A Commentary on Winning formula, man management and the inner game: Commonalities of success in the Ryder Cup and Super Bowl.

I read Simon Jenkins’ piece with great interest, particularly because I recently delivered (December, 2014) a public presentation on Bill Belichick and Pete Carroll, as part of my Learning From Legendary Coaches series, focusing upon the intertwined story of how these contemporary American football coaches not only overcame adversity in their developmental journeys, but used it as a resource in order to do things differently in the pursuit of competitive success. Little was I then to know that their respective teams would face off in the 2015 Superbowl. One of the aims of this session was to stimulate thought about who we are as sports coaches, and how and why we operate as we do; and this seems to resonate well with ideas in the article around self-awareness, personal growth, and authenticity. Furthermore, the rare status of both of these coaches as simultaneously Head Coaches and General Managers of their organisations offers us the opportunity to explore further issues raised in respect of the relationship between leadership and management.