Accelerating Excellence

James draws on his conversation with Jerry Dipoto to discuss everything from talent identification to setting strong values and the importance of resilience.

On today's episode we have Jerry Dipoto.   Jerry is the maestro behind the Seattle Mariners front office. Throughout his illustrious career, Jerry has established himself as one of the most influential and dynamic figures in Major League Baseball. From his days as a talented pitcher in the big leagues to his masterful work as the Mariners general manager, Jerry's journey is a remarkable testament...

James reflects on his conversation with Toronto Blue Jays CEO Mark Shapiro on talent identification and lays out a blueprint to help you build the best team possible.

  On today's podcast we have Mark Shapiro. Mark's career has been a masterclass in  leadership and innovation. He's a visionary president and CEO of the Toronto Blue Jays. Mark's a graduate of Princeton University where he played centre and offensive tackle for the Princeton Tigers football team. From his early days in the Cleveland Indians front office to his transformative leadership with the Bl...

James draws on his conversation with Jason Henderson and explores the importance of building an elite mindset, along with demonstrating several techniques to help you develop your own.

On today's episode, we have Jason Henderson.    Hendo is a retired Master Chief in the Naval Special Warfare Development Group. For context, the NSWDG, as it is referred, is the absolute pinnacle of U.S. Tier 1 special forces. Hendo is one of the most experienced Special Forces operators on the planet. He's operated during the most active and violent period the modern special forces era has seen....

James reflects on his conversation with Sir Clive Woodward and discusses building elite performance tech teams, what it takes to win, and how to set and enforce high standards. 

Today on the podcast we have Sir Clive Woodward, Grand Slam winning international rugby player and British and Irish lion, accomplished businessman. He was England's first professional rugby coach and led England to become 2003 World Championships in Australia, where Johnny Wilkinson kicked that iconic drop goal against the Aussies to clinch it for England.    He won 12 consecutive games against S...

In this lesson James reflects on his conversation with Ted Rath and discusses the importance of habits and understanding how they work, so you are best able to optimise them in your day to day life.

James discusses the importance of prioritising your development tomorrow, not your ego today, and examine why humility is so important in terms of optimising your development trajectory following his conversation with Gorm Thomassen.

James introduces you to a model that you can use as your own personal performance barometer and master the art of not panicking, drawing upon examples from his recent conversation with WBO Cruiserweight World Champion Chris Billam-Smith.

James deconstructs his nine key takeaways from his conversation with General McChrystal. Walking the walk, taking risk, and competitive environments to dealing with adversity, the role of belief and the power of listening.

Ted Rath has held multiple prestigious roles in the NFL at the Detroit Lions, Miami Dolphins and LA Rams. He is currently Vice president of player performance for the Philadelphia Eagles. The Eagles went 22-1 last season, making the Superbowl, where they lost on a brutal, last second field goal 38-35 to Patrick Mahomes Kansas city Chiefs.   I've been privileged to see Ted doing what he does best f...

Gorm Thomassen is the CIO of AKO Capital- one of the London's leading investment funds, managing around 22 billion dollars in capital.   AKO are one of those rare organisations that practice what they preach and have profound methodology behind the results they produce- that we'll explore during this conversation.    In this episode we're going to talk about how Gorm and his team handle hundred mi...

General Stanley A. McChrystal is a master strategist and visionary leader, the former Commander of special forces in Iraq and Afghanistan. The retired four-star general led the war on terror carrying out unprecedented success against multiple high value targets significantly disrupting terrorist networks around the globe. Standby for some inspiration as we delve deep into this exceptional military...

Chris Billam-Smith is the current WBO cruiserweight world champion. He recently won his world title at his beloved Premier League side Bournemouth's vitality stadium, beating his previously undefeated ex-stable mate Lawrence Okolie in a majority decision. Prior to that fight Okolie had never been knocked down in his entire professional career, Chris had him on the canvas three times that night.  ...

Welcome to The Accelerating Excellence Podcast, the podcast that takes you into the minds of some of the world's most elite performers, revealing the secrets and principles that drive their success. From the high-pressure stages of world cup finals, Superbowl's, and world title fights in sport, to counter terrorism, covert operations and firefights on the ground and in the air in the world of elit...