The Winning Mindset

Book excerpt: In The Winning Mindset, Professor Damian Hughes, the acclaimed author of Liquid Thinking and How to Think Like Sir Alex Ferguson, draws on both his lifetime experience and academic background within sport, organization and change psychology to reveal the best ways to create a winning mindset in both personal and professional life. Having worked with some of the top teams in the UK, and watched some of the best coaches in the country at work, Hughes distils the five keys principles that separate the best coaches and teams from the rest: Simplicity; Tripwires; Emotions; Practical; Stories: STEPS. The role of a sports-team leader is fascinating, complex and tough. Fantasy football leagues may convince us that success is all about buying players and selecting a team. In reality, it is about creating winning environments – recruiting, developing and nurturing talent, effectively communicating a shared vision with a diverse collection of individuals, delivering on enormous expectations from a range of stakeholders, overcoming significant challenges, handling pressure and staying focused throughout: a set of challenges familiar to leaders in all sectors.