Jacksonville Jaguars

Performance Psychologist

Toronto Tempo

Advisor

Momentum Labs

Co-Founder and CEO

ReGen Ventures

Advisor on Human Potential

evio.vc

Advisor and Performance Psychologist

Founder Mental Health Pledge

Chief Medical Officer

Athletic Intelligence Measures, LLC

Business Consultant

Toronto Raptors Basketball Club Inc.

Sr. Director, Wellness & Development

Director of Wellness and Development

University of Arizona

Director, Clinical and Sport Psychology

Assistant Director, Clinical and Sport Psychology

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Doctoral Psychology Intern

Performance psychologist & Coach working with the world's best performers | Applying the principles and practices of elite sport to everyday health and high performance.

If you want athletic dominance, higher performance, and consistent financial success…

You need to learn the blueprint to unlocking the unfair advantage every top performer shares:

For over 10 years I’ve studied the DNA of elite performance.

I discovered a secret the best athletes & Founders share that allows them to reliably perform at their peak (without burning out or taking drugs)…

This ONE similarity gives them an unfair advantage.

It’s NOT:

- Their network
- Their physique or diet
- Their skills or knowledge

All of these ARE important… but they won’t save you.

I’ve seen pro athletes with poor diets, or successful executives without a large network…

There’s only ONE trait every single successful performer has:

They are “high-agency”.

High-agency individuals:

- Act more than they analyze
- Take responsibility for everything
- Focus on growth instead of achievement
- Control and direct their internal narrative
- Never doubt themselves, only their performance

I’ve never seen someone get to the top without this trait…

You don’t have to be the smartest, most gifted, or hardest worker.

But you do have to flip a switch.

When you flip this switch, nobody can dent your confidence or slow you down.

How do I know this?

I’m a certified mental performance consultant & board-certified sports coach. Over the past 10+ years, I’ve worked with the NBA, NFL, Olympians, Army Special Forces, Fortune 5 Companies & Venture-Backed Startups.

Here’s what people say about me:

"Alex is one of the best in the game. His ability to dive deep and explain this is next level. By going through his training, not only did I make massive improvements in my professional life (income and performance), but also benefits in my personal life." — Kevin KD Dorsey, #1 LinkedIn Sales Influencer

"Alex has worked directly with some of the world's most elite athletes. Combined with his deep expertise in human psychology, he's seen first-hand what it takes for someone to perform at the elite level while maintaining their health and sanity." — Andy Johns, Venture Advisor; Former VP of Growth - Twitter, Facebook.

Want to learn more about high performance?

Reach out and connect.

(𝘋𝘰𝘯’𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘳𝘦𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘤𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘮𝘺 𝘍𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘴𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯)…

MLB players working with sport psychologists average 2 more years as pros.

That could be $9.96 million extra in career earnings, just from training their mind.

Now here's the question most practitioners never ask themselves:

If mental training adds $10 million to an athlete's career, what does YOUR ongoing development add to yours?

Most sport psychologists and mental performance coaches obsess over their clients' progress. They track every session metric, read every new study, document every intervention.

But when it comes to their own development…they wing it.

And I know this as I used to be the same early in my career.

No peer consultation on tough cases. No regular feedback on their interventions. No structured learning from people who've solved the problems they're facing.

They assume they should just know what to do.

After working with practitioners across professional and college sports, I've noticed something:

The difference between good practitioners and great ones isn't technical knowledge. It's not even client results (though those follow).

Great practitioners have built ongoing development into their systems.

They don't wait until they're second-guessing every intervention to ask for help and they don't treat their own growth as optional.

They treat their development exactly like they tell their clients to treat theirs: systematic, consistent, and supported.

If mental training could be worth $10 million to an athlete's career, investing in your own development isn't optional. 

It's fundamental.

I'm opening 10 spots this month in the High-Performance Circle for experienced sport psychologists, mental performance coaches, and allied professionals who are ready to treat their own development with the same rigor they expect from their clients.

Weekly sessions with committed practitioners, expert guidance from leaders in the field, and real feedback on your actual client work.

If you're done grinding in isolation, DM me "CIRCLE."

Alex Auerbach Ph.D.

Sharing insights from psychology to help you live better and unlock your Performance DNA. Based on my work with NBA, NFL, Elite Military Units, and VC

The Eagles went from Super Bowl favorites to playoff disasters in 5 weeks.

