Sporting Edge Blog Exploring a winning mindset with one of England's most successful bowlers, Stuart Broad.

Beginning his professional cricket career with Leicestershire at just 20 years of age, Stuart Broad is now one of England's highest Test wicket takers. As Stuart takes his 400th Test wicket, cementing his position as one of the world's best bowlers, he joins Anderson as England's second bowler to achieve such a high performance and make history at the 2018 Test against New Zealand.Top level performance begins with thinking like a champion. How has Stuart achieved this? And what does he attribute his success to?Through exclusive interviews with Stuart, Sporting Edge have identified three key ingredients which make up his winning mindset; (1) learning philosophy; (2) goal setting; and (3) feedback.1. Create continuous learning through open and honest sharing of information.For Stuart individual and team performances are driven by constant challenge and daily information exchange among players. Stuart explains how England's improvement can be attributed to this learning culture, " I think we have developed as a team in the past year quickly as anyone in the world in the fact that we are always sharing how we are developing our individual skills... There's always something to work on whether it's mindset, physical, skill based and cricket is a great example of that because you need all three of those to be able to continue to improve at the top level".Technological advancements are bringing a plethora of learning opportunities, offering fresh approaches to learning. Stuart recognises the importance of harnessing statistics gathered from technology to drive the focus of learning, "I think at the top level you have to constantly try and change and improve. If I'm honest I think especially now with the amount of data available such as video analysis, the opposition can study exactly what your plans are and how you get your wickets so if you don't always try and move your game forward, continuously improve it is what we call it in the England changing room, you literally will stand still".What is your learning philosophy? Look outside your comfort zone to consider how you can challenge yourself and enhance your daily learning experiences.2. Be clear on the smaller processes which guide your dream goal.In this fascinating interview, Stuart places emphasis on the need to be clear on both your dream goal and the steps needed to achieve this. While a long-term goal offers inspiration and excitement, he stresses how remaining connected to the present and understanding how daily improvements accumulate to increase the probability of reaching your desired outcome. At age 14, Stuart expresses his dream, "I don't just want to play cricket for England, I want to win the Ashes. I've always set goals that are big and at the end of the tunnel stuff, but I do try and remain quite current and what's going to make me better today and eventually lead me on the on the ladder to the top".What can you include on your stepladder to success? Consider breaking down dreams into manageable process goals to focus your attention, encourage motivation and help you achieve success.3. Take time to tailor feedback to individual preferences.Stuart speaks about individual differences in feedback approaches, explaining how an empathic approach to feedback can build relationship quality and help optimise performance outcomes. In contrast to a one-size fits all approach Stuart comments "there are so many different ways to deliver and challenge different people but the skill to it is being able to adjust to each individual". Stuart explains how he places huge value on crisp, clear feedback, "I think it's important if you're going to give feedback to someone who is a similar character to me you need to come with the information but have backup on why that person needs to improve in that particular way. I seem to thrive off that sort of feedback the best, I love being challenged, I love coaches and team mates coming to me saying I think you can push a little bit better there or you can drive forward there and if there something behind that some information behind that backs up that opinion you'll have everything of me to throw into that".Do you consider how feedback preferences differ? Understand the feedback preferences of your team and consider tailoring your delivery style and strategies to the specific needs and preferences of the individual. Take into account how you can support your feedback with supplementary information, such as statistics.These three ingredients have been fundamental in the development of Stuart's winning mindset, key in his motivation and dedication to becoming one of England's most successful cricketers.To learn more about how you can create a winning mindset, join our next Winning Mindset Programme