#151 - Owen Eastwood

Description

Today we spoke with Owen Eastwood - Performance Coach, and Author of 'Belonging: The Ancient Code of Togetherness'

Owen is a performance coach with vast and diverse experience with high-profile elite sports teams around the world with a speciality around identity, storytelling, and culture. He has worked with the British Olympic Team, the English national football team, Harlequins RFC, Scotland rugby, the Command Group of NATO, the South African cricket team, the Royal Ballet School, and high performing corporate settings. 

Owen, a New Zealander based in the UK with roots from Ireland has a unique approach that looks to an evolutionary understanding of a team or organisation, leadership dynamics, cohesion, wisdom from our ancestors, and what contemporary institutions do very well.

Today we start with the imagery on the front of the book and its origins, and why belonging is critical for reducing anxiety, improving confidence, and instilling trust. Owen unpacks the essence of the working environment and culture moving forward, psychological safety, and why a sense of connection and belonging is vital. 

We enquire about sustaining success with teams where there is staff and player turnover, emotional availability for young professionals, and the harmony between boundaries and autonomy - a profound concept called tapu noa. A highlight of this one, Owen eloquently shares the Maori concept of 'whakapapa' - for the sun is shining on us now

In this episode we discuss 🗣
-🙌 Owen's current roles with Harlequins & The Football Association
- 📘 The inspiration behind the book and the Koru on the cover
- 👐 Wellbeing as one of our core responsibilities
- 👨🏻‍🤝‍👨🏻 Our hard-wired need for Belonging
- 💼 How businesses can create a culture of togetherness
- 🌿 Maori philosophies of Hauora, Tapu Noa, and Whakapapa
- 💢 How good coaches create a shared identity
- 📖 Belonging and Creating a story of us
- ⚽ Gareth Southgate's authenticity and emotional availability
- 💬 Learning from Wayne Rooney, Michael Owen & other elite players
- 💫 Leaders and creating a true legacy

Key Timestamps

• 0. 35 - The inspiration behind the book cover

• 2. 06 - Owen's current work with Harlequins + English FA

• 3. 52 - Wellbeing as a core responsibility

• 4. 52 - Recovery + creating space

• 6. 22 - Wellbeing monitoring in elite performance environments

• 8. 23 - Businesses need to focus on wellbeing

• 10. 04 - Belonging reducing anxiety + facing the challenge

• 10. 55 - Story of us

• 12. 43 - Looking back to get

• 13. 33 - 99% of our history we spent in tribes/kin

• 15. 18- Hard-wired sense of belonging

• 17. 07 - Good coaches create a shared identity

• 18. 08 - Becoming culturally mindful as a team

• 19. 35 - Tapu Noa described

• 22. 03 - Getting involved with the English FA

• 22. 53 - Listening + learning from Wayne Rooney, Michael Owen, and others

• 24. 10 - Gareth Southgate being highly relational + authentic

• 26. 26 - Trust and how we build it

• 27. 50 - Leaders and Emotional availability

• 28. 10 - Southgate + omitting talented players from Euros

• 29. 48 - Whakapapa and the timeline of us

• 31. 23 - how leaders can create a true legacy

• 32. 24 - What does High Performance mean to you?

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