They made one critical mistake I see in leadership teams all the time: 

They stopped playing to win, and started playing “not to lose.”

This is a psychological phenomenon called avoidance motivation.

When you're motivated to avoid a particular outcome, your behavior is guided by fear.

Fear makes you tight, and starts to restrict your focus. It directs your attention toward threats instead of opportunities.

Plus, avoidance can easily overload you. It doesn't tell you what TO do, it tells you what NOT to do. The range of things to avoid is infinite. The range of things to accomplish is narrow and specific.

When you tell players "don't make mistakes," you haven't told them what to do. You've just activated a vigilance system that's exhausting to maintain. Every decision becomes about threat detection instead of execution.

Under pressure, this collapses entirely. The cognitive load of constantly scanning for what NOT to do drains the mental resources you need most when the game is on the line.

But the real damage happens at the leadership level.

When leaders motivate through avoidance, they can't convey clear objectives. People stop knowing what success looks like because everyone's focused on what failure looks like.

Task conflicts turn into relationship conflicts; Disagreements about how to do things become disagreements about people.

Luckily, the alternative isn't complicated.

Playing to win means orienting people toward what you want them to accomplish. Not what you want them to avoid.

It means providing clarity about standards and what success looks like. When people know what TO do, they can execute. When they only know what NOT to do, they freeze.

It means keeping a positive attitude even after loss. Identify what can be improved, ten focus on winning the next game. Not on not losing.

Life is a game you should always play to win.

Army Rangers taught me a mental tool that eliminates panic under pressure.

I was at Fort Bragg during live demolition training.

Watching them take explosives into simulated building entries.

Under those conditions, you can't be half in. And you definitely can't afford to panic when something goes sideways.

One Ranger told me: "We don't hope nothing goes wrong. We have a plan for when it does."

That's the difference between elite performers and everyone else.

Most people prepare for things going right. Elite performers prepare for things going wrong.

The tool is called mental contrasting with implementation intentions. I've taught this same framework to executives before board presentations, athletes before championships, and founders before investor pitches.

Here's how it works:

Step 1: Think about a high-stakes event coming up.

Step 2: List every challenge you might actually face. Be specific. Don't sugarcoat it.

E.g. For a big presentation: screen doesn't work, mic cuts out, tough question you can't answer, key stakeholder walks out mid-pitch.

Step 3: Write down exactly what you'll do if each one happens. Turn them into if-then statements.

"If the screen doesn't work, then I'll use my written outline and engage the room directly."

"If I get a question I can't answer, then I'll say 'That's a great question. Let me get back to you with a thoughtful answer rather than speculate.'"

Do this for every obstacle you can anticipate, and something shifts.

I worked with a CEO preparing for his Series A pitch. He was anxious, rehearsing the perfect version over and over.

We stopped practicing the perfect pitch. We started practicing what happens when things break.

What if an investor interrupts with a hostile question? What if the demo fails? What if they push back on your valuation?

He walked into that pitch room having already "been there" mentally for every scenario. When an investor did challenge his numbers aggressively, he didn't freeze. He'd already planned for it.

He closed the round.

Here's what the research shows: mental contrasting significantly improves goal achievement because it accounts for reality instead of ignoring it.

Anxiety comes from uncertainty and surprise. When you've mentally rehearsed the obstacle, it's no longer a surprise. The moment feels familiar instead of terrifying.

Most founders and executives spend 100% of their prep time on the ideal scenario. That's why they panic when reality doesn't cooperate.

Elite performers spend at least 30% of prep time on adversity planning.

Here's the challenge: 

- Pick one high-stakes moment in the next two weeks.

- List three things that could go wrong. Write your if-then plan for each one.

You'll walk in feeling different than you ever have before.

Try it out and DM me, let me know how it goes!

Working harder won't make you better.

A 1989 study on Olympic swimmers showed what actually does:

Sociologist Daniel Chambliss published "The Mundanity of Excellence," a multi-year study of competitive swimmers from local leagues to Olympic finalists.

His finding challenges everything most people believe about performance:

No amount of extra work will transform a "C" swimmer into an "AAAA" swimmer without a qualitative change in how that work is done.

The top swimmers didn't do more. They did different.

