Athletes devote years to preparing for their shot at Olympic glory, and behind the scenes, coaches invest an equally significant amount of time honing their skills to guide these athletes. At the heart of this preparation is the crucial role played by individuals like David Robertson, the High-Performance Pursuit Advisor at Own the Podium, and a driving force in Canadian Olympic and Paralympic Sports. In a recent conversation with David, we delved into his experience developing coaches at all levels, the similarities and differences he sees, to the preparatory journey of coaches and athletes leading up to the events like the highly anticipated Paris 2024 Olympics, and the role transformative tools such DISC Behavioral Profiling play in enhancing performance relationships.
Working within the technical agency supporting Canadian Olympic and Paralympic Sports, holding a role like David’s means having the ability to impact coaches and their delivery of the critical skills that affect their lives both professionally and personally.
But like the coaches he provides development opportunities for, David has followed his own pathway leading him to the role he holds today. Prior to starting his current role David was working within Saskatchewan Sport (Sask Sport), working with coaches to improve technically and holistically, to ultimately be more effective in their lives and in their sport. The programs David led at Sask Sport focused on educating and developing provincial coaches from both a technical and non-technical perspective. It was through these programs that David introduced tools like Athlete Assessments’ CoachDISC Profile to assist coaches in better understanding themselves and identifying ways they could be more effective in their communication with their athletes; modifying their behaviors to get the most out of themselves and their athletes’ performance. The program also prioritized improving the relationship and understanding between coaches and their staff.
David explained,
“Self-assessment and self-awareness really give you a better understanding of the things that make you who you are. It provides you with an insight into your personal motivations and behavioral preferences.”
David particularly highlighted the value coaches found in the inclusion of the CoachDISC Profile and how much knowledge could be extracted from a 12-minute survey which then produced their personalized 40-page report. He continued,
“The feedback from coaches was that the [CoachDISC] reports were really insightful and truly captured the essence of who they were, both in their working life and personal life, including some of the tensions and challenges they experience.”
“The written report in the profile really does tell a story, it’s a great narration about the person who’s done the assessment. It helps to paint a picture. When you hear a story, you start to connect with that on an emotional level. It helps people better understand themselves and the behaviors they prefer. It also helps them think about the people around them, whether they are similar or different to them and how they are currently communicating with these people, which may or may not be effective.”
“The idea that an individual can dial-up and dial-down different behavioral styles is really an illuminating thing, people can really connect with that. They start to understand, ‘This is how I am’, ‘This is how somebody else is,’ and ‘This is how we can be together.”
Modifying behavior to get the best outcome from an interaction is simplified and made easy by having an assessment which is tailored to sport. This means that scenarios used to develop an individual’s profile, directly reflect situations they would encounter within the everyday life of their role. Further utilizing Athlete Assessments’ suite of DISC Profiles, coaches can then use the AthleteDISC Profile within their program to gain a more thorough understanding of their athletes. The CoachDISC and AthleteDISC Profiles are applicable at any level, and the simple four-quadrant DISC model makes the information included in each individual’s DISC report easily digestible.
Drawing on his experience at Sask Sport, David’s transition to Own the Podium’s Canada Leads program sees him leading cohorts of coaches through an 18-month journey. These diverse groups, spanning across various sports; men’s and women’s; summer and winter sports; Olympic and Paralympic coaches; start by increasing self-awareness and developing emotional intelligence, communication, and conflict resolution skills. Nevertheless, David emphasizes the program’s primary goal: creating spaces for learning and growth, applicable in coaching and everyday life.
Drawing parallels between his roles in Own the Podium and Sask Sport, David shared,
“We’re aiming for people to understand themselves and how they approach different situations. The benefit of the program will happen during and post experience. It’s more about creating spaces and opportunities to learn and grow through process so they can apply it in their coaching and everyday life. We want people to be able to open their mind up to different approaches that can help them continue to learn and grow as Olympic and Paralympic coaches.”
David noted that ultimately, coaching at any level is about connecting with people on a deeper level and forming strong relationships through mutual understanding, highlighting that often the challenges we have in any role are ‘people challenges.’
