What can doctors learn from elite sports psychology? With Steve Johnson. Episode 114

Doctors at Work

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Steve and I discuss the parallels between high performance sport and the medical world. He tells me that high performance requires focus on the individual, the team, and the whole organisation. As doctors, we need to know ourselves well, including our strengths, identities, and how we deal with stress. Performance, whether operating, an on call, the ward round, or something else, requires preparation, and routine, including ensuring that we arrive in the optimum state. He shares a simple breath technique that helps us transition from one context to the next, and need not take more than a minute or so. We cannot just keep trying to go faster and faster, we need to refocus on human sustainability, and as leaders we need to look at both excellence and compassionate care.
Wellbeing Science Institute CEO and presenter, Steve Johnson, is a leading wellbeing expert. He is a qualified and registered psychologist. Steve consults with leading organisations including elite sport, defence, government and corporate sectors. He is the current Wellbeing Advisor to the National Rugby League (NRL) (AUS), the EPL (UK), the League Managers Association (LMA) (UK) and the Football Association (F.A.) (UK) Steve also developed the world’s first Elite Athlete Wellbeing Management qualification for people who work with elite athletes. The program currently runs in Australia and the UK. In addition to his extensive experience working as a performance psychologist and wellbeing advisor in the elite sport sector, Steve has spent over a decade working as a senior executive with leading global organisations across a range of sectors in Australia, UAE, Europe and the United States. Steve’s academic credentials include M.A. Management and B.A. M.Sc Psychology. He spent 7 years as a University Lecturer; was the course author of Australia’s first undergraduate sport psychology degree and was on the faculty at Harvard Medical School’s Post Graduate Leadership Program in Boston, USA.

About the Wellbeing Science Institute

The Wellbeing Science Institute is one of the worlds leading wellbeing organisations. The backbone of the Institute’s approach lies in their holistic, positive and developmental wellbeing perspective that is supported by evidence-based science. The Wellbeing Science Institute strongly believes that self-determination leads to higher levels of engagement motivation and higher quality wellbeing outcomes. Therefore, learning and capability transfer is central to everything they do.

Listen at https://matdaniel.net/podcast/; https://open.spotify.com/show/1j8uLaUU1g5bYTRVuwUX7j?si=672ec26a73164d7f; https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/doctors-at-work/id1701284564; or watch on www.youtube.com/@dr-coach/videos.
Production: Shot by Polachek
You can find out more about Mat's coaching to help doctors create successful and meaningful careers at www.MatDaniel.net.