Chambliss identified three qualitative shifts that separate elite performers from everyone else:

→ Changes in technique (stroke efficiency, mechanics, micro-adjustments coached in real time)
→ Shifts in discipline and mindset (treating mundane details as sacred—bedtimes, warm-ups, pacing)
→ New environments (joining faster teams, training with people at a higher level, better coaches)

Without these shifts, swimmers hit plateaus.

I see this exact pattern with every founder who comes to me stuck.

Many high performers believe that more hours, more hustle, more volume will create the breakthrough.

But Chambliss's research – later reinforced by Anders Ericsson's work on deliberate practice– tells us something different.

As Ericsson put it: "The belief that a sufficient amount of experience or practice leads to maximal performance appears incorrect."

I worked with a CEO who was stuck at $5M ARR for 18 months. We didn't change his work ethic. We changed his decision-making framework, his team structure, and who he was learning from.

He hit $10M within 6 months.

This is what I see constantly: high performers stuck at a performance ceiling, grinding harder but getting the same results.

Chambliss called this the "mundanity of excellence" – greatness doesn't come from heroic intensity. It comes from consistent execution of qualitatively different actions.

When you're stuck, working harder at what you're already doing won't unstick you.
You need to change the conditions.

Here's what qualitative change actually looks like:

→ For founders: Stop taking every meeting that comes your way. Start ruthlessly protecting time for strategic thinking. Change your peer group entirely.
→ For executives: Stop being the person who fixes everything. Start building leaders who can execute without you in the room.
→ For teams: Stop rewarding only outcomes. Start creating space where experimentation and calculated failure are part of the process.

The breakthrough isn't on the other side of more hours.

It's on the other side of doing something fundamentally different.

What's one thing you've been grinding on that might need a qualitative change instead of more effort?

Present time with family is an investment in future performance.

Research backs this up:

Leaders who practice self-care have higher-performing, more engaged teams. When you model wellness, your team learns to do the same.

But here's the trap most high performers fall into...

You get home late, and miss bedtime. Then you spend tomorrow kicking yourself for it, which distracts you from the work you're supposed to be doing.

You've created the exact problem you were trying to avoid.

The solution is very, very simple: Go home. Put your kids to bed. Enjoy it.

Then tomorrow, you won't have to waste mental energy on regret.

This weekend, instead of powering through, create space for real present time with the people you love.

It’s the best win-win investment you can make.

Have a great Saturday!

What if hiring the “best” person for the job is actually the wrong decision?

Here's what the NBA and MLB can teach you about hiring high performers:

Research on NBA teams reveals when teams require high interdependence, more talent can actually tear them apart.

But most founders miss this and try to pack all their teams with A players.

The reality is that too many dominant individuals don't just coexist peacefully. They create disputes over authority and status that undermine team performance.

As a result, people start jostling for attention and influence rather than focusing on outcomes. In extreme cases, team members will actively undermine each other to advance their own standing.

Here's the fascinating part: researchers found the too-much-talent effect in basketball, but not in baseball.

The difference lies in interdependence.

Basketball requires constant fluid coordination. Baseball players mostly perform individually, then hand off to the next person.

When your work requires people to constantly coordinate and adapt together, too much dominant talent becomes toxic.

Studies show that reduced cooperation and coordination explain why high-talent teams underperform. The rate of additional talent benefit decreases much faster than people believe.

Translation for founders: the COO who crushed it at their last company might be the reason your exec team can't make decisions anymore.

Instead of just hiring "the best," consider:

→ Does this person's dominance profile fit our team's existing composition?
→ How much fluid coordination does this role actually require?
→ Are we accidentally creating status competition where we need collaboration?

The goal is to build teams where talent serves coordination rather than competing with it.

If you're a founder or executive struggling with team dynamics despite having exceptional talent, DM me and let's talk about what's actually happening under the surface.

The Jaguars lost in London.

But the 5 days we had in the hotel were one of the most valuable investments of our season.

Two weeks ago, the Jaguars played at Wembley. For the players, this was the only time all year they'd be stuck together for 120 straight hours.

Most organizations don't get opportunities like this. And when they do, they waste them.

When you can't escape to your routine, you have to figure out how to coexist; our team learned how to share their space and their time, which built huge bonds.

This “stick-together” mentality isn’t just a fun, kumbaya thing. 

Research shows that being near a high performer can raise your performance by 15%. Likewise, being near a low performer can damage it by 30%. 

