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SBR Model: 5 Minutes with Bo Hanson

Bo Hanson
4x Olympian, Director, and Lead Consultant

A critical model that we at Athlete Assessments have developed and utilized as the foundation for all of our work with our coaches, teams and individual athletes the model which we call the SBR Model.

This model is utilized to understand how we need to adapt to varying conditions and varying situations. If you have a look at the top performers in any sport, or any endeavor for that matter, what makes them a great performer is their ability to adapt. I often use the example of either Roger Federer or the Williams sisters in tennis, what makes them to beat any opponent on any court on any given day is their ability to adapt to the situations, the changing circumstances, the court surface and to be able to adapt to the different styles of play from their fellow athletes.

I’ll grant that this is a rare condition that very few athletes get to the standard of these ones but it can be something we can all aspire to. When we talk about the SxB=R model, we’re talking about the Situation you’re being exposed to. So that includes having a great ability to assess the environment that you’re in, it includes who your competitors are, who your team members are and ultimately the impact of this environment in terms of how you choose your behavior.

So the B in the model stands for Behavior. This is where we use the DISC Profiling because the reality is, people do prefer to behave in certain ways. Given the environment we’re exposed to, it means we have to make choices as to whether certain behavior will achieve a better result.

So the final part of the model stands for Result. Before we are exposed to a situation, behave in a certain way, we need consider what result we want. For example, if a coach is having an interaction with an athlete and they’re trying to give them some feedback, how does a coach deliver the feedback to ensure that it positively improves the athlete’s performance but they do it in such a way that the athlete’s self-esteem and self-belief is intact?

Based on that situation, whether it’s half-time in a game or a training session, the behavior the coach chooses will be different depending on what that situation is and also the athlete that they’re interacting with. It’s not acceptable for us as athlete’s or coaches to simply behave on autopilot, that is to just do behaviors that whilst they may come naturally and instinctively to us yet we do them with very little thought of our situation, the people in it and the environment, though ultimately having the aim of achieving the best possible outcome.

Finally, the last aspect of the model and what we saw far few coaches and athletes doing is actually assessing and evaluating the result that they achieve and that’s reflection. To complete the learning process or the learning cycle we need to take time to evaluate the result that we achieved and to look back on the one thing that we have most control over; that’s not the situation we were in, it’s our own behavior.

Once again this is where we come back to the foundations of DISC, because DISC is all about developing self-awareness. When people understand themselves well and have this necessary self-awareness, they’re able to make better choices. From the DISC Model, the choices we have available are: “Should I behave like a D? Is that going to work given the situation that I’m in and the result that I’m looking to achieve?” Or “Should I behave like an I? Should I be the more interactive style? Should I behave like an S or a C?”

Ultimately, being able to choose what we do (how we behave) will enable to us to get better results. Once again, going back to what we spoke about at the very beginning, this is what adaptability is.


At Athlete Assessments, we’re experts in the people side of sport. We know sport and live high-performance every day. Our reputation and proven success at the elite level speaks for itself. The results that our National, Olympic, Professional and Collegiate team clients achieve directly reflects their focus on getting the people side right.

Looking to catch up?
You can watch all videos in the 5 Minutes with Bo Hanson series.

At Athlete Assessments we’re here to provide you with excellence in service and to help you be your best. If there is anything we can do to be of service, don’t hesitate to contact us.

You can watch all videos in the
5 Minutes with Bo Hanson series.

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Where so many other factors in sport, across sports programs and organizations are very similar, managing the ‘people side’ well differentiates the mediocre and truly great. DISC Profiling will take your team’s performance to the next level, allowing you to get ahead and stay ahead.

Our team packages include DISC Assessments plus importantly, a series of consultations via video conference. Our goal is to use the information of the DISC profiles to the benefit of your program and coaching and make it as useful and practical as possible.

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Bo Hanson

Senior Consultant & Director

Bo Hanson’s career within the sport and the business sector spans over 25 years, delivering leadership, management, and coach development. In addition to his own athletic career comprising of four Olympic appearances and including three Olympic medals, Bo has worked for many years with coaches and athletes from over 40 different sports across the globe. Bo was also the winner of the Australian Institute of Training and Development (AITD) 2023 Award for L&D Professional of the Year, for his dedication to L&D and transformational work across various industries.

After a successful career in sport including four Olympics and three Olympic Medals, Bo co-founded and developed Athlete Assessments in 2007. Bo now focuses on working with clients to achieve their own success on and off ‘the field’, and has attained an unmatched track-record in doing exactly this.

Headshot Bo
BoRowing-Atlanta Olympics

Now, watch us interrupt him for a round of quick fire questions.