FLS ANNUAL CONFERENCE

’STAYING AT THE TOP IN SPORT AND BUSINESS IN UNPREDICTABLE TIMES’

Our first live event for over a year took place on May 25, when we held a conference at Leigh Court, nr Bristol, the home of Business West. The theme was ’Staying at the top in sport and business in unpredictable times’. It was a huge success attended by a full-house of over 100 FLS members and guests. Kevin Roberts, former CEO of Saatchi and Saatchi, got the day off to a terrific start, as he explored his views on the leadership styles needed in a changing world. Mike Higgins, of Loughborough University, presented some of his important research findings on sustaining high performance in sport. Panel discussions provided leading figures in sport, business and the military with the opportunity to share experiences. These included Jess Thirlby (England netball), Eddie Jones (England rugby), Lt Col Henry Llewelyn-Usher (Centre for Army Leadership), Pat Lam (Bristol Bears), Richard Gould (CEO Bristol City FC), Paul Farbrace and Steve Snell (Directors of Cricket at Warwickshire and Gloucestershire CCC).

LEADING THROUGH CRISIS

Lessons from Sport, Business and the Military

FLS Virtual Conference jointly hosted with The Centre for Army Leadership

For several years, FLS have worked closely with the Centre for Army Leadership (CAL). Original plans to hold a joint conference on leadership, to be held at Sandhurst, were shelved because of the Covid crisis. We soon realised that there were excellent examples of leadership through crisis evident in sport, business and the military. We all became ‘zoom’ experts, enabling people to continue to engage with others in a positive fashion. Holding a ‘virtual’ conference on leading through times of crisis was an obvious consequence.

Over 1,500 delegates attended the event, held on November 4th. We had superb leaders from different walks of life, all of whom gave their services free of charge, enabling us to raise over £3,000 for the Royal British Legion.

We look forward to further collaboration with CAL, and discussions are already under way.

‘The Language of Leadership’ FLS Annual Conference

In 2019, the FLS conference featured David Marquet, author of the best-selling book on leadership ‘Turn the ship around’. In the year since then, David has written another terrific book ‘Language is Leadership’. We were delighted to have its' UK launch at our Twickenham conference on Feb 14. The conference theme ‘The Language of Leadership’ was particularly relevant and the event was as successful as any we have held. David set things off in the morning, followed by a breakout session involving all 120 delegates.

In the afternoon, there were three panel discussions, involving a number of our FLS friends. Firstly, Appeal Court Judge Sir James Dingemans chaired a discussion about how business leaders communicate with colleagues. With him were Col Lucy Giles (President Army Selection Board), Richard Lloyd (Chairman Accolade Wines Ltd), David Sheepshanks (Chairman FA Technical Advisory Board) and Bill Sweeney (CEO Rugby Football Union).

This was followed by a discussion among International sports officials, Clare Daniels, Wayne Barnes and Tom Foley (Rugby), and David Coote (Soccer). This session on how referees communicate with players, was chaired by Huw Jennings, Academy Director at Fulham FC.

The third panel, discussing how coaches communicate with players, was chaired by Kevin Bowring, former RFU head of Elite Coach Development. The panel comprised four International coaches Jess thereby (Netball), Conor O’Shea (Rugby), Danny Kerry (Hockey) and Peter Moores (Cricket).

A marvellous summary of the day’s proceedings was then provided by Frank Dick, former GB head Athletics coach and now a consultant in sport and business.

Following all of this, delegates had a bonus, the opportunity to watch the England rugby team training on the Twickenham pitch.

Identifying, recruiting and developing talent

This is a topic that has concerned leaders in sport, business and the military for many years. 

How do those responsible for selection in any field know what they are looking for? Do they look at current capability? How do they assess potential? What are the ‘hidden’ predictors of success?

Professional Sporting Academies begin their search for talent by looking at youngsters long before they reach maturity, a most difficult task. Professional football clubs have been engaged in this exercise longer than most. How successful are they?

Fulham FC is recognised as having one of the best academies in the game. Its’ purpose is not only to develop players who might be good enough to play for the club but also to contribute to the club’s financial model, by developing players who may be sold on at a big profit.

The workshop delved into the Fulham programme, seeking to uncover its’ strengths and weaknesses, and to unravel why is has been one of the most successful, even in comparison with many larger and wealthier clubs. Huw Jennings (Academy Director) and Mike Cave (Academy Manager) delivered a comprehensive account of the structure and management of the Academy.

At Loughborough University in London, innovative research has been conducted into the whole field of talent identification and scouting for sport. The academics and technical experts who have developed the AiScout Talent Identification Platform presented their innovative and exciting ideas. 

As always at FLS workshops, we ended the day with a panel discussion involving experts from sort, business and the military.

The presentations and discussions can be seen in the members secure section of this FLS site.

Amanda H

I get such a buzz from your conferences and it is so uplifting to be in a room full of such dynamic and inspirational individuals.

David M

What a fantastic day, thank you so much for including me. I really enjoyed it and found so much good content, really inspiring.

Bruce F

Thank you very much for organizing an outstanding session with Paul Nicholls at Ditcheat. It was an excellent day. Very insightful and a really good reminder of the benefits of trying to keep it simple in a complex and fast moving environment. I was really impressed (and inspired) by Paul and his team. They were incredibly generous with their time and hospitality.