If proximity alone can increase performance that much, creating intentional conditions where people actually influence each other compounds that power. 

We came out of London with that stick-together foundation. Which matters, because we needed it during the game itself.

(More on what happened when pressure hit in the next post - different lessons there about execution under stress.)

Most corporate retreats miss this completely. You do a quarterly offsite, check the team-building box, and everyone returns to their silos the next day.

What actually works:

→ Give your team committed time where they can't default to usual patterns

→ Design for depth over breadth: one real conversation beats ten networking activities

→ Create shared challenges that require actual collaboration, not meaningless trust falls

You probably won't get five days. But you might get 48 hours. The question is whether you'll use them to build something real or just check a box.

Your team already knows the difference.

P.S. If you’re interested in an in-depth breakdown of the 19 principles for high performance that I’ve developed by working with NBA and NFL players for nearly a decade, I’ll be sharing a full rundown in my newsletter tomorrow.

Want that sent straight to your inbox?

Subscribe using the link in the comments and you’ll also receive a free copy of The High Performance Playbook 👇

Harsh high-performance truth:

You can’t seek balance AND seek excellence.

If you want to be great, there will always be sacrifice involved.

8 other harsh high-performance truths that took me 10 years to learn:

1. There's no substitute for hard work

The best NBA shooters still miss 60% of their shots. Jordan attributed his success to the thousands of shots he missed. Excellence requires years of sustained effort, not hacks or shortcuts.

2. You probably won't learn from your failures

Science shows that learning from failure is actually incredibly hard, as our egos protect us. The solution isn't obvious when we fail; we only learn what not to do. Most people mistake anxiety about failure for actual learning.

3. You cannot build complete self-awareness alone

No matter how introspective you are, you're blind to your own impact. You need feedback from peers, subordinates, and mentors. Yes, it's uncomfortable, but self-awareness requires seeing yourself through others' eyes.

4. You can’t perform if you aren’t well

Mental and physical wellness isn't optional. After 126 days of 5:30am to 11pm work, I learned that human potential isn't limitless. It can suck at the outer limits of your capacity.

5. Learning styles are a myth

The idea that people have unique "learning styles" (visual, auditory, kinesthetic) has zero scientific credibility. You've been lied to. People don't fit into four neat buckets, and matching "learning style" to presentation doesn't improve outcomes. 

6. Excellence requires sacrifice

If you want to be truly great at something, you have to be willing to sacrifice. You can have balance, but you won't achieve excellence in anything. Greatness isn't for everyone, and that's okay. Just be honest about what you actually want.

7. Most people are cognitively biased and don't realize it

We all engage in mental gymnastics to confirm what we already believe. We scan for information that fits our worldview and discredit everything else. To break out of it, you need to be aware of it.

8. Hustle culture is as stupid as avoiding hard work

Working 80-hour weeks makes you inefficient, but so does avoiding difficulty entirely. The answer isn't more or less. It's finding your own individualized formula.

Great performers accept these truths, while decent performers ignore them.

There’s a reason why so few achieve excellence, and that’s because it’s uncomfortable.

So if greatness is your goal, ask yourself: What truth are you avoiding?

I saw a coach nearly destroy his team's culture with one very common mistake:

Certain times call for specific psychological environments. But most just build one and get stuck there.

In this case, the coach tried to maintain the same psychological environment during the championship run that they'd built during the regular season.

Players couldn't execute under pressure, leaders second-guessed every decision, and the organization crumbled when the stakes got too real.

Some organizations believe that you can run high-performance environments the same way all the time… but you can’t.

Functional development environments need specific conditions: 

→ Focus on development over current performance

→ Emphasis on effort over talent

→ Room for mistakes and error

→ Clear values that are lived daily

But when these environments transition into performance mode, the rules change.

That’s because these performance environments (championships, high-stakes presentations, other make-or-break decisions) have consequences:

→ You can lose your job
→ You can lose your role
→ You can let the entire team down

High-performing environments are rarely "safe" in the traditional sense. 

The mistake most often made is trying to maintain development-level conditions during championship moments. 

They want the same "safe space to experiment" energy when what's actually needed is clarity, accountability, and execution.

The best organizations I've worked with toggle between modes intentionally. 

The key is being explicit about which mode you're in. Don't pretend the championship game feels the same as practice.

