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MARK BENNETT MBE

An experienced & skilful Performance Architect who has spent over 30 years developing robust & scalable strategies & tools to help organizations, teams, & individuals maximize their performance potential & the people they are influencing.

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Mark has developed the ‘how to’ tools & strategies to increase engagement, learning, & performance.

 

He has also designed powerful interventions that support the change required to embed the behaviours & cultures that maximise performance.

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He has named this holistic approach the Performance Development Systems (PDS).

Mark Bennett head shot Aug 2024 polo_edited.jpg

About Mark Bennett MBE

With over three decades of experience working with & supporting global corporate businesses, business leaders, managers, elite sports teams, national sports organizations, & universities around the world, Mark has become a well-respected & highly regarded Performance Architect & a pioneer of the ‘Need-Centered’ approach to people & team performance.
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During his thirty-plus years working with people performance at all levels, Mark has developed the ‘Performance Development Systems,’ a robust & flexible framework with strategies & principles that can assist organizations & teams in building high-performance cultures & people.
 
Mark has extensive experience working with the elite British military as a training designer, manager, coach, & senior instructor. He has also worked with both individual & team elite professional & amateur sports globally, including full seasons, & world, Paralympic, & Olympic preparation. Additionally, he has provided support to teams & national governing bodies. Mark also has experience supporting global business & educational organizations, including schools, colleges, & universities.
 
With this real-world experience combined with his relentless research into individual & team performance, Mark has identified the sources of what negatively impacts engagement, learning, judgment, decision-making, communication, behaviours, & teamwork; the critical influencers impacting culture & performance.

In business, Mark has worked with global clients, directly supporting owners & directors to establish world-leading interdependent environments, as well as running training & mentoring for senior management.

Within sports, Mark has worked with over thirty sports at all levels & age groups. This includes grassroots, professional & international teams, national sports organizations, & Olympic coaches. This includes Performance Directors, Head coaches, & managers, & all supporting staff.
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Mark has also appeared on over fifty podcasts worldwide, sharing his ‘Need-Centered’ approach to people development.
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He currently works as a consultant, coach of coaches, & mentor with various professional & national sports organizations, teams, & universities worldwide, to help transform the leadership capabilities of every director, manager, coach, & athlete he supports. In essence, Mark makes people better “influencers.”
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Mark is also a sought-after keynote speaker who has presented globally to teams & national conferences, providing a more ‘real-world’ interactive delivery.
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Mark's most shared quote “Performance is a behavior, not an outcome” summarizes his approach to people development.

Watch & listen to client feedback -
 

Listen to an Interview With Mark

Strategies for Achieving Peak Performance in Business & Sports

With time highlights below -

Listen to one of the 50-plus interviews I have been a guest on.

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Here, you can hear, in my own words, my background, performance philosophy & some of my high-performance strategies.

 

Main timing markers -

  • ​4.10 - Introduction to my background

  • 9.50 - The common connection to all my working environments

  • 11.55 - What methodology similarities & differences are there in my Business, elite sports, military clients

  • 16.05 - Understanding why 'vulnerability' & 'mistake' are words that can be misunderstood in High-Performance

  • 18.35 - What is not a mistake in high-performance decision-making? Using a robust data, focussed review tool to conclude effective past judgement under pressure

  • 20.24 - A powerful military example of why people's different success criteria drive their interpretation of results

  • 23.48 - Comparisons between the Business developing cohesion under pressure & Military - micromanagement & the self-fulfilling prophecy 

  • 28.06 - The two elements Businesses do not invest in well enough

  • 30.08 - A simple example of accelerating engagement & self-awareness

  • 34.05 - A business example of identifying a source of any issue early & accurately

  • 38.54 - Why it is critical to review when something has gone exceptionally well accurately; what did we do differently & why this is often missed

  • 41.22 - "Slow down & be still in order to be quicker". What does that mean in High-Performance & clarity of intention

  • 45.22 - Seeing value; "you don't have to like it -"

  • ​49.19 - Placing focus on developing effective decision-making & the actual commitment to a decision

  • 52.25 - Having clarity of intention & commitment with UAEs

  • 54.01 - The route of many problems in relationships & Business

  • 57.36 - How to self-manage challenging interactions - one of my performance tools

  • 1.02.38 - "Performance is a behaviour, not an outcome" What do I mean by that; what you can & can't control

  • 1.07.57 - I ask the three hosts what their most significant takeaways from this conversation are

In 1983, Mark joined the British Army & qualified as a Physical Training Instructor in 1989. After completing the British Commando course in 1990, he served tours in Africa & took part in operations in the Middle East.
 
Mark began questioning traditional training methods in the early 90s when he became a Physical Training Instructor at a basic training regiment. During the initial year of phase 1 training, Mark's Platoon dominated every physical competition at the end of the ten weeks. However, he noticed that while his platoons were the most motivated & fittest, they were also the smallest compared to when they began training.
 
This led Mark to ponder his role as a Physical Training Instructor. He felt it was relatively easy to train individuals who were already motivated & accepted physical stress, but he wanted to influence those who lacked self-discipline & motivation. His unconventional approach drew scepticism from other instructors, but Mark persisted.
 
Although initially, the fitness level of the recruits dropped, Mark observed that more recruits were passing out. He believed that his principles would significantly impact the long-term performance of the recruits. As he continued to work on his approach, recruits became more self-reliant, mentally tough, & had an improved attitude towards exercise & discomfort.
 
In 1994, Mark transferred to the Army Physical Training Corps. However, he faced challenges in implementing his principles within the traditional training methods without being seen as a rebel. Despite the resistance, he persisted in pursuing his methods.
 
In 1998, Mark was promoted to Staff Sergeant & assigned to the 29 Commando Regiment, where he was in charge of the soldiers' physical & mental development. He had the autonomy to implement his principles within the regiment, which resulted in fewer injuries & failures in physical fitness. The regiment even broke military records & achieved notable milestones.
 
Mark also worked with elite sports teams during his free time, & his next challenge was to develop a training approach that didn't rely solely on him. This proved his biggest challenge, but after years of development, he established the protocols for long-term change.
 
After facing resistance & despite being promoted to Warrant Officer, Mark continued to encounter scepticism from colleagues & superiors at the Army School Physical Training in Aldershot. He sought a phase 2 training position to prove the impact of his system, even though it could hinder his promotion opportunities.
 
Under his system & education protocols, the site witnessed a significant reduction in stress-related injuries, improved physical fitness test results, & an increase in voluntary training among recruits. However, despite support from some high-ranking officers, Mark faced resistance from influential personalities within the APTC.
 
Ultimately, Mark decided to turn down a promotion & leave the services to pursue his passion full-time. His dedication was recognized with the Commandant Commendation & the Member of the British Empire (MBE) award from Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.
 
Since leaving the services in 2006, Mark has worked full-time with organizations & sports, providing advice, training, & mentoring to support long-term behavioural shifts linked to performance.

If you’d like more information about my services, drop me an email now

Dame Kelly Holmes MBE 

Double Olympic Champion

“Mark Bennett is professional, reliable and talented. He can inspire, motivate and connect with anyone he works with; taking their ability to a higher level to get the best results”.

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