What Steve Hansen can teach leaders about empathy, on McAlpine Coaching
- Empathy is more than to sympathize, it allows people to use their knowledge to improve their companies in subtle but important ways.
- How to cultivate empathy?
1. Listen deepy and actively
2. Be curious
3. Be vulnerable
4. Work on your self-awareness
5. Put yourself in other people's shoes

Why do you make stupid decisions.... on TheConversation
- One reason for making stupid decisions is our inbuilt cognitive biases = we make quick decisions then seek to prove ourselves right.
- Humans tend to avoid Cognitive Dissonances = if a fact doesn't fit our beliefs, we seek to change the fact rather than our belief.
- A further reason to ignore experts us to avoid social discomfort, it is easier to rely on the judgments of our peers instead.

Leadership lessons from the All Blacks, on i-l-m
1. Build a "We" culture
2. Empower your teams. Individual responsibility. Create a self-managing, self-improving environment.
3. Create an environment where individuals learn to make great decisions.
4. Make it fun.
5. Get the mindset right.

Captaincy: Why authenticity matters, on espncricinfo
- Many different approaches to leadership. "Only prerequisite is a degree of authenticity. So long as the captain is being himself, he has a fighting chance".

Why cultures beat policies every time, on growingleaders
- A new culture creates a new normal
- Culture is shaped by:
1. Action and behaviour of leaders
2. What leaders pay attention to
3. What is rewarded and punished
4. Allocation and attention of resources

Seven tools for thinking....  on learningspy.co.uk
This is a series of 7 blogs commenting on Daniel Dennett's 7 Tools for Thinking.
1. Use your mistakes
- trick to making good mistakes is to not hide them. Savour your mistakes and delight in understanding what led to them.
2. Respect your Opponents (Principle of Charity)
- The Principle of Charity is to assume, until proven otherwise, anyone who disagrees with us is as intelligent, informed and ethical as we are, and we should strive to interpret their claims and evidence in the most positive way possible.
3. The "Surely" Klaxon
- Use of the word "surely" often indicative of weak point in argument.
4. Answer Rhetorical Questions
- Rhetorical questions show willingness to take a short cut. Pursue the line of reasoning, is there an unobvious answer to be considered?
5. Employ Occam's Razor
- "All things being equal, simplest solution is usually the best one"
- "It is pointless to do with more what is done with less"
- Remember it is only a heuristic device and proves nothing
6. Don't Waste Time on Rubbish
- there is plenty of substandard if you look for it. Don't waste time with it, focus on the best stuff you can find and critique that to learn.
- Don't trust sweeping statements. In a complex system, average isn't very useful.
7. Beware of "Deepities"
- Deepity = proposition that seems important, true and profound, but achieves this by being ambiguous.
- Something may sound profound but is it bland to the point of being meaningless? Avoid ambiguity.

Role of the Coach : Learn and Develop, on lineoutcoach
Develop your coaching...
1. The right mindset
2. Appetite to learn
3. Learn from other sports
4. Practical is best

What is the role of a coach?, on lineoutcoach
- Know your role and do your job
- Player development
- Train to play the game
- Understand the players responsibility
- Provide core life skills

7 skills for becoming an emotionally intelligent leader, on General Leadership
- Daniel Goleman says five areas of emotional intelligence:
1. Self-Awareness
2. Self-Regulation
3. Motivation
4. Empathy
5. People Skills
The 'Big Seven' of the Emotionally Aware...
1. Patience
2. Compassion
3. Flexibility
4. Able to communicate more than just words
5. Trusting and trustworthy
6. Authentic
7. Respectful

The Sports Gene Chapter 2, by David Epstein
- Ackerman = skill acquisition, practice and improvement depends on the task. Simple task = people closer together, difficult = further apart.
- Variance = statistical measure of how much people deviate from the average