Your team doesn't need you to eliminate pressure. 

They need you to prepare them for it, then give them permission to execute when it matters most.

For years I’ve studied why first-round NFL picks fail. 

Most hiring processes I’ve seen have the same major flaw:

You’re asking the wrong questions.

NFL teams used to focus on one thing: 

Physical ability. Can this player throw? Can they run? Can they catch?

Turns out, that's not why players fail. They fail because they can't handle the mental demands and team dynamics that present themselves in high-stress environments.

Companies make the identical mistake.

Question 1: "Is this person talented?”

You’re on the right track, but this is a flawed approach. 

Talent is contextual; it depends on the ENVIRONMENT the person is placed into.

The "A-player" you’re hiring with experience working with a huge competitor might be a C-player on your team.

The right question: Will this person’s talent integrate well into our environment?

Question 2: "Can they execute the work required for this role?”

The truth is, if you’re already considering them for the role, they CAN execute. And any hard skills they lack can be improved upon over time.

But their psychological fitness is what makes or breaks their position in your company.

If you're not assessing stress tolerance, motivation, and how someone handles feedback, you're gambling.

The right question: "Can they handle the mental load required for this role?"

Question 3: “Do they fill in this position perfectly?”

Championship teams don't just draft the best available talent. They draft for how that player will DEVELOP over 3-5 years and how they fit with the team they're building.

Sometimes you need someone who will challenge the culture, not fit perfectly into it. That friction might be exactly what you need.

The right question: "How will this person evolve with our team?"

Every founder has lived through the disappointment of hiring someone who looks great on paper and then letting them go six months down the line.

You probably told yourself it was on them: "They just weren't a good fit.”

But in reality, the evaluation process and its errors are what caused the mismatch.

See, championship teams don’t have magical access to better talent. They have better systems for evaluating who will actually succeed in their specific environment.

They collect multiple data points over time. They assess psychology with the same rigor as physical ability. They think about team composition, not just individual talent.

And they're patient enough to get it right, even when it's uncomfortable or tedious.

Your next hire doesn't need to be perfect.

But your process for evaluating them needs to be better than a 10-second impression and a one-hour interview.

The gap between good practitioners and great ones isn't technical knowledge.

It's having a system for continuous development.

Premier League coach Eddie Howe spent 12 years at Bournemouth "working, reacting, planning, preparing...but not investing in myself."

His conclusion: "I hadn't really learned anything. I had to take a year out to learn the game again."

That's what happens without it.

You plateau. Start second-guessing your interventions. Can't consistently replicate your best sessions. Work in isolation with no one to reality-check your thinking.

After working with practitioners across professional and college sports, I've seen this pattern clearly.

Great practitioners:
→ Get regular feedback on their actual client work (not just theory)
→ Have peers who can reality-check their thinking in real-time
→ Learn from experts across different disciplines
→ Build relationships with people who've solved the problems they're facing

They don't wait until they're burned out to invest in themselves.

They've built development into their weekly routine. It shows in their confidence and their client results.

And that’s exactly why I created the High-Performance Circle – a community that provides consistent development.

Weekly sessions with committed practitioners, expert guidance from leaders in the field, and real feedback on your systems and strategies – the kind of ongoing development and support that should be standard, but isn't.

I'm opening 10 spots in November for experienced sport psychologists, mental performance coaches, and allied professionals.

This is for practitioners who are serious about their craft and ready to invest in their own growth at the same level they expect from their clients.

If you're ready to build development into your routine instead of hoping you figure it out on your own, DM me "CIRCLE."

Think you “don’t have time” to rest for an entire day?

Then don’t. Just take 15 minutes.

You can start small: 

→ 10-minute walks between meetings
→ 15-minute power naps on Saturday
→ 5 minutes of breathing before bed

You might not think it matters, but I swear it changes everything.

Here's what research shows: 

Micro-recovery is often as effective as long breaks.

So really, your issue isn't time. It's the belief that recovery has to be elaborate to count.

This weekend, try one 15-minute block doing something that restores you.

That's it. See what happens.

Have a great weekend!

Every coach I know wants to be “evidence-based”.

The problem is, most don’t have time to stay current on the evidence.

Here's what actually happens…

You're managing 15-20 clients, writing notes, and navigating team politics. If a new study drops on autonomy and performance, you’ll just bookmark it and tell yourself you'll read it this weekend.

