Tier1 Human Performance

03/06/2026

This HBR article talks about how elite sports coaches make decisions under pressure…

What struck me was how familiar the process felt.

After 24 years in the Army, I expected sport coaching and military command to have similarities but what has surprised me is how closely they overlap.

The article describes three phases.

BEFORE THE DECISION
Anticipate scenarios.
Clarify roles and authority.
Control information flow.
Understand your people.

DURING THE DECISION
Regulate emotion.
Read the environment.
Read people.
Trust preparation and experience.

AFTER TGE DECISION
Review what happened.
Repair trust.
Improve the system.

Most people focus on the decision itself but professionals focus on the conditions that produce the decision.

That’s true in elite sport and in military operations as well as business.

Pressure rarely creates performance but it does expose the quality of the preparation that came before it.

Drawing on interviews with 11 elite coaches across major U.S., European, Australian, and New Zealand professional sports leagues, the authors show that high-pressure decisions aren’t a single “formula” but a set of practices that unfold before, during, and after pivotal moments—and translate...

02/06/2026

I read Brenton Sanderson’s article this week about the emotional toll of coaching and one particular passage really stood out...

When things started going badly at Adelaide, he stopped delegating. Stopped leaning on his assistants and stopped bouncing ideas off his leadership group. He started carrying everything himself.

I’ve seen this in the military, business and sport.

Real, sustained pressure changes our behaviour and the warning signs aren’t always obvious (at least not to ourselves). You don’t suddenly become incapable and you don’t wake up one morning burned out.

You gradually become:

😩 Less patient
😩 Less curious
😩 More controlling

You stop listening and asking for help.

You convince yourself that carrying the load alone is leadership when it isn’t.

I’ve been a leader in high consequence environments where ambiguity was constant, margins were tight and the outcomes were permanent. Sanderson’s description of leadership pressure resonates.

In every demanding leadership position I held I was never the smartest person in the room. Success was always built on maintaining perspective and having people around me who could challenge me, support me and tell me the truth when I needed to hear it.

Most leadership failures don’t start with incompetence, they start with isolation.

And the dangerous part is that it often feels like strength while it’s happening.

This former AFL coach says the job made him agitated and intolerant. He fears a serious incident if they are not given more support.

12/05/2026

Drops in performance don’t happen instantly.

They “leak” first.

You can usually see pressure before you see collapse.

Watch the athlete closely after the mistake:

* shoulders tighten
* head drops
* breathing changes
* scanning stops
* effort wanes
* frustration appears
* attention narrows

The next mistake is already coming.

Not because of skill deficiency…

Because pressure changed behaviour.

That’s why behaviour matters more than emotion.

Emotion is information…

Behaviour decides performance.

The best athletes aren’t emotionless, they just recover faster.

Trigger → Noise → IA → Action

1. Notice the noise.
2. Breathe.
3. “Good. Now what?”
4. Return to role.

Win the window!

12/05/2026

Confidence feels great.

Until pressure hits.

Then:

* doubt appears
* emotion rises
* thoughts get louder
* behaviour changes

That’s why confidence alone is unreliable.

Because confidence fluctuates.

Training doesn’t.

Elite athletes don’t rely on “feeling confident” before they execute.

They rely on trained behaviour.

The goal is not:
“always feel good.”

The goal is:
respond well when you don’t feel good.

That’s where the Reset Window matters.

Trigger → Noise → IA → Action

Pressure moment → noise rises →
Breathe.
“Good. Now what?”
Execute role.

Pressure exposes untrained behaviour.

Win the window.

10/05/2026

BAD CALL. BAD RESPONSE. BIGGER PROBLEM.

The umpire didn’t take you out of the game.

Your reaction did.

Every athlete has experienced it.

Bad call.
Missed free kick.
Soft penalty.
Wrong decision.

And suddenly:

* hands go out
* focus disappears
* effort drops
* the opposition plays on

That’s not frustration. That’s lack of training.

Pressure doesn’t create behaviour.

It exposes it.

The best athletes in the world don’t waste energy arguing with reality.

They reset faster.

Trigger → Noise → IA → Move

Bad call → frustration rises →
Breathe. “Good. Now what?”
Get set. Move.

Because the longer you stay emotionally attached to the last moment…

The further behind you are in the next one.

Win the window.

10/05/2026

Most athletes think the mistake is the problem.

It’s not.

The real damage usually happens in the 3 seconds after it.

Hesitation.
Frustration.
Emotional drop.
Loss of focus.
The second effort that never comes.

Elite athletes don’t eliminate mistakes.

They train what happens next.

We call it the Reset Window.

Trigger → Noise → IA → Action

Mistake happens.
Noise rises.
Breathe.
“Good. Now what?”
Move.

Pressure exposes untrained behaviour.

Win the window.

06/05/2026

Every weekend I watch the same thing happen.

A player makes a mistake …
And then makes another one 5 seconds later.

This isn’t a skill issue.
It’s because they haven’t trained what to do next.

Pressure doesn’t break your performance.
Untrained behaviour does.

After a mistake, most players:

💥hesitate
💥look around
💥react emotionally

But, the best players do one thing:

💪They move immediately into their next role.

No drama. No delay. Just intention and focus.

We don’t train mindset.
We train BEHAVIOUR.

Trigger → Noise → Action

Mistake happens → Noise rises → “Good. Now what?” → Move

That 3-second window after a mistake, is what we call your “Reset Window”.

You need to WIN this window, our Immediate Action (IA) protocol is the tool that helps you do that!

The Reset Window is where games are lost.

Or won.

13/02/2026

NPL season underway.

Owen McCloskey begins year two at this level, now with Altona Magic.

Different badge. Same expectations.

At this stage it’s not about getting signed. It’s about consistent, aligned behaviours week after week.

Consolidating growth from 2025…Preparation | Standards |Accountability all go to a new level.

The season is long. Looking forward to what’s ahead.

Get after it OMc! 💪💪

09/02/2026

The Real Lesson of the Super Bowl Isn’t Skill…

Millions of people are watching the Super Bowl.

They’ll talk about talent, plays, momentum, and pressure.

But the real differentiator at this level isn’t skill.

All the athletes on that field are skilled.

The difference is who can:

💪 Emotionally regulate and execute in big moments
💪 Make clean decisions under fatigue
💪 Stay behaviourally disciplined in the chaos

Pressure doesn’t create mistakes, it exposes gaps in preparation.

You don’t rise to the occasion.
You default to your training.

This is why confidence is overrated and the reason we train composure.

At the highest level, performance isn’t about feeling ready, it’s about behaving well … when you’re not feeling “well”.

That applies to sport, leadership, and decision-making anywhere consequences are real.

The Super Bowl isn’t won by who wants it most … It’s won by who can repeat pre-defined standards under the most intense scrutiny and the brightest lights.

03/02/2026

Pressure reveals STANDARDS:

In high-performance environments, pressure isn’t the problem, the problem is AVOIDANCE.

I see it across sport and leadership:

When the standards are vague, pressure feels overwhelming.

Confidence collapses when BEHAVIOURS aren’t trained.

When clarity is lacking around responsibility your emotions will run the show.

COMPOSURE is not a personality trait, It’s a trained response conditioned through preparation, clarity, and repeatable behaviours.

At Tier1, we don’t coach feelings. We train what endures when fatigue, doubt, and consequence are present.

Pressure doesn’t need to be reduced. Standards need to be raised.

If you’re responsible for people performing under pressure, clarity beats motivation every time.