He elaborated,
“If we can understand people in a more effective way and understand how we can be ourselves while using our strengths, that can really help to alleviate some of the stress that happens as a result of those conflicts and tensions between people.”
Additionally, David sees a key part of his development programs as being to provide coaches with the support to have a successful personal life outside of their role. He explained,
“The other side of this is looking at how we are as human beings who are also coaches or professional people trying to do a great job while having people back home, whether they are family, friends, or our pets, we want to be able to move in and out of situations and be the best person we can be for the people around us. We want to live that same life at home as we do for our athletes. It’s all about trying to find the balance between those two pieces.”
“You’ve got to find the best way to live your values and your passion and bring them to everyone around you; let that light shine out from inside of you and be your very best in every way that you can.”
Reflecting on our Athlete Assessments motto, ‘Performance Through People,’ David emphasized that, ultimately, success comes down to human interactions.
“What resonated with me the first time I looked at Athlete Assessments’ website, were the words ‘Performance Through People’. Often, we go down the path of asking, ‘What are the numbers?’, ‘How do we get our numbers up?’ Because performance is ultimately about a score, some type of quantifiable performance, but it always comes back to people and how we as humans interact. Being the best version of ourselves comes back to using our behaviors in the best way possible to deal with other people.”
With the countdown on to Paris 2024, there is a lot on the horizon for David. He’s set to usher in a fresh cohort of coaches into the Canada Leads program, ensuring a new wave of mentors are ready to make their mark. The inclusion of the CoachDISC Profile in the Sask Sport Program will also continue, bringing its insights to provincial coaches through David’s consulting work. And, of course, there’s the grand spectacle of the Olympics itself—anticipating record-breaking performances against the stunning backdrop of iconic landmarks woven into the Olympic landscape. Stay tuned for updates as we follow David’s journey and the exciting developments on the road to Paris 2024!
Biography for David Robertson
Currently David Robertson is the high-performance Pursuit Advisor for Own the Podium, a technical agency supporting Canadian Olympic and Paralympic Sports. He heads up the program, Canada Leads delivering coach development opportunities through an 18-month program. Program cohorts include a diverse range of coaches; for men’s and women’s sport, summer and winter Olympic and Paralympic competitions. The published research originating from Own the Podium continues to contribute to international understanding of the conditions which create optimum performances in Olympic and Paralympic level athletes. Prior to his role at Own the Podium, David developed critical skills in coach development at Sask Sport, where he was an Excellence in Sport Consultant, Manager of Coaching Development, and Director of Advanced Coach of Diploma. Concurrently David was Executive Director of the Coaches Association of Sask Sport. David has a master’s degree in Sport Management and a Bachelor of Kinesiology from University of Regina, Saskatchewan.
Biography for
David Robertson
Currently David Robertson is the high-performance Pursuit Advisor for Own the Podium, a technical agency supporting Canadian Olympic and Paralympic Sports. He heads up the program, Canada Leads delivering coach development opportunities through an 18-month program. Program cohorts include a diverse range of coaches; for men’s and women’s sport, summer and winter Olympic and Paralympic competitions. The published research originating from Own the Podium continues to contribute to international understanding of the conditions which create optimum performances in Olympic and Paralympic level athletes. Prior to his role at Own the Podium, David developed critical skills in coach development at Sask Sport, where he was an Excellence in Sport Consultant, Manager of Coaching Development, and Director of Advanced Coach of Diploma. Concurrently David was Executive Director of the Coaches Association of Sask Sport. David has a master’s degree in Sport Management and a Bachelor of Kinesiology from University of Regina, Saskatchewan.
Where to from here?
If, like David, coaches and athletes depend on you to bring them reliable and tested tools which aid in their development both on and off the ‘field’, Athlete Assessments offer a range of Coach and Professional Development Programs designed and tailored to your needs and prior experience. We also encourage you to take a look at our online library of free resources and contact us if we can do anything to help you and your team perform at your best!
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