Talking Toughness

BRINGING THE MENTAL TOUGHNESS CONCEPT TO LIFE IN THE ANTIPODES

Today's guest, Paul Lyons, should be familiar to many. Paul is already one of the most prominent advocates of the mental toughness concept with a major social media presence on this important topic. He is also very familiar to both hosts having worked closely with AQR International for many years now.

Paul has been instrumental in making practitioners, of all types, in the region aware of the mental toughness concept and the MTQPlus measure and supporting them to incorporate these into their work in developing people and organisations. As an expert Executive coach Paul has also been able to incorporate this into his own work.

Both sources of experience has made Paul a valuable resource for AQR in the continuing development of these key concepts. Paul is an important member of the Global Mental Toughness Advisory Board.

In this session Paul describes elements of his life which led him to understand and appreciate the value of mental toughness. These are events which will be familiar to many and will illustrate how resilience combined with positivity can help all to thrive and achieve contentment. Paul shares this generously with disarming honesty.

John and I find that all of our podcasts are enjoyable and illuminating. This one especially so.

Our guest for this first episode of a two-parter is Ron Duren. As well as being a Prof at the University of Colorado Boulder, Ron has founded Forging Mettle Inc., a US based consultancy whose mission is to help others to "forge a culture of strength".

As might be gleaned from the name of the consultancy, Ron is an engineer by background and is an advocate of the mental toughness concept. For many years Ron was also a semi-professional baseball player.

This enables Ron to bring a valuable perspective to the idea that we can all be "the best version of ourselves that we can be" … and all that this means for performance and wellbeing.

In this episode we explore, with Ron, the idea that you can be "uncommon" - this unique version of you. An idea that matters to us – we are not a type or a label. We are all different and we are all unique.

Ron has forged his approach over many years and is now able to express his thoughts and his ideas with amazing clarity.

Listen and Learn.

Our very special guest is Brent MacDonald, one of Canada's leading psychologist practitioners is a registered psychologist and educator who has worked with individuals with complex learning need for over 25 years.

Based in Calgary in Canada he maintains an active psychological services practice with a focus on counselling and assessment in which he has developed considerable expertise.

He is also a sessional instructor and adjunct associate professor at Mount Royal University and University of Calgary. Brent frequently appears on Canadian TV and radio.

A passionate believer in human psychological wellbeing, Brent now incorporates the 4Cs mental toughness concept and the mental toughness measure into his work.

Brent's works embrace a wide range of clients - children, adolescents, young adults, parents, educators, coaches, athletes, as well as executives in a wide range of contexts.

In between times, Brent has authored a book on mental toughness for everyone called "Fall seven times, Stand up eight."

This is a unique opportunity to learn – and you will learn – from a true master of his art.

APPLYING THE MENTAL TOUGHNESS CONCEPT AND MEASURE IN TEAM AND EXECUTIVE COACHING

Our guest is one of the most experienced and thoughtful coaches we have come across – Darren Whysall. He is genuinely an expert practitioner.

With a wide and eclectic background, Darren has over 25 years' experience of partnering with people and teams who work in high pressure environments including Performance Coach with the Royal Marine Commandos, Head of Coaching with Ambition School Leadership developing senior leaders for schools Education Sector and most recently in Financial Services with Barclays Bank where he was Head of Leadership Development Coaching. He is now engaged in senior leadership coaching with Aramco.

His philosophy is simple, 'make a positive difference'. He achieves this by being super reflective and through generously making his remarkable reflections available to all.

Darren posseses a body of knowledge and skills which are both practical and accessible. This is a unique opportunity to learn – and you will learn – from a true master of his art.

Our guest today is Paul Taylor who brings an interesting and valuable perspective to the application of the mental toughness concept.

Paul is an exercise psychologist, nutritionist and neuroscientist. He is the founder and director of The Mind-Body-Brain Performance Institute which effectively sums up his approach. He adopts a holistic approach bringing together approaches and disciplines to provide support and guidance to senior leaders including developing resilience where he is now exploring the mental toughness concept.

Based now in Australia, Pal hosted the TV series Body and Brain Overhaul and appears regularly on TV as a subject matter expert. He is also the author of Death by Comfort" where he suggests that modern life might not be good for us and offers some thoughts about what we can do about that.

All our podcasts are different. This one might be a little more different and thought-provoking than most.

As always, there is learning for everyone here.

Since its launch in 2002, the 4Cs Mental Toughness concept and the MTQ measure have seen steady growth and development. This is certainly true for the concept - now in its 8-factor form with an evidence base that is second to none. As importantly this is true for practitioners worldwide as they understand the concept and its myriad applications in the world of people and organisation development. It matters for everyone in performance, agility and, above all, in well-being.

In this podcast, Peter Clough, John Perry and Doug Strycharczyk review recent developments and progress and shine a light on what's next on the agenda - and its focuses on understanding, practice and application.

As ever, we love listening to you too. Almost all recent development has been driven by feedback from practitioners. Please let us know where you think the mental toughness concept can make that difference.

Features Penny Mallory, Alessia Mevoli, Jo Taylor, Jason Wyatt, Andy Riise, Adrian Logan and Lia Zalums.

Features Maureen Keegan, Alex Opacic and Josiah Igono

This podcast features clips from Professor Peter Clough, David Charlton, Marius Bernard, Pete Wortley.

Our guest is Lia Zalums. In Australia, Lia is recognized as one of its leading executive coaches. Passion might be an overused word but it's an accurate description for Lia.

Lia has embraced the 4Cs mental toughness concept and brought it very effectively into her work… and into her twin passions - championing women to flourish in STEM careers where they are still under-represented and supporting those who are enterprising and entrepreneurial to follow that most challenging of paths. Often combining both interests.

We explore this, and more in this most enjoyable of discussions. Lia is always clear about why she does what she does. There is some great listening here and we are confident there learning here for all too.