The Sports Gene Chapter 3, by David Epstein
- importance of vision and eyesight. MLB players may not have better reaction time than average population, "they do have the superior vision that can help them pick up the anticipatory cues they need earlier, making raw reaction speed less important"
- 2008 Olympic Games study by Laby and Kirschen: softball outstanding depth perception and better contrast sensitivity than any others. Archers had exceptional visual acuity but not great depth perception (target is far away but flat). Fencers very good score on depth perception (make rapid use of tiny, close range variations in distance).
This implies visual hardware is increasingly critical the faster the ball is moving. Good hardware increases download speed of software (practice)
- Future professionals traits also behavioural - practice more but also take responsibility for practicing better
- large and growing body of evidence suggests early specialisation not only is NOT required to make highest level but should be actively avoided

Tom WIlliams Interview, on fifteenrugby
- Good practice to open it up to players and ask them questions
- Primarily on the lookout for attitude in young players as a lot can be taught/learned in time

Steve Hansen on the art of coaching, on NZ Herald
- Coaching is an important balance of tactics/coaching and man-management/emotional intelligence to understand people
- Get to know people's culture to help understand them as individuals
- If you can acknowledge pressure if present then you can start to work out how to deal with it
- So many things can be learned when you lose, so long as you're open to it
- Job as coach is to create environment that inspires players to use motivation to get better = right balance of stimulation and fun

The Brave New Coach, on AFL Community Club
- There is a lack of bravery in coach and player development
- Elite coaches and X Factor players, bravery summed up in areas of Drive, Boldness, Colourfulness and Imagination. Also have accompanying factors of Care, Outstanding Preparation and Resilience
- Just because something has always been done that way, doesn't make it right
- Becoming a Brave Coach:
1. High Risk/High Reward. Accept mistakes. For every mistake, identify one excuse and two plans
2. Devil's Advocate role in all planning
3. Brave in appointments
4. Bold and imaginative coaches
5. Bold and driven coaches. Quality over quantity
6. Imagination. Atmosphere of optimism, smarts and inspiration
7. Feedback
8. Fun
9. Sports Science. Link of emotion to thinking/performance
10. Music
11. Care. Anxiety clouds learning
12. Time. Value those who do extra or different
13. Less training, more improving
14. Food
15. Medicos
16. Expertise. Don't be conservative
- Always try to learn and improve, surround self with best people and best ideas

10 Skills Any True Coach Must Balance, by Dan John
1. Constant assessment
2. Constant upgrading
3. Ignore perfect - strive for (a) Pretty Good (b) Better
4. This isn't moral theology - there's time for everything just maybe not today
5. Everything works - for a bit at least. Did it get you closer to the goal?
6. Achieving a Goal Vs Success - enjoy the process
7. After the peak is the cliff - what will you do when you reach the top? Always plan the route down.
8. Self-disciple is a finite resource - communal support needed
9. Fundamentals trump everything else
10. Take a moment to thank those who came before you

Why are Team Sky so successful?, on BBC
- Brailsford: "Elite sport is like a treadmill - stop moving and you fly off"

Pete Carroll, NFL's Eternal Optimist, on si.com
- Where some people say 'worst possible decision', Carroll says 'worst possible outcome'
- PC has "very deliberately created a culture that encourages passion and perseverance - the two components of grit"
- Carroll is "what psychologists call an Authoritative Parent: warm but demanding, unconditionally supportive but with hig expectations"
- Less about victory, more about process
- Striving FOR something, not AGAINST something
- Encouraged different, individual personalities - a celebration of uniqueness
- He wanted to frame even the epic SuperBowl defeat as a teachable moment

Graham Henry: Learned to win the RWC, on guardian
- Culture comes first
- Check your ego. Anecdote of Tana Umage asking Henry - "what/who are the team talks for? Are they for you or for us?"
- Empower your players
- Be smart
- Confront your weaknesses
- Expect the unexpected

Embracing the adaptive capacity of our young learners, on footblogball
- David Epstein = "In our pursuit of better players we are making better 10 year olds but not better senior players. The developmental pathway that makes the best 10 year old isn't the same on that makes the best 20 year old".

