The Coaching Space Podcast

In this episode I talk with Psychologist, Author and Speaker, Paul Bushell. We discuss the topic of Emotional Intelligence, what it is, how emotions impact on performance, how to regulate emotions and how best to teach others to do the same. I hope you enjoy!

Former Sharks rugby captain Keegan Daniel joins me to discuss the topic of leadership. The 3 questions we discuss, are whether leaders or born or made; characteristics of great leaders; and advice for what to say as a leader during tough moments. Some great insights and takeaways.

My 1st guest for Season 3 is SA Mens Hockey player Wade Paton. Wade has moved into a coaching role in the last few years and enjoyed huge success with his Varsity College (DBN North) Mens Hockey team this year, culminating in a silver medal at the recent USSA IPT tournament.

Central to the success has been Wade’s focus on team culture, and his role as a mentor to his players. I ask Wade 3 question around this, and he shares some honest and useful insights for any coach or leader out there!

I hope you enjoy

In this episode I interview former Springbok and Lions rugby captain and player, Warren Whiteley.  

Warren, was appointed as captain at the Lions at the end of 2013, and helped to rebuild and galvanise the team after being relegated from Super Rugby. In the years that followed, he led the team to new heights, as they became the no.1 team in South Africa, played in 3 consecutive Super Rugby finals and established themselves as one of the most exciting teams in world rugby.   

Springbok captaincy followed in 2017, and Warren again began to rebuild the Boks during a difficult time for the National team, and reset the team culture that has been built upon in the subsequent years.  While his career began to be plagued by injuries, Warren has turned his attention to coaching at the Lions, and giving back to the younger players.  

Warren is still widely regarded for his leadership and people skills, and so it’s no surprise that I interviewed him on the topic of Leadership itself. We discuss his definition of leadership, some key skills that all leaders should possess, the link between leadership and team culture, and Warren shares a very honest story as he recounts one of his greatest leadership lessons to date. It is a must listen for anyone interested in leadership and team development. 

I hope you enjoy!

In this episode I interview Liesel Scott, a strategic Leadership and Inclusive Culture consultant and an internationally accredited facilitator and coach. In 2015 she trained with Dr. Brené Brown in London, and she is now part of a small cohort of certified Dare to Lead™ facilitators globally.

In today’s episode we talk about the theme of vulnerability. We discuss Brené’s work; what vulnerability means and why it has resonated with people so much around the world. Liesel shares great insights and offers her ideas on how we can apply this thinking into our lives. We also discuss the topic of inclusivity, and the link between the two; and we end with Liesel sharing one of her greatest learnings to date.

The topic of vulnerability is such an interesting and important one, and I thoroughly enjoyed chatting to Liesel about it. I hope you enjoy it too.

My 3rd guest on season 2 of my podcast, is Mental Performance Coach Jody Martins. Jody has worked in this space for the last 10 years, alongside a 25 year career as a cricket coach. He has a wealth of experience and we spend this episode discussing the mental side of performance.

He explains the work that he does with individuals and teams, and gives his view on the current role of the mental game in sport. He shares his insights on what it takes to ‘get into the zone’, some common mental errors that people make, some tips and techniques to reach peak mental performance and the topic of mindfulness.

Jody offers some practical advice, and it was great to chat with him! I hope you enjoy.

My second guest for season 2 is a dynamic and purpose driven young woman, Joanna Maingard.   

Jo is a qualified Industrial Psychologist and someone who is passionate about holistic wellbeing. Jo is an avid runner and adventurer, and last year had set herself the incredible goal of running 8 marathons, in 8 different countries, all in the name of charity. Despite COVID disrupting this plan somewhat, Jo still managed to complete some of those Marathons and we talk about that and much more.   

We discuss the role of purpose in our lives, holistic wellbeing, mental health and the mental side of performance and Jo shares with us her next big running challenge.   

It was fantastic chatting with Jo, and delving deeper into the people side of performance. I hope you enjoy!

In this episode I chat with a young Lions rugby player, Sasko Ndlovu, about Leadership. I had the pleasure of working with Sasko for 2 years at Northwood High School. While his rugby talent was evident, (earning himself selection to the KZN Sevens, KZN Craven Week, and SA schools team), he is a young man who set a great example as a leader throughout his school career, earning himself the 1st ever Honours blazer for Servant Leadership at the school. He was one of the deputy Head Prefects of the school; the Head Prefect of the Boarding Establishment; he captained every age group rugby team he played for and lead the 1st team to their most successful season to date in 2019; and was selected to captain the KZN Craven Week team that year as well.

In this episode we discuss his views on leadership; the role that his family played in his leadership style; how he sought to lead a diverse group of boys in the 2019 KZN Craven Week team; his advice for young leaders and more.

Sasko is not a man of many words, but he certainly articulates some powerful messages about leadership. I hope you enjoy!

My guest in this episode is Tom Dawson Squibb, a teaming, leadership and people performance practitioner, and speaker. 

He has over 11 years of experience working in both the corporate and sporting worlds, but it is in the area of sport that Tom has really specialised as a High Performance Coach. He has worked extensively with both UCT and WP and Stormers rugby teams, where he has been part of significant and very successful campaigns. He has also worked with international teams, like the Royal Challengers Bangalore cricket team in India for the IPL, as well as the Melbourne Rebels rugby team in Australia during the Super Rugby competition.  

In this episode, Tom and I talk about Teams. He shares openly about what he believes makes a great team; we discuss the role of team culture and the importance of leadership; he shares some of his recent learnings about systemic teaming, and some insight into what he has learnt from his time with great sporting teams, and we chat about the idea of ‘joy’ within a team environment.    

I hope you enjoy!

In this episode I discuss the topic of Leadership with South African Women’s Indoor Hockey Captain, Cindy Hack. 

Cindy currently has 105 indoor caps for South Africa making her the first South African player to reach 100 caps for Indoor Hockey. Cindy has competed in 2 Indoor World Cups, has scored 100 goals in her career to date, and significantly has captained the indoor team for the past 9 years.   

We discuss her current leadership style; characteristics that she feels are important for any leader; how she keeps her leadership 'fresh'; her greatest leadership 'error' to date and more.   

I hope you enjoy!