S2E20: Knowing What You Stand For as a Coach with Kevin Bowring

Kevin has coached rugby at every age group and every level of the game. He was the first full-time professional Head Coach for the Wales National Rugby Team from 1995-1998, Kevin was also Head of Elite Coach Development at the RFU for nearly 15 years and was responsible for the continuing development of England coaches, Premiership coaches and coaches in the elite academies. After 15 years as Head of Elite Coach Development within the Professional Rugby Department at the Rugby Football Union, Kevin founded Teaching Learning Coaching Ltd, a coaching consultancy to help coaches, leaders and people become the best versions of themselves - and this is why I am excited to have Kevin on the podcast. He has over 40 years experience as a teacher, coach and coach developer, and his perspectives have a lot to offer the high-performance culture. In this episode, you’ll hear the wisdom of a man who has spent his life in high-performance sport. To me, he speaks humbly with deep grace and has a vast amount to offer to anyone who supports athletes in elite sport.   Talking Points: Retrospective perspective of his career - what he'd do differently The knife edge between people focused & task focused Why the missing point is at the CEO level and it should be the next level of education The importance of being a critical-thinking friend to coaches The importance of knowing what you stand for as a coach How to build trust to be then able to hold the mirror up and give healthy challenge Why there is a dehumanisation of sport that comes from the over focussing on data of sport which defines athletes, players and coaches by numbers   If you enjoy this episode please leave a review on iTunes or Spotify platforms, and by doing this you will actively help spread this content to the practitioners who need it.    Resources: Men Behind Sport Support  The Coach Toolbox The High-Performance Coach’s Guide to Lasting Change Gaia Games Summit 2026: Join the Movement!   Daniel Goleman - Emotional Intelligence   Connect with Kevin: LinkedIn