The Sports Gene Ch1, by David Epstein
- Most people "simple reaction time" is 200 miliseconds (time for retina to receive info and then put muscles in motion). Elite athletes are the SAME.
- Janet Starkes created modern sports 'occlusion' test in 1975. The test was to show photos from volleyball match with ball just in or just out of the shot. Players look at the photo for a fraction of a second (too quick to see ball). Elite players FAR better to determine if ball in the photo. 
- Elite athletes seemed to have 'miraculously' photographic memory when it came to their sport
- Elite athletes CHUNK information - unconscious grouping of information into smaller and more meaningful chunks based on patterns they have seen before
- "perceiving order allows elite athletes to extract critical information from the arrangement of players or from subtle changes in an opponent's body movements in order to make unconscious predictions about what will happen next"
- Brain automation is hyperspecific to the practised skill
- "it is software, not hardware" eg learned, not genetic

Developing World Class Potential, by Mark Upton on medium.
- Notes from Maria Ruiz de Ona talk...
- Environment needs to be positive by very clear about purpose of talent development
- Genuine change will lead to confusion/doubt for a while
- Coach needs to learn to observe
- To produce confident players we must create challenging environment
- "We need doubt - it makes us think"

The Power of Not Punting, on campusrush
- Kevin Kelley's Bruins don't punt the ball. They "always play as if they are 10 points down with 90 seconds left".
- Comes down to careful use of odds and statistics
- "nearly every great football innovation has come out of an attempt to close a talent gap"

Serial Winners Top 10, on Leeds Beckett
1. Get the right people on the bus
2. Be athlete-centred
3. Partnership not dictatorship
4. Emotional intelligence is as important as sporting intelligence
5. Thick skin is a must-have
6. Work-life balance matters
7. Serial winners suffer from serial insecurity
8. Create simple image of future and plan towards it
9. Develop belief in others
10. Take risks

All Blacks - Learners, on medium.com
- Strive to develop independent learners where players drive their own development
- Not just players who should be viewed as learners but coaches and support staff too
- Key traits are trust, critical thinking, open mind, diversity of experience, humility, courage and letting go of the past
- "the more we talk about learning stuff, and the less we talk about winning stuff, the better we get at developing excellence and the more likely we are to win" Al Smith
- "Nice amenities do not cultivate talent...hardship does" Brett Bartholomew
- "Build a program and a culture that is built on positive expectation and accountability" Chidi Enyie

Creating the Culture, by Brett Bartholomew on McMillanSpeed
- world within us influences world around us = how culture created
- coaches need to be able to "talk in colour"
- START WITH WHY
- When we understand athlete's unique internal environment we can better construct everything around it to bring best out of them

Rugby Skills and Coaching Environment, on KickCoaching
- Not just mechanics = pre-performance routine, distraction, focus of attention, visualisation scripts and emotional intelligence
- Skills sessions should include = perception, context, cues, challenge, variability
- Kicking = 1. Whole Body Movement
                   2. Contact Quality
                   3. Impact line (path of knee, foot and ball)
                   4. Transfer of weight (momentum through impact)

Why we are bad at predicting our own behaviour, on Science of Running
- Coaches job at elite level is to hold the reigns : know the athlete well enough to make best decisions for them as they may not themselves

Carol Dweck on Fixed Mindset vs Growth Mindset, on examinedexistence
- Fixed Mindset = affirmation of intelligence is success and therefore avoid failure
- Growth Mindset = seeks challenge, failure is a springboard for growth and development
Factor                                     Fixed Mindset                                     Growth Mindset
Intelligence                             Static                                                          Can be developed
Challenges                              Avoid                                                          Embrace
Obstacles                                Give up easily                                            Persist
Effort                                        Fruitless                                                     Path to mastery
Criticism                                  Ignore                                                         Learn
Success of Others                  Threatened                                                Lessons and inspiration
                                                  Plateau early                                             ever-higher level of achievement
                                                  Deterministic view of world                   Sense of free will

