The High Performance Podcast

Steph Houghton MBE is the current captain of England & Manchester City and one of the most recognisable faces in women’s football. Steph has 120 caps for England and represented Team GB at the 2012 Olympics, scoring in all three group matches, including the winning goals against New Zealand and Brazil. Steph has led Manchester City to two FA Women's Cups, three Continental Cup successes and the FA...

Nirmal ‘Nims’ Purja MBE became the fastest person to climb all of the 14 worlds highest 8000 meter mountains in 2019. The previous record for this achievement was just under 8 years. Nims achieved this in just 6 months and 6 days. Aptly named Project Possible, Nims delivered on his promise and what many claimed to be ‘impossible’. Previously, Nims served in The Gurkhas for 6 years before pass...

Singer-songwriter Kelly Jones is the frontman of rock band Stereophonics. Kelly was born in South Wales, has achieved more than 10 million sales, six No 1 albums and 11 Top 10 singles (including the chart-topping Dakota), along with 23 platinum sales awards and one BRIT Award. Kelly spoke about the requirement to embrace - and "walk towards" - vulnerability, in order to access creativity. He...

Our guest this week needs little introduction. He is one of Hollywood’s most sought after leading men, who launched his career in the cult classic Dazed and Confused and has since then has won an Academy Award for his portrayal of Ron Woodroof in Dallas Buyers Club and appeared in more than 40 feature films. Matthew McConaughey is an actor producer, director, philanthropist and best selling author...

Billy Monger is an elite motorsport athlete who suffered a catastrophic accident in his Formula 4 car in 2017 where he received amputations to both of his legs. The way Billy recovered and returned to the sport despite the huge personal challenges that lay ahead is simply remarkable. Billy has not only started competing at the same level but has also carved out a successful TV career. Billy tells...

Sir Clive Woodward is the head coach who led England’s rugby players to World Cup glory in Australia in 2003. A former England International and British & Irish Lion himself, prior to his full time coaching career Clive established a successful business career working for nine years with Xerox. During Clive’s tenure as Head Coach England moved from 6th in the world to being the number one ranked t...

Lily Cole is an author, actress, entrepreneur, philanthropist and former supermodel. Lily was well known for her modelling career but is now better known as co-founder of Impossible.com: a technology company that uses tech to solve social and environmental problems. Lily was the youngest model to appear on the cover of British Vogue, and was listed by French Vogue as one of the top 30 models of th...

Eddie is one of the world’s most prominent sports promoters and the current managing director of Matchroom Sport. He is the son of promoter Barry Hearn, the founder of Matchroom. Eddie’s company, Matchroom Boxing, expertly promotes more than 90 boxers, including several world champions such as Anthony Joshua. In 2018 Eddie negotiated boxing's first ever billion dollar streaming deal. Relentless: 1...

Steven Gerrard, the current manager of Rangers FC, is recognised as one of the greatest players in Liverpool FC’s history and one of the most outstanding midfield players of his generation. Having progressed through the youth ranks at the Merseyside club, he went on to make 710 appearances for the Reds, scoring 186 goals. He won eight major trophies, including the famous Champions L...

Jake and Damian reflect on the key takeaways from the incredible guests from Series Two, including Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, Dina Asher-Smith, Shaun Wane, Michelle Mone, Frank Lampard, Jonny Wilkinson and more. They both pick out their favourite clips from the series and discuss the behaviours and common themes that came out of the podcasts.   Thank you for all your comments and reviews this series, w...

Jonny Wilkinson is one of the most decorated and recognisable faces in rugby history. Jonny scored 1,246 points from 97 Test appearances, the most famous being his drop goal that won the World Cup for England in 2003. In a stellar career Jonny would accumulate four Six Nations titles with England and at club level he left Newcastle after helping them to Premiership and Powergen Cup titles and join...

Sir Ben Ainslie is the most successful Olympic sailor of all time, with four golds and one silver medal over a 16 year period. Ben had the honour of being Team GB’s flag bearer for the London 2012 Olympic Closing Ceremony, was knighted in 2013 and in the same year added the America’s Cup to his list of achievements, with victory in the most remarkable of comebacks. Ben is now the Team Principal an...

