Since I retired from rugby I’ve been involved in some life-changing challenges which have continued to teach me about leadership, team-building and managing change in adversity. As a Director at PWC, I’ve also learnt how powerful these things can be in the world of business so I set up Optimist Performance to impart that same knowledge in the areas of Teamwork, Leadership, Resilience and Change to help businesses & teams exceed their potential.

This website is also the best place to find out about my latest adventure tours – for example I’m climbing Mount Everest this April – and my broadcasting work.

Whether it’s been captaining England in New Zealand, sailing through 80-foot waves, cycling across America or grappling with a new corporate lifestyle, I’ve always been one of life’s eternal optimists, so the name just seemed to work.

Creating Optimist Performance

I want to thank digital and creative agency Redwing for devising the new brand mark, which I love. Redwing were great in coming up with ideas, taking feedback on board and allowing a step-by-step process before we nailed it together, across the website and also social platforms. The compass and mountain imagery gives a strong nod to my various adventures!

Having a compass is important to me. In a literal sense it’s come in very handy hundreds of times now, but I think it’s crucial that we have a strong and conscious sense of where we’re trying to get to.

In the past couple of months I’ve done some work with an exciting sports sponsorship agency called Dark Horses. As a business they’re growing rapidly in a short space of time, which is great but also brings with it headaches. Like any company up-sizing, they’ll face inevitable challenges when it comes to retaining and nurturing the same core values and cultures they have at the heart of their team and their business, and that means navigating through some testing waters.

Hopefully by sharing some of my own experiences, applying them to my new corporate life at PWC, and also by asking them some challenging questions about how they think and behave, I’ve helped set them up to do that and I look forward to working with them some more on their journey. They certainly seem to be in a great place and hugely well equipped to move forwards.

I myself am still fully embracing my current role as Director for Real Estate & Construction at PWC. I head up a team of incredible people, all of whom know far more about it than I do. In fact, I’m often asked “Ollie, what do you know about construction?!” My answer is that I’m not here to put on a hard hat. I’m here to help them wear theirs as well as possible.

Are you facing challenges in teamwork, culture, behaviour or leadership?

Join the long list of businesses benefitting from a day with one of the most inspirational speakers and mentors in the city. Contact Ollie at Optimist Performance now!

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