Can Creativity Be Taught? on creativityatwork.com
- George Land Test concluded non-creative behaviour is learned
- Creativity skills can be learned by learning and applying creative thinking processes
- Amabile (1998) 3 Components of Creativity: Expertise, Creative Thinking, Motivation.
- learn to be creative by experimenting, exploring and questioning assumptions, by using imagination and synthesising information.
- We don't learn to be creative, we must become creative people
- Fastest way to become creative is to hang around with creative people
- Give permission to be WRONG. Learn from mistakes.

John Fox's NAVY SEAL Stepfather, on ESPN
- "It's amazing what can be accomplished when no one cares who gets the credit"

How do you develop a growth mindset? on innerdrive.co.uk
- Teach people their brain can change and don't praise natural talent
- Develop by: praise effort, seek different strategies, encourage learning over comparison against others, praise those who seek feedback. encourage persistence, encourage courage and curiosity, maintain high standards.

Adopting external focus of attention increases sprint performance in low-skilled sprinters, by Porter et al 2015
- Focus on movement effects rather than body parts, significant increase in running speed
- Verbal instruction important part of training environment
- Structure verbal instruction to focus on outcome of movement rather than the movement itself

John Buchanan on alloutcricket.com
- Coach must understand self inside out
- Never compromise on a principle - provide consistency
- Essence of coaching is in relationships

Awesomeness of getting feedback on feedback, on talentequation
- Don't overdo it with feedback, especially with new players
- Pick your moment for quick, specific, 1-2-1 feedback
- Allow space for implicit learning

Gregor Townsend: Years of Learning, on The Scotsman
- Failure is an integral part of success
- Trust and effort crucial
- Winning is about improvement

Creating a Culture of Excellence, by Terry Condon
- To fix problems: i) Acknowledge there is one; ii) find a way to better understand it
"We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them" - Einstein
- OBLIGATION INHIBITS PASSION
- FOUR PILLARS OF PERFORMANCE essential for motivation and engagement of people, will increase productivity, performance, resilience and retention
1. AUTONOMY = freedom and flexibility to carve own path
2. MASTERY = transparent environment that rewards personal and professional excellence
3. PURPOSE = adds meaning to their life
4. PLAY = alongside peers and have fun
- John Wooden: Use sport to promote values in people that lead to success in any realm. Recognise and reward expression of these values ABOVE ALL ELSE. Wait for success to show up.
- Wooden trained athletes for life THROUGH basketball, not basketball FOR life.
- The person is more important than their results
- Must separate winning from wellbeing

Excel in youth sport kids need couch time, on theconversation
- young athlete with the 'best' of everything fails to develop most important skill = the ability to thrive when challenged = perseverance and resilience
- Individuals that are challenged and supported thrive at high level

Leadership Game Plan from Coach K on inc.com
- Cultivate ownership mentality (team create and drive standards)
- Embrace team's feelings. UNDERSTAND, APPRECIATE, TRUST
- Never stop innovating

35 Secrets of Brilliant Coaches, on huffpost
- Cherish the person over the athlete
- Respect and communication
- Obsess with fundamentals
- Always move forward
- CREATE TALENT RATHER THAN FIND IT
- Separate learning from practice

Constraints-led Coaching - Why?, on tdgolfcoach.com
- Constraint = boundary encouraging learning to emerge with certain behaviours
- Constraint can be on the task, performer or environmental
- Learn by doing rather than being told

Southampton Way: Potential into Excellence, on YouTube
- Clear progression pathway from Academy to 1st Team
- The progression pathway is evident in all aspects from changing rooms to pitches etc.

