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!

The post Launching Optimist Performance by Ollie Phillips appeared first on Optimist Performance.

The waiting is over, the countdown clock has fewer than 24 hours on it and all the training is – hopefully – complete!

Tomorrow we leave and for the next 11 days I’m hugely proud to be joining 360-expeditions as a Team Leader, taking a team of intrepid souls to Uhuru Peak, the highest point of Kilimanjaro at 5,895 meters.

It’s going to be a stunning hike through rainforests, moonscape terrain and vibrant jungle and even before that and the peak there will be visits and stop-offs to help acclimatise. For example, we’ll be visiting some vanilla and cocoa farms, which is going to be fantastic.

I can’t wait to see how we all get on – individually and together – when it comes to finding our feet on arrival, co-existing in an alien place and getting stuck into the hard yards, because no two challenges are the same and no two teams are the same.

I may have sailed around the world, cycled across America and run a killer marathon in Sierra Leone but nothing can prepare me, or us as a team, for what we’ll face. It is going to be life-changing. Again.

Take a look at the trip’s itinerary, including what we’ve got through in terms of training to get prepared:

MONTH 1

Option 1
2 x 30 mins weekday walk
1 x 1 hour weekend walk
1 x 10 mins CVS

Option 2
1 x 30 mins weekday walk
2 x 1 hour weekend walk
1 x 10 mins CVS

MONTH 2

Option 1
2 x 45 mins weekday walk
1 x 2 hours weekend walk
2 x 10 mins CVS

Option 2
1 x 45 mins weekday walk
2 x 2 hours weekend walk
2 x 10 mins CVS

MONTH 3

Option 1
2 x 45 mins weekday walk
1 x 2 hours weekend walk
2 x 10 mins CVS

Option 2
1 x 45 mins weekday walk
2 x 2 hours weekend walk
2 x 10 mins CVS

MONTH 4

Option 1
3 x 1 hour weekday walk
1 x 4 hours weekend walk
3 x 15 mins CVS

Option 2
2 x 1 hour weekday walk
2 x 4 hours weekend walk
3 x 15 mins CVS

MONTH 5

Option 1
3 x 1.5 hours weekday walk
1 x 5 hours weekend walk
3 x 20 – 25 mins CVS

Option 2
2 x 1.5 hours weekday walk
2 x 5 hours weekend walk
3 x 20 – 25 mins CVS

MONTH 6

Option 1
3 x 2 hours weekday walk
1 x 6 hours weekend walk
3 x 30 mins CVS

Option 2
2 x 3 hours weekday walk
2 x 6 hours weekend walk
3 x 30 mins CVS

Those are the hard yards so far- wish us luck!

The post The next adventure: Kilimanjaro awaits appeared first on Optimist Performance.