanks so much for your time as always really appreciate it
[01:00:46.260 -> 01:00:50.460] Thank you all at home very much for listening to the high performance podcast. Just one last reminder
[01:00:50.460 -> 01:00:52.440] We love bringing you this podcast for free
[01:00:52.440 -> 01:00:53.200] It's how it should be
[01:00:53.200 -> 01:00:54.480] It's how we want it to be
[01:00:54.480 -> 01:00:59.240] But it does make a huge difference to us if you're able to leave a review or rate the podcast
[01:00:59.240 -> 01:01:04.340] It's hugely helpful and talk to your family your friends your colleagues about it
[01:01:04.340 -> 01:01:09.120] we'd love as many people as possible to just get that little bit of helpu. A chwarae â'ch teulu, eich ffrindiau, eich cymdeithasau amdano. Byddwn yn hoffi mwy o bobl fel pobl i ddod â'r holl beth o ysbrydoliad i ddechrau'r
[01:01:09.120 -> 01:01:12.800] wythnos o'r podcast High Performance. Damian, diolch yn fawr iawn fel bob tro.
[01:01:12.800 -> 01:01:17.440] Ie, diolch Jake fel bob tro. Rydw i wedi mor ffordd o fwyno a mwynhau'r cyfle i
[01:01:17.440 -> 01:01:22.640] ymuno â chi a'r tîm, ac yn bwysig, gyda'n unigolion
[01:01:22.640 -> 01:01:28.620] high performing yn y wythnos hwn, Ben Ainslie,'s been incredibly generous with his time, his knowledge and his insights. So
[01:01:28.620 -> 01:01:32.480] thanks for having me along. A big thanks as well to Finn Ryan from Rethink Audio
[01:01:32.480 -> 01:01:37.000] who worked so hard to make this podcast happen. As always a huge thank you to
[01:01:37.000 -> 01:01:41.520] Lotus Cars, you can find them across social media at Lotus Cars. It is as
[01:01:41.520 -> 01:01:47.340] simple as this, without Lotus Cars this podcast doesn't happen. So thanks to them. Thanks to Damien
[01:01:47.340 -> 01:01:54.020] Thanks to everyone involved behind the scenes at the high performance podcast and a new episode coming your way next week
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