FLS Workshop and Team Ditcheat

Several previous FLS workshops had been attended by Geoff Derham, brother-in-law of Paul Nicholls, and a friend of his, Simon Panes,who was previously in charge of sport at Filton College. They had said how horse-racing was seen to be very different to other sports, yet the issues remained the same. They suggested to me that Paul might be interested in being involved in a workshop Paul had been champion trainer 10 times in the past, but not in the two previous years, so he was beginning to harbour doubts and concerns. Thus it was that FLS, in conjunction with the British Horse-Racing Authority, held a small workshop on May 9th, around the subject of ‘Winning’.

The day started with a guided tour of Paul’s stables at Ditcheat in Somerset, and then the workshop itself took place in the village hall.

What a wonderful day it turned out to be. A highlight was a conversation between Paul Nicholls and England rugby coach, Eddie Jones, steered beautifully by Richard Hytner. ‘Team Ditcheat’ staff were then involved in a panel discussion, which demonstrated the value in horse-racing as in other sports of a strong culture and healthy core values. Members of a second panel then shared their own ideas and experiences from sport, business and the military. The workshop ended with a customary sharp and  relevant summing up by Frank Dick. 

The day ended with many of the delegates attending Wincanton races as guests of Paul in his box.

 As always, all the workshop content is here on the FLS website in the members secure area. It is well worth spending some time looking at it

FLS Workshop, Ashton Gate Stadium

On March 11, a very successful workshop was held at Bristol’s Ashton Gate stadium. The theme was ‘Taking control of emotion in sport, business and the military’. Frank Dick and Claire-Marie Roberts gave inspiring presentations on the subject, Frank basing his more on practical experience and Claire-Marie on research in the field. Their talks led to a great deal of discussion among the delegates.

A discussion panel, comprising sporting Internationals Eboni Usoru-Brown and Elenor Snowsill, plus Lt Col Justin Baker, Mark Evans and Gordon Lord provided fresh insight based on their own experiences.

Recordings of the workshop will appear in the members secure section of this website.

Annual FLS Conference

The annual FLS conference, held in conjunction with Loughborough University London, took place at Twickenham on November 6th.

The theme ‘Turning followers into leaders’ proved to be of great interest to a wide range of members and others. David Marquet, whose book, ‘Turn the ship around’ has been a worldwide best-seller, came over specially from the USA, and enthralled the audience with his experiences in turning a ‘failing’ submarine into the best performing vessel in the US Navy. The discussion panel that followed provided excellent conversation involving Richard Hytner and leaders from sport, business and the military.

The afternoon was equally interesting. James Kerr, author of ‘Legacy- Lessons on Leadership from the All Blacks’ provided insight into what he learned having spent a long period in the company of the most successful sports team in history.

Clips from the conference can be seen on the FLS Resources - Videos page, with more comprehensive coverage in the secure members section.

FLS - Loughborough Conference

'HOT OFF THE PRESS’
The annual FLS conference at Loughborough University in London will be held on November 6. The theme will be ‘Turning followers into leaders’, and the main contributor will be someone who has written perhaps the most interesting book on leadership in recent years, David Marquet. ‘Turn the Ship Around’, about his time as Captain of the US Nuclear submarine, is one of the best detailed examples of leadership under pressure. The conference will address how David’s experience might help in changing the leader-follower relationships in sport. More information will be released by the end of August.

LORDS CRICKET GROUND

Rod talked about his time at British Airways and how leaders have to be able to deal with pressure, not least that cause by unanticipated events. His account of how major decisions had to be made on 9/11 with planes in the air heading for North America was compelling. He used one pertinent example to remind us how important it is to acknowledge and respect people at all times and at all levels. When many B A planes were diverted to Newfoundland on that fateful day, there were hundreds of people potentially stranded at a military airfield. Local residents took people in and cared for them. Rod told us that he personally wrote to everyone who had helped in this way- a slightly different take on leadership, but hugely important.

The discussion group that followed Rod’s talk included James Kerr (author of ‘Legacy’ about the All Blacks), Maj Justin Baker (i/c Army Leadership programme), Helen Weir (CFO Marks and Spencer), and former Army Chief of Staff, Gen Sir Peter Wall.

This was followed by a group discussing the business of sport, led by Simon Halliday (Chairman of European Rugby) and including Rob Andrew (CEO Sussex CCC), Richard Bevan (CEO Football League managers Association), Mark Evans (Former CEO of Harlequins Rugby Union and Melbourne Storm Rugby League, now Chair of netball Super League), Polly Handford (Legal and Governance Director, Football Association) and Bill Sweeney (CEO British Olympic Association).
Finally, those attending were involved in a fascinating discussion about the changing world of sport from a playing and coaching point of view.  Fascinating contributions were made by Alastair Hignell (ex County cricket and International rugby), Frank Dick (Former GB Athletics Head Coach), Gordn Lord ( RFU Coach development manager), James Farndon (performance adviser, UKSport) and former England cricketers, Vic Marks and Chris Tavare.

Such a high-powered group of people was bound to produce important and meaningful debate, as indeed it transpired. Brief highlights can be seen here, with the whole workshop available in the members only section of this FLS website.