Book Review
Back in April I reviewed the ‘High Performance Podcast’, an excellent podcast that interviews guests who have excelled in their field,
whether this be sport, music, business or entertainment. At that time they had interviewed 117 guests.
At the time I hadn’t read the accompanying book that came out at the end of 2021, but having read hundreds if not thousands of business books now, and having listened to many of the podcasts, I had a feeling I was going to enjoy this book – and it did not disappoint.
The book (and indeed the podcast) is written by Jake Humphrey and Professor Damian Hughes.
Jake is the excellent sports presenter, having presented for many different broadcasters and most of the high-profile global sports and events, and Damian is an expert on sporting culture, and a writer, consultant and coach.
They work really well together and both bring different aspects to the interviews and the book, and they do an excellent job of gaining the trust of those they interview to get them to talk about things I’ve not heard many of them talk about before. I’ve sat in events and watched at least half a dozen of those interviewed in the book but found out high performance secrets I had not heard from them before, and that makes for a great read. There is the perfect mix of some theory but mainly real-life stories, and great nuggets of information to take away.
The Questions Asked
I don’t want to repeat any of the inspiring real-life stories here as I think they will come over much better in the book with the right context, but you won’t be disappointed. The book includes comments stories from many including Holly Tucker, Jo Malone, Ben Ainslie, Nims Purja, Chris Hoy, Steven Bartlett, Clive Woodward and many more.
There are two questions Jake and Damian always ask to those they interview; the first being ‘What does high performance mean to you’ and secondly, ‘What are your non-negotiables’ – two great questions and you find out a lot from the answers to those questions.
The Roadmap to High Performance
The book is split into three sections to help create a roadmap to high performance:
Mindset – Before you can ‘act’ like high performers, you need to ‘think’ like high performers, and this breaks down into:
– Take responsibility
– Get motivated
– Manage emotions
Behaviour -This is ‘how’ you act and the remarkable things that high performers do, and this breaks down into:
– Play to your strengths
– Be flexible
– Find your non-negotiables
Team – Consistently high performers always act as part of a team, and this breaks down into:
– Lead the team
– Craft a culture
I really enjoyed the book, and think you will too.