…but you never do.

Three months later, you're working with an athlete on motivation and you can't remember if that research was relevant or just another theoretical paper.

Meanwhile, you're second-guessing your intervention because you genuinely don't know if what you're doing aligns with the latest evidence.

And here's another problem few talk openly about…

You spent years learning how to cite research, but zero hours learning how to price your services, position your expertise, or build a sustainable practice.

You can help a founder overcome performance anxiety in 8 weeks, but just sit staring blankly at your screen when it comes to building your revenue model.

These types of problems are exactly why I built the High-Performance Circle.

It’s almost impossible to stay on top of all the cutting-edge research out there without a community of like minded professionals.

The Circle also covers pricing strategies, positioning frameworks, and client acquisition. AKA, all the business skills you actually need for your practice to thrive.

This is what graduate schools should provide, but can't.

I've still got a few spots left this month for experienced sport psychologists, mental performance coaches, and allied professionals.

If you’re interested in getting started DM me "CIRCLE," or if you’d like access to some of the free resources I have then message me as well!

I've coached NBA players and startup founders for 15+ years. 

These 10 habits separate high performers from everyone else:

1. 7-8 hours of sleep, every night

Sleep is the number one performance enhancer. There's no substitute. When you're sleep-deprived, your brain tricks you into thinking you're functioning well when you're not. 

2. Build short pre-performance routines

Routines create predictability and control. The key is keeping them short and simple, as long routines give your mind time to wander and doubt.

3. Practice 2-12 minutes of mindfulness daily

Mindfulness clears your mind, but it also trains your attention. Each time your mind wanders and you bring it back, that's two mental reps: strengthening your ability to stay present when it matters most.

4. Use mental rehearsal before big moments

Your brain can't always tell the difference between imagining an action and actually doing it. Elite performers see themselves executing perfectly in vivid detail. 

5. Journal after performances

Use three questions:

→ What did I do today that I want to keep doing?
→ What do I want to do differently?
→ What did I learn?

This turns every performance into data for the next one.

6. Reframe stress as fuel, not a threat

Stress is your brain preparing you to do something effortful. Acknowledge it, welcome it, then use it. High performers who see stress as enhancing consistently outperform those who see it as debilitating.

7. Double down on your strengths

Most people obsess over fixing weaknesses. Elite performers identify their signature strengths and engineer their roles around them. 

8. Practice controlled breathing

Box breathing, 4-7-8 breathing, physiological sighs: Pick one and practice it everywhere, not just in high-pressure moments. When the stakes are highest, you need it to be automatic.

9. Focus only on what you can control

Identify the controllables in every situation, and release everything else. This is how you direct your energy toward what actually moves the needle.

10. Treat recovery as an investment

Elite performers are strategic about rest. They know that grinding without recovery doesn't make you tougher, it makes you worse when you need your strength the most.

The truth about high performance is that it’s fundamentally boring.

It's about doing the basics better than everyone else, more consistently, for longer.

Save this post, and choose one of these habits to start implementing tomorrow.

Let me know if you start seeing a difference!

10 Top Habits of High Performers

When was the last time you actually engaged in PLAY?

For most of us, the answer is probably uncomfortable. 

We've systematically removed play from our lives in the name of productivity.

Throughout our childhood, time for play gets reduced incrementally.

Then we reach adulthood and glorify grinding and wear exhaustion like a badge of honor.

But here's what the research actually shows:

Play is a primary technique for decreasing burnout.

It brings about full presence and immersion. It happens in an unstressed, creative state that's guided by what matters most to us. It restores our mental and physical energy.

Ironically, play facilitates the exact things that make us more productive: deep learning and rejuvenation.

Singing in the shower, playing with your kids, these “unproductive” activities are actually fuel for excellence.

We can't afford, energetically, to be serious all the time.

So this weekend, give yourself permission to play. 

No need to “earn” it. Just play!

Most teams die at the same predictable stage.

After working with teams across the NBA, NFL, and Fortune 500 companies, I've watched it happen over and over.

It's not lack of talent. It's not poor strategy.

It's that they hit conflict and either exploded or retreated into comfortable mediocrity.

Bruce Tuckman mapped this pattern in 1965, and it's held up ever since. Teams move through five stages, and most never make it past stage two.

