206. From Game Day to Boardroom: Building Mental Resilience in Leadership with Mick Spiers

Unlock the secrets of mental toughness and transformative leadership with insights from high-performance coach Matt Phillips. 

Discover how athletes' relentless preparation, focus, and presence can be mirrored by leaders to inspire their teams and drive success. 

Join us as we explore the powerful connection between athletic strategies and effective leadership, with additional wisdom from experts like Scott Mautz and Dr. John Demartini. 

Learn how visualization, intentional actions, and focus on controllable factors can fortify leadership practices, helping you prepare for challenges and foster a resilient team dynamic.

Prepare to be inspired with a glimpse into the future of leadership as we gear up for an enlightening conversation with Dr. Chris Fusey. 

We'll discuss the concept of liminal space and its revolutionary impact on leadership landscapes. Plus, get excited for the return of our weekly live stream, now available across multiple platforms! 

Don’t miss out on these insights and updates as we continue our shared journey of growth and empowerment. 

Chapters

• 0:00 High-Performance Athletes Teach Mental Toughness
• 9:51 Leadership Lessons
• 20:36 Future Leadership Trends and Updates

Transcript

Mick Spiers: 0:00

What is it about high performance athletes that makes them so mentally tough? How can we translate lessons from high performance sports into the leadership in the workplace? In today's Episode of The Leadership Project, I'm sharing my own personal reflections from Episode 205 with high performance coach Matt Phillips, you will also see that the lessons that we took were also very consistent with our takeaways from Episode 171 with Scott Mautz on mental strength, and Episode 115 with Dr. John Demartini on manifestation. Welcome back to The Leadership Project, where we empower leaders like you to unlock your full potentialand create meaningful change in the workplace. I'm your host. Mick, Spiers, and today we're reflecting on some powerful lessons from Episode 205 where we spoke with Matt Phillips about the secrets behind mental toughness and leadership. We'll dive deep into how athletes don't just show up on game day and expect success. They put in the work off the field, stay laser focused on what's important to them and fullyunderstand the power of presence. We'll explore how leaders can model the behaviors they want to see intheir teams, be intentional with their actions, and ensure they're preparing not just for success, but for adversity along the way. I'll also tie in some key inserts from Episode 171 with Scott mounts on mental strength, and Episode 115 with the amazing Dr John Demartini, where we explored the truth behind manifestation and aligning beliefs with actions. We've got a lot to cover today, so I'll get straight into it. One of the first things that really struck me duringthe conversation with Matt Phillips was his emphasis on how much athletes focus on what they do off the field to ensure that they succeed when it counts. Matt said something that stuck with me, you don't win the game on game day. You win in the hours of preparation you put in beforehand. And to me, that's a perfect metaphor for leadership that we sometimes forget as leaders. It's easy to think that success is about how we perform in those big, high stakes moments, whether it's giving a presentation, handling a tough negotiation, or leading during a crisis, but the truth is, success is built long before those moments. It's the daily work that we put in, the preparation, the reflection, the mental conditioning that determines how well we'll show up when the pressure's on. This ties in directly with what Scott Mautz shared with us in Episode 171 about mental strength. Scott emphasized that mental strength is built up over time, through consistent habits, through consistent practices, athletes don't just walk up onto the field and expect to perform at their best. They prepare relentlessly. And as leaders, we need to do the same. So I challenge you with this today. When was the last time that you spent some time off the field preparing your leadership. How much time do you spend working on yourself as a leader? How much time do you prepare for big conversations or big presentations, or prepare intentionally for the course of action that you've got ahead of us during that day, or do you find yourself just going from action to action, almost going from fighting one fire to another fire without stopping reflecting, taking account of what's in front of you and putting in the pre work to ensure that you are at your best when you need to be. Another crucial element that high performance athletes embrace is extreme focus, extreme focus on what is important to them. Athletes arelaser focused on their goals. They know what they want to achieve, and they structure their entire life around that, whether it's their training, their diet, or even their rest, intentionally taking rest and having it focused around their goals, everything they do is very intentional and serves a purpose in leadership, it's easy To get distracted by thenoise, emails, meetings, urgent issues, they can pull us away from what truly matters, but high performance, leadership requires that same extreme focus on what's important. It's about asking yourself, what are my top priorities? What's most important to my team right now, and aligning your. Around those priorities. Matt Phillips spoke about this in the context of athletes being able to block out distractions during high stake moments. For leaders, this means staying focused on your goals despite the everyday distractions, and ensuring you're moving towards your larger objectives and always asking yourself the same question, what action is going to serve me and the team in the most effective way right now? And sometimes that action could be no action. You might be deliberately stepping back and allowing the team to step in and step up, to empower them and make have them make their own decisions, to build their own strength, to learn and grow as they try something new. And other times, you might realize that the best action right now is to step in. It is to take control. It is to be the one that's leading from the front. So these are very conscious and intentional actions, depending on what the situation is calling for. It couldalso mean intentionally taking a break. You're a human being too. You can't work at 100% capacity. 