The Nowhere Men, by Michael Calvin
Chapter on Miguel Rios which inspired my meeting with him documented here in Coaching Conversations #8
- Miguel Rios talking about a coach "It's all so vocal. He should be positive, let the game develop"
- MR on Barcelona and their focus on ability, not age. The importance of physical literacy: coordination, balance etc
- MR "ideas met with resistance because coaches are wedded to winning"
- Hosting workshops with parents to help understand the process and how to help the kids
- "objective is to not make boys feel like they're under pressure every time they are on the pitch"

Challenge Point...., by Guadagnoli and Lee (2004) in Journal of Motor Behaviour
- Skill improvement traditionally linked to the amount of practice
- Limited opportunity for practice and potentially small gains in expertise increase importance of maximising the benefit of training
- Challenge Point Framework = learning is intimately related to the information available and interpretable in a performance instance which, in turn, depends on functional difficulty of task
- Nominal Task Difficulty (NTD) : perceptual and motor requirements
  Functional Task Difficulty (FTD) : how challenging the task is relative to skill level of the individual performing it
- Task with given level of task difficulty, the individual of any skill level is likely to perform at predictable level..
therefore an increase in NTD comes expectation that performance decreases and rate of decline in performance more rapid for lower skilled individual.
- Information comes from action plans (expectation of success) and feedback
eg. For an easy task with high expectation of success, feedback from success provides very little information
eg. For a tougher task with less assured action plan (decreased expectation of success) means feedback provides information regardless of success or not
- Practice leads to redundancy - more practices leads to better expectations so less information to process
- As FTD increases, so too does potential available information (learning)
- Increased FTD = more information generated in performance of task, therefore increased potential learning benefit BUT only to a point. After that point, too much information to be processed and used effectively (amount of information exceeds the individual's capability to process efficiently)
- Increased FTD as performer ability also increases maintains optimal Challenge Point for performer
- CONTEXTUAL INTERFERENCE. Block practice increases performance but Random practice increases retention.
Individuals with differing skill levels: low levels of CI better for beginner skill level, higher CI better for highly skilled individuals

Darren Roberts Q+A, on PropelPerform
- athletes are athletes and people are people = it's the environment and paradigm which drive differences
- 4 key things to improve:
1. ENVIRONMENT - go somewhere with people who are better
2. EMBRACE CHAOS - Decision making, unpredictability and anxiety like in competition
3. BE STRONG - be robust, fix other stuff along the way
4. CIRCUS TRAINING - right way to challenge
- Injuries = NOT rehab, just a different training phase = focus the athlete on what they CAN do, not what the injury prevents them from doing

The Gentleman's Game - Dan Cater, on theplayerstribune.com
"After the game is over, all we'll have are these memories that we share"

Living and Learning with NZ Rugby Winners, on Irish Examiner
- key thing of the Crusaders is CULTURE
- Culture is "first competitior". It is also one of the few things that is 100% under your own control and within budget
- The players are charged with growing and enriching the culture, they must own it. To help this they held Culture Sessions: greeting everyone, integrating new members etc.
- Focus on togetherness. eg Management take part in fitness
- The importance of Story Telling: pick something from history that is relative to the situation. Helps provide a theme for the season that players can identify to (capture hearts and minds). Can also have training activities that tie in to it.
- Peer led coaching : help your teammate with weaknesses
- Feedback from players is discussed, challenged and if it is to be integrated then player presents to the group
- New skills = LEARNING PHASE: Passionate mistakes and Ordinary mistakes.
- Training is harder than competition
- GET COMFORTABLE BEING UNCOMFORTABLE

The Antifragile Athlete, by Martin Bingisser on hmmrmedia
- Antifragile based on Nassim Taleb's book "Antifragile: Things that gain from disorder"
1. VARIATION: need stress from variation to improve. Poison in small doses develops immunity
2. BACK TO BASICS: don't add on in order to fix. Flexibility = antifragile
3. KNOWLEDGE FOUND ON FIELD
4. TIME IS THE BEST JUDGE: basics not fads
5. IGNORE THE NOISE: don't always respond/interrupt

