Paddy Upton Investing in people, Inspiring our team, delivering results

Paddy Upton investing in people,inspiring our team, delivering results

In this week’s Business Unusual Podcast, Ralf Fletcher, CEO of Topco is in conversation with legendary cricket coach, Paddy Upton.
With four degrees under his belt and having held positions as head coach in international T20 cricket, mental coach to professional athletes, business coach and university professor, Paddy truly encompasses the notion of an all-rounder. The “Barefoot Coach” author looks past the physical elements of sports coaching and places great emphasis on the mental aspects, not only in his work, but in life as a whole. In this podcast, he unpacks the importance of looking past the material aspects of success towards what it truly means to reach the goals we set ourselves. Paddy brings with him a wealth of knowledge and explains how sports coaching and business practises share a whole host of similarities. From the best strategies to implement into leadership to the importance of self-awareness, Paddy takes listeners on a journey of introspection.

Key takeaways to look out for in this podcast:

1. The processes that go on in businesses can be likened to those of a sports team. Often times they follow many of the same procedures and the values of a team can be applied in the workplace.

2. Although we’re all in the same boat during this time, we’re experiencing fundamentally different things. A lot has to do with our individual environments and much of what we’re experiencing right now is psychological.

3. It’s important to understand the trauma cycle we’re experiencing and from there gain an understanding of where to next.

4. When going into a new environment we should implement an empowering approach to leadership – harnessing collective intelligence goes a long way.

5. In any team we should aim for a culture that both attracts the right people and brings the best out in individuals.

6. Creating self-awareness is vital in any type of team. Rather than teaching a leader how to lead, we should arm them with the knowledge of understanding who they are when they’re doing what they’re doing.

7. A well-known concept in sport is the ‘post-Olympic blues’ which refers to the days or weeks following an Olympic athlete’s win they hit a depression. Why is it that after working so hard for something and then achieving it we experience a sense of emptiness?

8. We’ve been taught that success is measured in some type of material metric – money, position or power. We need to unlearn this mentality because success is also a felt experience. How do we actually want to feel when we gain this success?

South African born Patrick Anthony Howard ‘Paddy’ Upton is a Head Coach in Professional T20 cricket, Mental Coach to professional athletes, Executive Coach and Professor of Practice at Deakin University. Having attained his Master’s degree in Sport Science at the University of Cape Town, Paddy began his career as the Strength and Conditioning coach for the South Africa cricket team in 1994. Paddy maintains an approach of continuous learning and places great emphasis on the importance of what goes on behind the scenes of competitive sport – internal growth, respectful leadership and compassion.