"It's not down to gifted ability, it's about hard work, stubbornness and not taking no

Jason deVos likes a challenge! He also doesn't give up until he achieves his goals!! He is an object lesson in GRIT, Growth Mindset, Resilience...and all that stuff!!

Not only does he come back from being dropped by his provincial football team at age 12 to captain his country. He gives up a lucrative job as a TV pundit to become the Head of Football Development at Canada Soccer. This is a man who is committed to helping people succeed and he will do his level best to making Canadian Soccer the best it can be.

In this conversation we discuss...

• What his Dad said to him on the long drive back from the trials where he was told he wasn't going to progress.

• His blueprint for improving the environment for children in Canadian soccer clubs

• How he want's to make the system in Canada more challenging for players rather than having a 'culture of entitlement'

• His plans to change the coach development system in Canadian soccer.

• My thoughts on how he could do some of these things.

I hope you enjoy.

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A conversation with my mentor - Mark Bennett MBE

Mark Bennett is someone that has had the most profound effect on my coaching, my parenting, my management style and my life.

Mark is an expert people developer and has worked with people from all walks of life from elite sports coaches to teachers working in primary schools.

His approach was forged in the British military where he was a physical training instructor but it has now been used to help people in all walks of life to follow a path of excellence. It is extremely powerful and I was really keen to make sure that he shares some of his insights with the Talent Equation community.

In this great discussion we cover:

• The difference between 'performance' coaching and 'leisure' coaching

• How to decide whether you are on a journey of performance and improvement or on a journey of self delusion

• How Mark tries to make himself redundant by ensuring that coaches and athletes make good behaviour choices whether he is there or not

• Using 'covert tests' to help you ensure that learning has taken place

• Why most coaches need to take 70% of the content out of their session plans

• How to ensure that athletes make a commitment to the goals that they establish for themselves

This is an episode that you won't want to miss.

Listen in the player below or subscribe in itunes here