Thinking on performance, pressure and people.
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What happens when a professional athlete's playing career comes to an end? For Matthew Hodgson, the answer wasn't stepping away from high performance: it was finding a new way to help others reach their potential.
Losing in the semi-finals when we were the heavy favourites to win the whole thing taught me a ton about human nature.
The best teams have a specific set of strengths and areas of focus that they return to when pressure hits that have been previously defined and reinforced through their day-to-day.
When I was with the Dallas Mavericks for a pre-season, the first thing the coach told the group of guys competing for select spots was...
I was surprised to learn that 'performance reviews' are met with the same eye-roll in the real world as they were in pro sport.
Stripped of cliches and folklore, pressure is simple: it's a psychological experience that can block the ability to think clearly.
In fact, the very thing that comes with it often hinders you.
In team environments, your real competition is your teammates, not the people on the other team.
