Ollie Phillips – Founder, Optimist Performance
Like many former elite sportsmen and women, Ollie’s speaking is anchored in blood, sweat and tears. The crucial difference is that being a Director at PWC allows him to apply all of these life experiences to the business world.
- Ex-England Rugby captain
- World Sevens Player of the Year
- Second-in-command sailing around the world
- Cycled across America
- Led team up Kilimanjaro in 2018
- Leading team up Everest in 2019
- Guinness World Record-holder
- Director at PWC
- Motivational speaker, mentor & consultant
Time for a business MOT?
Latest
How to make your team-building event a success – By Optimist Performance
After months of separation, isolation and remote working, web searches for ‘team building’ are reportedly up by 24 per cent. But while companies use team building to bring people together and help build productive relationships, there seems to be one huge catch… A...
How to build your team for success – By Optimist Performance
Are you having difficulties maintaining your team's culture as it grows? Is hiring and retaining employees increasingly challenging for you? Today’s market is more competitive than ever. Coupled with a cost of living crisis and a UK economic downturn which is already...
How to be comfortable with feeling uncomfortable – By Ollie Phillips
It’s a scary fact that chronic stress is considered one of the leading causes of major disease. Contrary to the airbrushed and edited curations of Instagram influencers, life and work can be messy. Best laid plans can be brought down in seconds when life throws a...
The power of shared experiences – By Optimist Performance
“I wanted to become a doctor because I wanted to serve others…I’ve shared the lives of patients and staff members of the hospital, I've laughed with them, I’ve cried with them, this is what I want to do with my life.” - Patch Adams Movie When we look back on our...
Poor managers are bad for your health – By Ollie Phillips
"Poor managers are bad for your health". This was just one of the findings from CIPD’s 2022 Health and wellbeing at work survey, which identified issues such as including heavy workloads and ‘management style’ as major causes of stress in the workplace. The CIPD’s...
What does Pilates have to do with performance? – By Anaya Grover (Founder of Men Do Pilates)
Your productivity and performance are inextricably linked to how stressed you are. Working in a high-pressure environment is extremely stressful and can create an acute stress response in our nervous system called flight or fight mode. For our ancient ancestors, the...
Disconnecting while on holiday – The ultimate guide – By Optimist Performance
Once again, it's that time of year when everyone scrolls through images of sunny beaches and longs to be there. However, genuinely disconnecting is not as easy as we may think. Most of us continue to respond to emails, check in on our teams, and obsess over current...
How to use time management skills to prepare for your holiday – By Optimist Performance
Time management is always important, but when holiday leave is fast approaching and our mountain of work doesn’t seem to be getting any smaller, managing our time becomes even more critical. According to a recent study, 82% of respondents said they work while on...
Are you allowing productivity within your team? – By Optimist Performance
Productivity becomes increasingly vital in a fast-paced workplace where we seem to be getting busier by the day. Just do a quick search on the internet and you’ll find about a thousand different tips on how to increase it. However, productivity is a highly personal...
Building a cohesive team can reduce loneliness – By Ollie Phillips
Most people have probably felt lonely during the past few years of lockdowns and restrictions on our social interactions. Across the country and across all age groups we are now just beginning to experience some other nasty side effects of the Covid pandemic. Our...
Who cares if leaders feel lonely? – by Optimist Performance
We talk a lot about how leaders need to make sure everyone in their team is happy and comfortable. We appreciate how important it is to create a culture that promotes well-being and performance, but while leaders take care of the people they lead, who is taking care...
What I have learned about stress & mental health since quitting rugby – By Ollie Phillips
As Stress Awareness Month comes to an end, it leads me to reflect on stress and the journey I have been on throughout my career. The topic of mental health and stress should not be taboo. We should feel empowered to be open when it comes to verbalising issues...