Most of us will never race at an Olympic Games, but the mental skills that drive elite athletes are the same ones that can help you excel at work, handle change and stay resilient under pressure.

In this Miles Ahead webinar, Gordon Crawford, Performance Director at Triathlon Ireland, draws on over 30 years in elite sport to explain how a high performance mindset is built — and how you can apply it in your own role.

Gordon has coached and led athletes to Olympic gold medals, World and European Championship titles and World Triathlon Series victories. As Performance Director for Triathlon Ireland since 2022, he has:

• Led the programme that fielded Ireland’s largest ever Paralympic triathlon team at Paris 2024
• Overseen the opening of the National Triathlon Centre at the University of Limerick, creating a national training hub for current and emerging talent
• Previously coached with Swiss Triathlon, served as Ireland’s triathlon team manager ahead of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, and held performance roles with the Scottish national rugby team and Motherwell FC

Using real case studies from athletes like Erin McConnell, Carolyn Hayes, Gavin Noble and Ireland’s mixed relay team, Gordon translates high performance from sport into practical ideas for work:

• What separates a performance mindset from simply working hard
• Why a growth mindset (vs. a fixed mindset) is critical if you want to keep improving
• How elite athletes reframe setbacks, “off days” and criticism into fuel for learning
• How culture, values and behaviours combine to create a high-performing team environment
• The difference between setting outcomes and building process-based goals you can control
• Why consistency over time beats occasional bursts of intensity — in training and in your career

You’ll also hear Gordon’s four guiding principles — Engage, Enable, Educate, Empower — and how he uses them to develop athletes and teams on the road to mastery. Throughout, he connects back to everyday work scenarios: leading change, raising standards, dealing with doubt and supporting others through performance slumps.

Whether you’re an individual contributor, people manager or senior leader, this session will help you think differently about how you approach your work, your goals and your own potential.

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