24/7, so intentionally taking a break, resting, recovering, giving yourself time to think when you need to, instead of just jumping from crisis to crisis. Another key element that stood out to me from Matt's insights was the power of presence. High performance athletes are masters at staying fully engaged in the moment when they are on the field, they're not thinking about the last play or the next one, they're not thinking about their meal, they're not thinking about the last meeting they had. They're thinking about what's in front of them. They are completely present, and they're making quick, informed decisions in the moment. As leaders, we can learn a lot from that. How often are we truly present with our teams? How often do we listen fully without letting our minds wander to the next task on our to do list or thinking about the last meeting that we just had, or thinking about what we've got in front of us for tomorrow? Presence is such a powerful leadership skill, because it builds trust and it strengthens relationships. When you're fully present, your team feels heard, they feel valued, they feel understood, they feel respected. And when they feel like this, they feel like they matter, and they feel like that what they do matters beyond that, you're going to make better decisions, because you are when you're present. It's like this multi century environment where you're picking up everything that's going on. You're not missing things. So if when you're truly present, you're getting a better diversity of ideas from the team because you're truly listening to them, but you're also paying attention to things like the emotion in the room, and when we can collect better information, we can make better decisions. Being present helps you stay calm. It helps you make those better decisions under pressure. And it's not just about reacting, it's about responding with clarity and intentionality. Another key point that Matt Phillips emphasized, and something that I think every leader should take to heart, is role modeling the behaviors you want to see in your team. Athletes who lead their teams on the playing field. Don't just talk about what it takes to succeed. They show it through their actions. They model discipline, they model commitment, they model focus, and in doing so, they inspire those around them to do the same as leaders, our actions speak louder than our words. If we want our teams to be focused, we need to model that focus. If we want our teams to be resilient, we need to model resilience. If we want them to be present in a meeting, we better model what it takes to be present in a meeting. If we expect our teams to take time to rest and recover, we need to set the example by also looking after our own health and our own rest and recovery. People are very clever, and they pick up on the behavior of the leader, and they start mimicking that behavior. So if you're the kind of leader that's turning up at 4:30 in the morning and then not clocking off again until 8:30 at night, you're gonna see other people starting to do the same. And it's not the answer to productivity. It's absolutely not. In Episode 171 Scott Mautz talked about leading by example when it comes to mental strength, if we can demonstrate can. Calmness under pressure. If we can show commitment to our priorities and set healthy boundaries, our teams will start following suit. They're watching how we handle stress, they're watching how we manage our time, and they're watching how we prioritize our energy. This leads me to another crucial element of leadership being intentional. We need to be intentional with our actions. High performance athletes are intentional with everything they do, whether it's training, resting or visualizing their success. They make decisions based on what's going to serve them best in the moment. As leaders, we need to adopt the same mindset in any given moment. We should ask ourselves, what action is going to serve me and my team best right now. That could mean pushing forward with a project. It could mean taking a rest to recover and reflect. Being intentional doesn't just apply to big decisions, it applies to how we manage our energy and how we manage our time from day to day. Scott Mautz also touched on this in e 171 as well, when we discussed how mental strength is built through intentional action. It's about making conscious choices that align with our values and with our goals and ensuring that our actions serve the greater good of the team. The way I go about using intentionality is I think about how I'm going to show up that day. I look at my meetings at the start of the day, or, in fact, quite often, I do it the day before. I look at my agenda. I look at all of the meetings that I've got coming up, and I use some words to describe my intentional way of showing up for that meeting. It could be for anything from in this meeting, I'm going to go in with curiosity. In this meeting, I'm going to consciously and purposely be the last one to speak in this meeting. I need to be inspirational. I need to lead from the front. So depending on what the situation calls for and what the team needs, I will make an intentional action about how I'm going to show up for each different meeting that I have during that day. Another critical lesson from Matt Phillips was about preparing for adversity. High performing athletes don't just prepare for success, they also prepare for setbacks. They visualize the tough moments, the mistakes, the bad plays, the injuries, and they practice how they will respond when those moments happen. For leaders, this concept is equally important. We can't expect everything to go perfectly all the time, but what we can do is mentally rehearse how we'll handle the adversity when it comes whether it's a difficult conversation with a team member, a project that goes off track, or an unexpected crisis, visualizing adversity can help us respond with clarity and composure. This doesn't mean that we have a negative element or a negative focus. What it means is that we are preparing for what could go wrong so that we're ready when it does, if it does, you could argue that this is quite similar to when someone prepares for a marathon. It's not about the first mile, it's not even about the last mile, it's about preparing for what am I going to do when I hit thewall? What am I going to do to push through all of these practices, whether it relates to high performanceathletes or as a leader, is helping us prepare for resilience when things don't go well, how am I going to respond? This ties directly into the idea of focusing on what's in our control. This is at the heart of stoicism. One of the defining characteristics of high performance athletes is their ability to stay focusedonwhat they can control, their effort, their mindset, their preparation and letting go of what they can't control, like the weather, the referees, the performance of the opposing team as leaders, we need to adopt the same