The Leadership Development pilot has commenced as part of a Horizon 1 outcome for Australia’s High Performance 2032+ Sport Strategy (HP 2032+ Strategy). A requirement of this activity is to design and pilot inclusive leadership development initiatives.

The Australian Sports Commission (ASC) Leadership and Culture team as part of their work have taken on the task to design and deliver this pilot on behalf of the Australian High Performance (HP) Sport System. The program included a face-to-face two-day workshop in June 2023, two 3-hour virtual extension sessions in August and September, as well as on-going peer learning .

The initial pilot targeted members leaders from the HP System, including High Performance Directors, Performance Pathway Managers, Operations Managers, Performance Support Staff and High Performance Coaches .

The design focused on understanding what psychological safety is and how it enables high performance sport. It also examined the individual, team, organisation, and system factors which influence perceptions of psychological safety in sport, how to practice techniques to build psychological safe environments, and the development of an action plan to create psychological safety in HP sport.

ASC Leadership and Culture Consultant Liam Gooley is leading HP 2032+ Strategy Leadership Development Pilot and said: “One of the key drivers within this Leadership Development programme was looking at how do we actually sustain success. What sits behind that, what environments do we create to pursue high performance outcomes. This was the impetus for focusing on psychological safety within the pilot.

“By using psychological safety as a core pillar, we’ve been able to pursue challenging outcomes, hold ourselves accountable for delivering on that success, but then create an environment where people feel like they can show up, fully contribute and engage in collective learning activities that are required to not only perform, but continually improve. ”

Following a review of the Inclusive Leadership Pilot, the program is expected to be rolled out twice a year from 2024 onwards.