Here's what happens:

Forming - Everyone's polite. People are figuring out roles, purpose, and who's actually in charge. Nobody wants to rock the boat yet.

Storming - This is where most teams die. Conflict emerges. Power struggles begin. Uncomfortable truths surface about who's actually pulling their weight.

The teams that survive this stage do something counterintuitive: they lean into the discomfort instead of avoiding it.

I worked with an executive team that was stuck here for eight months. Passive-aggressive Slack messages. Meeting after the meeting. Nobody saying what they actually thought.

We didn't fix it by teaching them to "get along better." We created structured conflict. Safe space to disagree directly. Clear expectations that avoiding hard conversations was now the bigger problem.

Within six weeks, they moved through to the next stage.

Norming - Roles clarify. Collaboration improves. Standards get set. The team starts to feel like an actual team.

This is where most "good" teams stop. It feels comfortable. But comfort is the enemy of excellence.

Performing - This is where real breakthroughs happen. The team operates with trust, efficiency, and collective ownership. They can handle ambiguity and adapt without falling apart.

Getting here requires refusing to settle for the equilibrium of Norming.

The research backs this up: teams that successfully move through all stages perform better and sustain that performance longer.

But here's what the research doesn't tell you—what leaders actually need to do at each stage:

→ In Forming: Over-communicate purpose and roles. Create clarity before it's comfortable.

→ In Storming: Don't smooth over conflict. Create structured ways to surface disagreement. Make it safe to be direct.

→ In Norming: Don't let the team get too comfortable. Keep raising the standard. Introduce new challenges.

→ In Performing: Protect the conditions that got you here. Watch for regression when stress increases.

Most leaders think great teams just happen when you put talented people together.

They don't.

Great teams are built by leaders who understand that conflict isn't a sign of dysfunction—it's a required stage of development.

Where is your team right now, and what's one thing you could do to move them forward?

5 Stages of Team Development

How to have a champion mindset:

(A story about Roger Federer and his dentist)

The key lesson is: Your environment can kill your ambition before you even notice.

And a champion like Roger Federer makes no exceptions – even his dentist!

The story goes…

His dentist asked what he was up to. "I'm playing tennis," Federer said.

"Okay, what else?" the dentist pressed. "That's it?! Just tennis?!"

That was it. Federer never went back.

Sounds a bit dramatic at face value, but if you want to be great at something this lesson is so important.

Federer’s take:

"I felt like he's not really understanding what I'm trying to do here. I'm chasing a dream. I'm trying to aim for the stars, and he's trying to pull me back. I don't want to be surrounded by people like this.”

Focusing on your skills and execution is highly important. But you can’t ignore the people around you who are either building and growing with you or slowly eroding your foundation.

When the people around you question your commitment, minimize your ambition, or fail to grasp what you're building, they're actively making it harder for you to do your best work.

They don’t mean to necessarily, but they’re simply not aligned with your mission.

The erosion happens slowly. A comment here, a question there:

"Are you sure?" "What's your backup plan?" "Isn't that risky?”

Each one chips away at your belief.

This may seem obvious when it comes to sports, but the same applies for any endeavour – especially in business where building support systems around individuals isn’t as common.

Three questions to evaluate your support system:

→ Who around you genuinely understands what you're trying to accomplish?
→ When things get hard, who amplifies your belief rather than your doubt?
→ Are the people closest to you creating conditions that make high performance more likely, or less?

Champions don't get there alone; they get there by being ruthless about who they bring along for the ride.

Federer won 20 Grand Slams by protecting his environment and surrounding himself with the right team.

If you’re reaching for greatness, choose who you surround yourself with carefully.

P.S. On a similar topic of creating champion environments... 

Tomorrow I'm sending my email list a breakdown of how to build high-performance teams and my surprising answer to the question: "Can you have TOO much talent?"

*Hint: the answer isn't no.

If you'd like that breakdown from my PhD research and my time at the Toronto Raptors sent directly to your inbox then sign up here: https://lnkd.in/gXB_FJ9K

(You'll also receive my High Performance Playbook for free)

Everyone's grinding hard in Q4.

But that might be why your team is falling short.

From my experience, when pressure increases, teams don't actually get better at execution. They get worse.