approach. It's easy to get bogged down worrying about external factors that we can't influence, like market conditions or how others react. But true mental toughness comes from focusing on how we show up, how we lead and how we respond to the challenges in front of us, Scott Mautz, in Episode 171 talked about this concept as a cornerstone of mental strength. If we focus on what we can control our mindset, our actions, our leadership. It we empower ourselves and our team to thrive regardless of external circumstances. And finally, I want to tie all of these lessons back to Episode 115 with Dr. John Demartini, where we discussthe truth behind manifestation and the power of aligning our beliefs with our actions, in many ways, what Matt, Scott and Dr. Demartini shared all align perfectly with each other. Dr. Demartini emphasized that success isn't just about visualizing a positive outcome, it's about putting in the work to make that outcomea reality. That's where mental toughness and leadership overlap. We can visualize success all we want, but if we're not aligning our daily actions, our preparation, our focus, our presence, with that vision, we're going to fall short. Whether it's manifesting success, building mental strength or developing resilience. It all comes down to preparation and action. It's about doing the hard work behind the scenes to ensure that when game day arrives we're ready to perform our best. So as we reflect on the lessons from Matt Phillips in Episode 205 Scott Mautz in Episode 171 and Dr. John Demartini in Episode 115 here are some key takeaways for you as a leader, put in the work off the field. Success isn't just about how you perform in high pressure moments. It's about the preparation, the reflection, the mental conditioning that you do behind the scenes to ensure that you're ready for those big moments. Stay focused on what's important. High performance athletes are laser focused on their goals. As leaders, we need to cut through the noise and stay focused on what matters be fully present, whether in a meeting, a conversation or a decision making moment. Practice the power of presence, your ability to be present will strengthen relationships and help you make better decisions. Role model the behavior you want to see your teams will follow your lead, not just your words, but through your actions. Model the discipline, focus and resilience you want to see in your team. Be intentional. Every action you take as a leader should serve a purpose, whether it's pushing forward and stepping in, taking time to reflect, or choosing to rest and recover, or intentionally deciding to step back and allow the team to step up and step in. It's an intentional decision. Prepare for adversity. Visualizing success is important, but so is visualizing the obstacles, prepare yourself mentally to stay composed and clear headed when things don't go as planned, and focus on what is in your control. Let go of what you can't control, and direct your energy towards the things you can influence your mindset, your actions and your leadership. Okay, now onto my leadership reflections for this week. For anyone new to the show, I've asked myself thesame five questions every day for the past 11 years, and they are, what went well, what didn't go well, what would I do differently next time? What did I learn about myself and what did I learn about others as part of this solo cast, I share some of the reflections from this week. So what went well? This is going to sound counterintuitive, but I had a disagreement with my wife, but what I was proud of was how we handled it, how we spoke it through, we talked it through together so that both of us could understand each other's perspectives, and we were able to quickly learn from it and develop a resolution what didn't go well, the argument itself. So this was a case where it felt like three times in a row where we'd had a conversation and we'd walked away from the same conversation with a different understanding of what we just agreed what would I do differently next time? Well, what we've collectively agreed is that we willcheck in at the end of the conversation to summarize back what we've just said and what we've agreed todo or not do, whatever the case may be, so that there is no disconnection, there's no misunderstanding about what was said and what was agreed. What did I learn about myself? I've known this for some time, and I'm still working on it. I can have a tendency to hear the things that I want to hear that. Hear things that confirm what I already believe, and that means making assumptions and not necessarily testing those assumptions. What did I learn about others? It's a common trait. So my wife can do this too. We both sit in a situation where we walk away from a conversation thinking that we understood what the other person said, but did we take the time to check in and make sure that we understood really big learning for both of us this week, and one that I'm proud to say makes our relationship even stronger? Okay, that's it for this week. You've been listening to The Leadership Project in the next Episode. I'll be joined by Dr. Chris fusi, where he explains an interesting concept called liminal space and how it might impact the future of leadership and followership. I'm also pleased to announce that we have now restarted our livestream show, bringing you interesting live stream topics. Each and every week, we took a small break from the live stream show through illness and then through moving house, but I'm very pleased that it's all back on again. You can catch the live stream on our YouTube channel, The Leadership Project, or on LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram. Don't forget that you can subscribe to The Leadership Project YouTube channel and catch the weekly live stream show together with video podcasts and our curated Video of the week. You can also subscribe to our newsletter to get leadership inspiration and leadership lessons from across the world into your inbox each and every week so that you can become the leader that you wish you always had. Thank you for listening to The Leadership Project mickspiers.com a huge call out to Faris Sedek for his video editing of all of our video content and to all of the team at TLP, Joan Gozon, Gerald Calibo And my amazing wife Sei Spiers, I could not do this show without you. Don't forget to subscribe to The Leadership Project YouTube channel where we bring you interesting videos each and every week. And you can follow us on social, particularly on LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram. Now, in the meantime, please do take care, look out for each other and join us on this journey as we learn together and lead together.