The Focal Point

Plectrum with Andy Hollingworth

This episode Ian is joined by Andy Hollingworth who is now the leadership and development lead at Talk Talk and an EMCC certified professional coach. He has experience across telecoms, travel and consultancy. In this episode he talks about subjects including the value of imposter syndrome, how "busy" became a state of being, making excuses and how a plectrum connects with performance, choice and responsibility.

Bobble Hat

In this episode Jake Sweet, former Royal Marine and part of the team at Leading Edge Performance talks to Ian about what his home made Bobble Hat has to do with high performance. Touching on themes like belonging, asking brilliant questions to find your value, fixed mindsets, the "unit family," Jake shares his take on how to build an ethos and connectivity that drives performance. It comes with a view on the power of tribalism, and the need to "keep it positive" and purposeful. Thanks to Jake, and thanks for listening!

Sandal with Jonny Ball

In this episode Ian and Chris are joined by Jonny Ball, who talks high performance using a sandal as his focal point. The conversation covers recovery from setback, making a positive impact on society through politics and the idea of serving again. Some strong language in parts.

Medal: Chris Gordon DFC: Part 2

In the second part of the Armed Forces Day special, Chris and Ian take a deeper dive with Chris Gordon DFC into the performance lessons of his experiences. If you haven't already, go back to part 1 for the full story of the operation that saw him awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross [DFC] - which is his Focal Point. In this episode we discuss, among other things, how personal involvement can change our performance, the potential power and challenges of detaching and the absolute importance of taking time to work out what has happened and it's impact. As well as exploring the story through the lens of high performance, we also talk about some of our experiences around subjects such as PTSD and transitioning from the military into other walks of life.

Medal: Chris Gordon DFC: Part 1

Chris and Ian, as well as many of the Performance Edge team are veterans of the UK Military, and this episode, released around Armed Forces Day, is the first of a 2 part special with Chris Gordon DFC. 'Gordo' is a veteran of the war in Afghanistan, flying chinook helicopters in country, and later piloting remote aircraft from the USA. His Focal Point is his Distinguised Flying Cross [DFC], which still has the late Queen's fingerprint on the back. In this first episode, Gordo shares the story of the deployment that saw him awarded the DFC, telling us the story of what happened in the runup, during and immediately after the hugely challenging operation. We wanted to give the story the space it needs, and it provides crucial context for the deeper dive into performance that comes in episode 2. We're very grateful to Chris for sharing the story of his experience, and we hope you find it as engaging as we did.