Here's the pattern I see everywhere, especially in Q4:

→ Sales teams behind quota add new sequences, campaigns, messaging angles
→ Founders suddenly say yes to opportunities they would've passed on in Q2
→ Product teams sprint to ship features that weren't priorities last month

None of it moves the needle.

Under pressure, your brain looks for control. But it looks in the wrong places.

You start obsessing over things you can't control – market timing, economic conditions, factors completely outside your influence.

Or you start adding random new tactics instead of executing the fundamentals that actually work.

In sports, I see teams fixate on weather, travel schedules, referee assignments – things completely outside their control.

Meanwhile, the basics that determine outcomes get less attention: practice quality, recovery routines, game preparation.

Your Q4 scramble works the same way.

When outcomes feel uncertain, your brain defaults to "doing something"…anything…because activity registers as progress even when it's not.

Adding a new campaign feels productive. Pivoting strategy feels decisive. Saying yes to every opportunity feels like momentum.

But busy isn't the same as effective.

Here's what actually works when pressure hits:

Audit Q1-Q3: What were you doing when pressure was lower? When you were hitting targets, what fundamentals were in place?

Identify your distractions: What are you fixating on that you can't control? What new tactics are you adding that weren't part of your original plan?

Recommit to fundamentals: What core behaviors actually drive your outcomes? Double down on those instead of inventing new ones.

Resist novelty bias: New approaches feel productive but rarely deliver in the time remaining. Execution beats innovation when the clock is running out.

Build forcing functions: Create systems that keep you focused on what matters. When pressure hits, you default to whatever structure you've already built.

As pressure ramps up, the answer isn't finding new things to do. It's getting more disciplined about executing what already works so when you find the needle-movers…

Lock-in on those and remove all other distractions.

What's one thing you need to stop doing in Q4 so you can execute better on what matters?

How to dominate Q4

Your team performs differently when the stakes are high.

Here's what I observed when pressure hit the Jaguars in Las Vegas:

Our quarterback woke up sick on game day, and we turned the ball over early.

We were down 10-0 with 30 seconds left in the first half.

When adversity hits, most teams shift from offense to defense. The mental energy goes to what's wrong instead of what needs to happen next.

We did the opposite: Stayed laser-focused on what we could control.

The team kicked a record-setting field goal right before halftime. That momentum shift was real, but it only mattered because of what came next:

Everyone locked into their individual execution. There was no blaming, and no-second guessing. That's what carried us to an overtime win.

Pressure reveals where your team's focus lives. When it's on uncontrollables, performance drops regardless of talent.

Before high-pressure moments, winning teams are already clear on execution priorities. During those moments, they trust the plan instead of abandoning it.

There are simple ways to help realign in those moments:

→ Before high-pressure moments, audit where mental energy is going. Are you discussing execution (what you'll do) or anxiety (what might happen)?

→ Notice the language shift. "Execute X, Y, Z" versus "What if they do X?" One is offensive, one is defensive.

→ Build forcing functions that redirect focus to controllables. Routines and systems that pull attention back to execution.

Adversity doesn't determine outcomes. Your team's ability to stay focused on what they can control does.

Where does your team's focus go when pressure increases?

The psychology mistake that makes criticism useless (and what works instead):

Most people default to destructive criticism because it takes no effort to criticize something.

It's cognitively lazy. They point out what's wrong, feel smart, move on.

I had an executive come to me frustrated with a team member. His original assertion was that this person was “bad” because he didn't like the way they handled one failure.

Instead of letting him stay stuck on that one thing he didn't like, we shifted focus to the actual issues behind the error. Because that's how you get better.

Any time you think a negative thought about someone else's character, you should look for alternative explanations.

If Susie makes a mistake in an email, instead of assuming Susie is incompetent, try to look for five possible reasons. 

Maybe Susie's tired, or she was rushed, or her dog is sick and she's distracted.

When you start to generate other possibilities, you start to get realistic.

There’s a system I teach that makes this automatic:

1. Force yourself to ask five questions before you make a statement.
2. Search for five things this person did well before sharing criticism.

When you lead with what's working, people's defenses drop. They become receptive to feedback instead of defensive about attacks.

Great leaders see what could be better and build toward that vision.

Destructive criticism protects your ego. Constructive feedback elevates everyone.

Real contrarian thinking creates what's right.

What's your experience with giving feedback that actually motivates instead of deflates?

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