8 Lessons from 30,000 Feet

Hi, it’s Jason. Apologies for the late arrival of this edition, but I'm writing this from an aircraft somewhere above Turkey, on my way home from a whirlwind trip to Dubai to see some of our Prime Performance Program clients.

This is the first deadline I’ve missed since I started this newsletter and a reminder that to err is human, as Alexander Pope wisely observed.

But sometimes the best content comes from the most unexpected moments…

8 LESSONS FROM 30,000 FEET

During this flight, I've been listening to Rich Roll interviewing Stuart McMillan, a renowned sprint coach and CEO of ALTIS.

McMillan has coached more than 70 Olympians across nine Olympic Games, with his athletes winning over 30 Olympic medals, including multiple world records. He's also worked with Arsenal and Manchester City football clubs. He’s the definition of an elite coach in his field.

I was listening out of curiosity more than anything, so what I didn’t expect was a masterclass of how to get the best out of the talent you work with. 

Furthermore, it was crystal clear that so many of his insights were directly transferable from the track to the boardroom. So the notebook came out, as I was compelled to share these lessons with you: 

Lesson 1: Humans Are Complex, Not Linear

McMillan talked about how his father was a structural engineer, so in his early coaching days, he wanted everything with his programs to be linear and structured - like blueprints with clear problems and solutions.

But over time, he realized that humans aren't machines - they have emotions, motivations, and complexities that can't be blueprinted. He realised that every athlete he worked with was unique and his approach had to reflect that.

This translates directly to leadership. You can have all the frameworks and processes in the world, but the reality of leading people requires adaptability and nuance. The best leaders embrace both logic and emotion; structure and spontaneity.

Lesson 2: Everyone Is a Puzzle

McMillan approaches every world-class athlete he works with as a puzzle, and every interaction with them as a puzzle.

The key question for him, which is so relevant to you, is:

What is the most important puzzle you're working on today?

Excellence in leadership requires that focus, curiousity and understanding to get the best out of not only your team, but also yourself. 

Lesson 3: Focus On What Matters Most

There is a beautiful simplicity and clarity in McMillan’s approach. He’s working with the best athletes in the world but in every interaction distills things down into 2 questions:

What are we trying to get done?

What is constraining your ability to perform at your best?

This reframe is powerful. Far too often in leadership there’s a tendency to over-engineer things; to equate complexity with intellect. 

Lesson 4: The 5 Pillars of Excellence

With world-class athletes, McMillan focuses on keeping movement, nutrition, recovery, mental resilience, and social support systems (family, friends, teammates, coaches) aligned. Because they're all critical to performance.

This is exactly why we have our integrated approach with Prime Performance Labs. These aren't nice-to-haves - they're the foundation of sustainable excellence.

Lesson 5: Partnership, Not Direction

There's a critical distinction McMillan makes about working with elite athletes - the dictatorial approach which may work with more junior or inexperienced performers, fails with the best.

There’s a clear lesson for leaders here when it comes to working with senior talent and McMillan shares an insight that brings it into sharp relief:

As a leader or coach, your perspective means you can see what they can’t see.

But you can’t feel what they feel.  

Communication and collaboration become absolutely critical if you are going to get the best out of your most senior team members. This is why the traditional 'command and control' leadership model fails down.

Lesson 6: The Non-Negotiable Truth

Here's a direct quote from McMillan that I want you to remember:

This isn't philosophical - it's practical. Neuroscience tells us that your physical state directly impacts your cognitive capabilities, energy levels and overall sense of wellbeing. There's no separating the two, so if you want to show up at your best, you need to invest in yourself.

Lesson 7: The Power of Purpose

Here's what genuinely surprised me - McMillan said that even world-class athletes lose their ‘why’. Rich Roll was equally staggered when he learned that for some of these sprinters, it wasn’t always about winning gold medals at the Olympics.

But then McMillan explained and I found myself just nodding in furious agreement - these guys  have complex lives, lots going on, dips in motivation, losing their love for the sport, things happening in their personal lives etc, etc, etc. I bet you can relate! 

His role goes well beyond the technical, he helps them rediscover that fire, that passion, that purpose.

This is so critical in leadership. The quarterly targets and strategic objectives matter, but they're not always enough to fuel us through the difficult periods. Connecting with your purpose and helping your team find theirs provides the resilience needed for the long game.

Lesson 8: Data + Coaching = Excellence

The final lesson revolves around how sprinting is a perfect example of an area where technology has transformed performance - video analysis, foot pressure when striking the ground, gate speed and length… the level of data is incredible and invaluable.

However, McMillan couldn’t be more vocal about one important fact: you still have to coach. If you want truly world-class performers, you leverage the technology and data for insights. But insights are the foundation for guidance - that's exactly where you get to work as a coach.

This perfectly encapsulates what we're bringing to leadership that nobody else is doing. That hyper-personalized approach that tackles the hard data around things like cognitive performance, but also helping leaders find their why, as well as measure human complexities like group dynamics that simply can't be measured.

The data tells you what. The coaching helps you understand why and how.

The Bottom Line

Whether you're training for the Olympics or leading an organization, the fundamentals remain the same: an integrated system encompassing performance and wellbeing is the only way to deliver sustainable world-class results. 

The question is: Are you ready to approach your leadership with the same mindset as a world-class athlete approaches their sport?

If you're ready to decode your own puzzle and hit your prime, I can offer you a complimentary 30-minute consultation. Simply book through this link:

If you’re thinking you don’t have time for the Program right now, you’re almost certainly the one who needs it. Let’s talk.

Jason