Whenever I have a free moment I am trying to catch up on various columns, articles, research papers etc - anything that may be able to help me learn and improve as a coach. I scribble down notes in my trusty note pad so that I can refer back to them. However, a few weeks ago I had a slight panic when I managed to leave my bag in a taxi - my main concern was for my two notebooks (one for reading, one where I plan/record/reflect on all my coaching sessions). Thankfully, TFL came through and I was able to get my bag back. However, it occurred to me that I needed to bring my notes into the digital age in case I was to misplace my bag again in the future. They aren't exhaustive or summaries, merely the small bits that I took from the reading. If I found it interesting, then maybe others might so this is the first blog entry comprised of some of my reading notes. 

Firstly, I must thank Jamie Taylor (blog here), Sporticus (blog here), Si Nainby (blog here) and Stuart Armstrong (here) among many many others for their posts, their sharing of articles and papers. All have contributed greatly to my reading and learning since I became a coach full-time in January 2014. This 'series' of blogs will pale in comparison to the work they do, however hopefully it may contain something of interest for some coaches.

by Damien Hughes on Liquid Thinker
- the story of Sir Alex Ferguson who used Bill Beswick when talking to his players about three bricklayers. The first bricklayer is solely interested in building the wall and getting it finished. The second bricklayer is there because it is his job and he wants to earn the money for building the wall. However the third bricklayer sees the bigger picture and takes pride in building a cathedral so that he has something to show his kids. The players were then asked which bricklayer they would be in the upcoming training session and season. 

10 Creative Rituals You Should Steal, on Dailygood.org
- Number 10. Engage in 'morphological synthesis' whereby you segment your thinking process into parts. Pick four to five adjectives or characteristics and brainstorm (eg for me, how might we adapt to not winning any scrum or line outs for the whole season). It encourages you to flip between extremes and explore the outside boundaries so that you can see your sport more creatively.

Telegraph article on New Zealand and Gilbert Enoka
- When thinking clearly and your attention is fully engaged then you are able to make your best decisions. This is referred to as BLUE HEAD THINKING.
- Distraction and intrusive thoughts = RED HEAD THINKING
- Under pressure, ability to think clearly decreases so you rely on emotion and instinct. Therefore you don't pick up on the necessary cues to make good decisions.
- Moving from RED to BLUE requires an anchor to refocus attention and re-engage in the moment. All the NZ players have an individual anchor.
- Culture breeds mental strength - nourish who you are, where you came from and what you are about to become.

Greg Schiano Article on MMQB
- Modern athletes require constant motivation and stimulation. Coaches need to be able to live within this organised chaos.
- As part of this, Schiano bought into the Chip Kelly philosophy of no meetings lasting longer than 30mins to ensure they are focused and efficient.
- Real success is leaving a legacy
- "I didn't know what I didn't know, which is dangerous"

No Days off: Nick Winkelman on blog.champssports.com
- "I'm the driving instructor. My job is to teach them how to drive their car more effectively."

The Power of Positive Coaching - Pete Carroll, on MMQB
- Carroll has a clear vision of how he wants to run the programme
- he seeks relentless competitiveness and the constant quest to identify and maximise the uniqueness of every player and coach.
- commitment to a NURTURING environment that allows people to be themselves whilst still accountable to the team
- Treat each day/session as if something positive is about to happen
- The importance of FUN and COMPETITIVENESS
- Sessions themed to specific aspects of the game
- Can you explain your coaching philosophy in 25 words or less?

The Essence of Pete Carroll's "Win Forever Philosophy", on Seahawks.
- winning forever more important than winning the next game. Constant focus on COMPETING, MAXIMISING POTENTIAL and MAKING THE MOST OF OPPORTUNITIES.
- Help players and coaches to realize potential and be as good as they can be.
- "To accomplish the grand, focus on the small"
- Win forever = ALWAYS COMPETE.