Frank Lampard is the current head coach of Chelsea FC. Frank retired as one of the greatest players of the modern era, with his legendary status cemented by his extraordinary achievements and statistics. When he left Chelsea in the summer of 2014, Frank was the club's record goalscorer with 211 goals from 649 appearances - a truly remarkable return for a consummate professional plying his trade in...

Reece Wabara is a former professional footballer turned fashion CEO powerhouse. Reece played for Manchester City and several loan spells at clubs including Ipswich, Oldham, Doncaster, Wigan and Bolton, before he founded Manière De Voir in 2014 - a sports luxe brand - whilst in the midst of a football career. The multi-million pound Manchester-based online fashion brand has reported a 187% year on...

Phil Neville was a serial winner in his illustrious 18 year career as a footballer. Phil won 59 caps for England and was a regular with Manchester United in the 1998-99 treble-winning campaign. In total, he won six Premier League titles, three FA Cups and the UEFA Champions League before joining Everton, where he was club captain and played 303 times. Phil was appointed England Women’s head coach...

Shaun Wane is the current England rugby league Head Coach. Previously Shaun was Head Coach of Wigan, his hometown club for whom he made 149 appearances as a player, from 2011-18 - a period in which the Warriors won three Super League titles, reached five Grand Finals at Old Trafford, won the Challenge Cup at Wembley in 2013, and were crowned World Club Champions in 2017. Shaun also won two caps fo...

Sir Chris Hoy is a true sporting legend and one of the most successful British athletes of all time with six gold medals and one silver. Chris won his first Olympic gold medal in Athens 2004, won three gold medals at the Beijing Olympics and cemented his name in the history books by winning two golds at the London Olympics in 2012. Following his historic hat-trick of gold medals in Beijing , Chris...

This week’s guest is Dina Asher-Smith, the reigning 200 metres World Champion and the fastest women in British history. Dina took gold at the World Athletics Championships in Doha having already taken silver in the 100 metres. She was also seriously impressive at the European Athletics Championships in Berlin in 2018, winning three gold medals in the 100m, 200m and 4x100m relay. Dina is one of Bri...

Portuguese dancer Marcelino Sambé is a Principal of The Royal Ballet. At just 25-years old, he already proved himself to be one of the most technically accomplished and inspiring stars in the world of dance, excelling in some of ballet’s trickiest roles – all delivered with his characteristic smile and optimism. Born in a poor area on the outskirts of Lisbon, his father died when he was 8 and his...

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer scored 126 goals in 366 appearances for Manchester United, but that doesn’t go nearly far enough in explaining his legacy at Old Trafford. On the field, the Norwegian became an embodiment of the Reds’ never-say-die spirit in their most successful decade, often scoring late goals when points or trophies looked to have been lost. The most special of all being the Champions Leagu...

The High Performance Podcast is back for Series Two! Thank you to everyone who has been with us so far and welcome to all of you just joining in. Returning for a second series, broadcaster Jake Humphrey and leading organisational psychologist Professor Damian Hughes speak to more world-class performers from business, sports, music and arts to hear their first-hand experiences and what lessons they...

Jake and Damian reflect on the fantastic guests from series one, including Rio Ferdinand, Ant Middleton, Mauricio Pochettino, Steven Bartlett, Robin Van Persie, Holly Tucker, Kelly Holmes and many more. They both pick out their favourite clips from the series and discuss the non-negotiable behaviours and common themes that came out of the podcasts.  It’s not goodbye for long though,...

Sean Dyche is the current manager of Burnley, having been in charge since October 2012. For 20 years he was a professional footballer making over 450 appearances, but he is best known as a manager. His achievements since joining Burnley mark him as one of the club's most successful managers in the modern era. Sean steered the club to promotion to the Premier League within 18-months of his arrival...

Double Olympic Champion Col. Dame Kelly Holmes is one of the UK’s most popular athletes. Kelly is an Olympic, Commonwealth and European champion that has achieved seven Gold, eight Silver and four Bronze medals throughout her career. This includes her double win in the 800m and 1500m at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, becoming the first Briton in over 80 years to do so. Kelly won BBC Sports Pers...

Dylan Hartley won 97 caps for England, the most by any hooker, and as the England captain he had an incredible 85% win record. He led his country to two Six Nations titles – one of which was the first grand slam in 13 years – and a first away series win in Australia. Dylan also made 251 appearances for Northampton Saints and spent eight years as their skipper. His career was not without controvers...