Keith D’Amelio: Unlocking Elite Performance in Sport, Business and Beyond

Keith D'Amelio (0:03)

When you're talking about professional sports, everyone out there is pretty good. Everybody out there is operating at a high level from a physical standpoint. The best operate at a different level from a mental perspective. The best ones are active in the process. They are an active participant in their own performance.

And I think that's the one thing that time after time in my 25 plus years now working in pro sports that I've seen the differentiation between the absolute elite ones is they want to be involved in every aspect of how they go perform.

Aleda (0:37)

Hello, welcome to another episode of the Empowering Leaders podcast. Empowering Leaders is proudly partnered with Victoria University. VU is ranked number six in the world for sports science, training the next generation of athletes and coaches inside facilities that include Australia's only Altitude Hotel. It's the same pursuit of high performance we explore on this podcast week after week. Learn more at vu.edu.au.

If you enjoy listening to the Empowering Leaders podcast, be sure to subscribe and please if you have a moment, we would love you to leave a review so we can reach more listeners and empower more leaders. Our guest today is Keith D'Amelio, founder of Heretic Performance and one of the most respected thinkers in the world of elite performance, innovation and human potential. Keith has spent more than two decades working at the highest levels of global sport and business.

He has led performance for the Boston Celtics and Toronto Raptors, worked with Stanford University, advised the NBA Players Association and currently serves as Chief Innovation Officer for the New York Liberty. He has also spent 13 years at Nike as Director of Athletic Performance, helping shape global strategy around athlete readiness, performance and product innovation. Keith has been described as a visionary in the world of sports performance, someone whose expertise has helped shape the careers of elite athletes and systems behind some of the world's best organizations. Through Heretic Performance, Keith now works with teams, leagues, investors and CEOs to turn performance into something measurable, repeatable and scalable. Keith, welcome to Empowering Leaders.

Keith D'Amelio (2:12)

I appreciate it. Thank you for having me. Excited for the conversation.

Aleda (2:15)

Keith, I want to start with your work. You've spent decades in the world of elite performance in teams and businesses. What first drew you to the science and art of human performance?

Keith D'Amelio (2:26)

I've always been an athlete. Growing up, I played every sport and I would say it was a little bit of luck and some serendipity that led me down the path, but I've always been fascinated with performing your best regardless. I remember reading self-help books in high school. So it's always been something that's whether you're trying to be the best you can from a business perspective or on field, on court.

It's always been something that I've been drawn to. So I was fortunate when I fell into it, so to speak, and got the job coming straight out of my undergrad with the Boston Celtics.

Aleda (3:05)

Keith, when you look at and study elite performers, what in your mind separates the very best from those that are just very good?

Keith D'Amelio (3:13)

Yeah, the very best.

Right. And when you're talking about professional sports, everyone out there is pretty good. Right. Everybody out there is operating at a high level from a physical standpoint. The best operate at a different level from a mental perspective. And I'm not just talking about like their ability to focus or their, but I think their involvement in the process is one thing that I think separates the best. And the way that I sometimes describe it is, you know, a lot of athletes, especially team sport athletes, individual sport athletes are a little bit different animal because, you know, a lot of it falls on their shoulders. But team sport athletes can, they can kind of get away with just being passive in the process, right? Because, oh, they've got all these coaches, I've got teammates, I've got this.

But the best ones are active in the process. They are an active participant in their own, you know, performance. And I think that's the one thing that time after time in my, you know, 25 plus years now working in pro sports that I've seen the differentiation between the absolute elite ones is they want to be involved in every aspect of how they go perform.

Aleda (4:27)

So if you overlay that perhaps in the business world or people in their own space that are listening to this and you're saying someone who's active, that they're detailed, they want to understand why you're asking them to perform in a certain way and challenge themselves. So if you overlay that with your work with CEOs, how does that perhaps show up? What's something someone could take away from that being really active and wanting to be better each day?