Always Compete: Examination of Pete Carroll's Philosophy, on fieldgulls.com
- The benefit of always competing = FOCUS ON WHAT YOU CAN CONTROL
- Approach every game with the intensity of a Championship game. This approach tries to avoid an overreaction to the result such as a decrease in motivation after success.
- The ultimate expression of his philosophy would be that players continually play one way - as if they are about to play a Super Bowl.
- Carroll stresses the importance of TRUSTING THE PROCESS. Don't worry about future events, focus on having best day possible today. Let go of the past both positive and negative.
- Training must be as fun as possible with a competitive element and to build confidence

The Seahawks Success Formula, on Forbes
- less focus on winning/losing, more focus on being at one's best - PROCESS OVER PRODUCT.
- 'Training is where we become/make us'

Pete Carroll's Positive and Profound Approach... on NBC Sports
- Belief system comprises of three rules:
1. Always protect the team
2. No complaining, no excuses
3. Be early
- BUILD CONFIDENCE, GAIN TRUST
- No such thing as a big game
​- Confidence and trust lead to focus.

As a rugby player in the UK you grow up safe in the knowledge that (2002-2003 aside!) New Zealand are the gold standard. They combine efficiency with thrilling attacking play and rarely lose. During my time in New Zealand in 2012 it was evident how ingrained rugby is in the New Zealand psyche. So for the next #CoachingConversations I thought it would be really enlightening to try to get an understanding about how New Zealand remain so consistently excellent and the coaching that turns the wheels of their talent production line. David Keelty is the Community Coaching Manager with GACU (now Aktive Auckland Coaching and Talent Development) and Harbour Sport as well as a rugby coach with North Harbour. 

What is the purpose of the GACU? 
This answer is going to be political, sorry! GACU was created to streamline the outcomes around coaching and coach development in the Auckland region. Prior to 2008 the four Auckland Regional sports trusts (RSTs) all reported to Sport NZ on their coaching work separately, even though most of it was similar if not identical. 2008 saw the 4 RSTs agree to combine their outcomes so only one report was sent to Sport NZ. That then allowed for more collaboration between the four RSTs around coaching. The purpose now, I would say, is to be the voice for coaching in the Auckland region. Since then, GACU has grown to become a significant coach development resource, one that Sport NZ utilises regularly to consult with/advocate for coaching on a national scale. However, GACU technically doesn't exist anymore. The name has been changed to Aktive Auckland Coaching & Talent Development due to changes here in the sporting sector.

Is there anything the GACU has put on or hosted for coaches that seems to get the best feedback?
We run forums for Auckland's regional sports organisations (RSOs) every year (sometimes quarterly, sometimes less than that) which always receive good feedback. This is a chance for the coach development staff from these organisations to get together and network, learn about what each other offers and sometimes we will provide them with some PD from a guest speaker.

We also run a programme called Performance Coach Advance (PCA), which targets performance coaches. This is a 12 month development program that involves four day long workshops with a guest speaker (these act as the 'what'), four forums where we unpack the content from the workshops (these act as the 'how') and then each coach receives a mentor to take the learning and help apply it to their contexts (this acts as the 'why'). The feedback for this program has been fantastic from the coaches involved. We are into the second intake of this. It is now a Sport NZ funded program but GACU created the concept that has now gone nationwide. 

What's the best/most useful coach education that you have undertaken personally?
I feel really lucky to be in the role I am at this stage in my career, as I feel I am getting some pretty outstanding coach education just doing my role. We have access to quality national and international speakers like Craig Lewis, Wayne Goldsmith, Dr Ralph Pim, Lynn Kidman, Alex McKenzie and access to the coach development PD High Performance Sport NZ put on also. Because of the open and collaborative nature of GACU (now Aktive Auckland Coaching & Talent Development) the conversations we have within the team are of real value too. I can flick an email with an issue I may be faced with to the team and this starts a conversation that often ends with a new idea or take on that issue to go away and try. We also find within the PCA program mentioned above, and any workshop run, the conversation and sharing of ideas between coaches, often coaches from different sports, is hugely beneficial. That is what most people feedback on.

