Talking Toughness

Our latest guest is a remarkable individual, Jason Wyatt. Jason is the Global After Sales and Technical Training Manager for JCB - a world leader in its field. Rarely have we met someone with such a thirst for knowledge, which he then applies in all of his work.

Jason and his training partner have developed the CornerStone Programme which focusses on sales leadership development for teams directly involved in sales and sales support functions. Sales is often thought of as one of the more demanding roles in business and commerce. They are often described as the "athletes" of the business world and in common with athletes they benefit from mastery all 4 Cs of Mental Toughness needing to draw on their resilience to keep moving forward. The programme includes realistic evaluation and builds in the opportunity for its improvement. It also delivers.

The result is that the JCB CornerStone Programme was recognised this year with the Princess Royal Training Award, which is prestigious recognition for UK employers who have created high impact through training and skills development, and which have resulted in exceptional commercial benefits.

Jason and his team have taken a mental toughness concept and the MTQ plus measure and made that the cornerstone of the CornerStone Programme.

In this podcast we will explore with Jason: the structure of the programme, the role of pre and post programme MTQ assessments, the impact of the development programme on the mental toughness participants and how he has developed the programme further using elite athletes' sports venues.

Plenty to learn for anyone interested in the application of Mental Toughness into a brilliant case study.

Our guest, Alessia Mevoli, Lecturer, has, together with Dr Peter Sewell developed a remarkable programme for grads and undergrads in the Business and Law faculty at Anglia Ruskin University.

They created an extra-curricular module on Mental Agility, Flexibility and Adaptability where students are guided through the 4 components of Mental Toughness - Control, Commitment, Change and Confidence.

In their journey, students learn how to assess those on a personal level by undertaking a deep self-awareness analysis with real-life examples and the MTQ+ questionnaire provided by AQR International!

This is an essential issue for graduates, employers and universities. It's an area where we see significant growth of interest globally.

A unique feature of this programme was the care taken with measurement and evaluation of differences. The programme really works. There is learning here for all.

Our guest, Joanne Turley /Joanne Taylor, is an early adopter of the 4Cs mental toughness concept and measures, who has led the way in its application with some of the toughest challenges in society. Joanne, her colleagues and delivery partners are making a real and sustainable difference with young people who are often at the fringes of society.

Joanne is a People & Performance Consultant with the ARK Consultancy in the UK which focuses on the social housing sectors and issues associated with that sector.

Her work takes her into reducing young offender re-offending rates, helping young people on the verge of exclusion from education to improve behaviour as well as programmes for social housing tenants. Importantly they are also able to demonstrate a very good return on social investment.

Joanne has created a body of knowledge and skills working with young people to improve their life chances primarily based on an excellent understanding of the mental toughness concept.

There is learning here for all.

Our guest is Andy Riise. A truly special guest. We have got to know Andy over the past few years and have come to admire his expertise in applying the mental toughness concept and his depth of understanding of the topic.

Why special? Andy Riise was for almost 25 years a Lieutenant Colonel in the US Army where he was the Army's first Master Resilience Trainer and Facilitator. His training and preparation for this key role was both thorough and exceptional.

Our latest guest is Penny Mallory, keynote speaker and performance coach, and a former British Rally Championship driver.

She is a Leading Authority on Mental Toughness. She became the first woman to drive a World Rally Car in the otherwise male-dominated FIA World Rally Championship. Penny has also been a boxer, mountaineer, marathon runner and triathlete over an illustrious career.

Our guest, Maureen Keegan, is one of the earliest adopters of the 4Cs mental toughness concept and measures, first using it in 2004. She is Workforce Development Manager at Knowsley Metropolitan Borough Council in the north West of England.

For almost 20 years Maureen has integrated the concepts into leadership development, team working and soft skills programs with great success. So much so that she is now regularly asked to introduce the concept to leaders and staff at other local authorities and into leadership development at two local universities.

Josiah as a true authority on the mental toughness concept. Something that shines through in this unique podcast. He also happens to have a PhD in Mental Toughness.

The guest for this podcast is Josiah Igono who, in addition to having been Peak Performance Director for the Texas Rangers Baseball Club, has established his own practice taking the concept to major organisations in the business word as well as professional sport in the USA. He has also taken the concept to developing young people.

This podcast explores Alex Opacic's career in basketball and his transition from playing sport for a living into working life and how his business helps other athletes cope with the change.

In this epidsode we discuss Brendon Pyle's work with the golf foundation and talk with the Founder of Yeast,Peter Wortley, about transforming organisations by developing people within them through coaching.