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.