If you could plan the framework, what do you think the most valuable Coach Education programme would include/focus on?
The PCA program mentioned above I think is pretty good. You have the 'what', 'how' and 'why' covered through the workshops, forums and mentoring happening. It is also a pretty good mix of a formal coach education model mixed with informal models. These complement each other really well to maximise learning I think.

I've seen on Twitter that culture is a big thing for you as a coach - in your opinion what is it about culture of NZ Rugby in general that keeps NZ so consistently excellent?
That is such an interesting topic huh! I think any culture is around people. If you have people pushing to continually improve and develop within a culture you are on to a winner. The AB's have worked pretty hard on getting that, on getting guys who will keep pushing to improve, to develop and to develop others around them. Guys like Richie McCaw, Conrad Smith, Dan Carter, Keven Mealamu are all pretty integral to that. Then the next tier of guys coming through are seeing that so that type of thinking starts to manifest so it becomes accepted to act like that. Have you heard of the book Legacy by James Kerr? It goes pretty in depth into the culture of the ABs.

To my detriment I've not had a chance to read it yet but have heard plenty about it and read excerpts. I think amateur clubs across the country now have players cleaning out their changing room after games to get some of the AB magic! Similar to producing players, what do you think NZ has in place to create so many high level coaches? - Gatland, Schmidt, Cotter, Delaney all in big roles here in the UK.
I think there are probably so many answers to this question. The fact that Rugby is our national game has a big part to play in this, as there are plenty of teams for coaches to have the opportunity to coach and learn the 'art' of coaching for want of a better phrase. The All Blacks winning the last RWC also plays a part in that too. For example, I think if England, Australia, South Africa win the RWC this year you will see more coaches from those countries picking up more higher profile coaching roles.
Personally, I don't think we do anything better/different in terms of formal coach development. However, in pockets there are regions/provinces that strongly encourage coaches to interact, share ideas and this also has a part to play in coaches developing. I think Rugby in NZ has a strong-ish informal coach development program happening, sometimes by chance but this a real positive. It can supplement the more formal learning.

What are the key aspects of creating culture for your own coaching? I've seen you mention a player-centred environment a lot, and players taking ownership..?
Yea I try to create an environment that the players feel they have ownership of. This has been more successful with some teams over others as I am still learning the best way to do this, and also that with each team I coach there are different ideas/strategies that will be more successful than others. We spend a lot of time at the beginning of the season talking about some key values we want to live by for the season, but then turning those in to key behaviours that we will all see at training, games and off the field. The key from there is monitoring to make those behaviours discussed become the norm.
I am also learning about how much control I can give the athletes depending on their age, maturity, commitment to the team etc. The under 21 club side I took this year was a really great learning experience as I felt there were guys in the team who we could really trust to take ownership of the culture, of the intensity we trained at, of the behavioural standards etc but about 1-2 months in to the season we realised we probably made a mistake in giving them too much control and not actually working with them to understand what we expected of them in this regard. Both we as coaches and the leaders of the team were getting frustrated with how the season was progressing so we stepped in and made a few changes which helped set things back on track.

I coach a University side so am particularly interested to hear about the U21 side you coach, what are the key things you keep in mind for that age group for their development? 
I guess looking at raising their awareness around what they are doing on the field, in terms of understanding the game of Rugby, as well as their preparation and review. Most of them have been playing the game for a few years so they understand the basics to a certain standard. A big belief of mine is 'knowing why beats knowing how' so I try to really instill a knowledge of the game so when they are on the field they have the background understanding to make quality decisions. I want the players to be able to adjust game plans/tactics without needing to wait until half time or a message comes on from us on the sideline.
I guess I have slightly altered my expectations of guys at this age group though over the past two years. Like I mentioned above, I am now more likely to drip-feed this kind of information, and the ownership of the environment to the players, rather than dumping these ideas and concepts on them all at once.