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Performance = Potential – Interference
Let’s unlock your potential and get rid of the interference
About
Simon Pietsch
I have always had a passion for exploring why we do things, and how we can do them to the best of our ability. Whether it was riding and racing mountain bikes in Canada, flying military aircraft under heavy ‘g’ loads, or researching ways in which to optimise individual and team performance as a PhD Scholar, I have alway been fascinated in human behaviour in challenging environments. For me, this passion really began when I became an Air Force pilot in 2001, where I naturally gravitated toward becoming a coach and mentor for junior military pilots. Over the last 20 years I have worked with hundreds of amazing humans – in sport, military, and medical environments – to understand their why, and have been afforded the privilege to coach many of them on their journey to becoming their best self. Being apart of this process is what motivates me to do what I do. As a father of three, husband, avid cyclist, and running my own business, my philosophy for high performance coaching, and team development, is to focus on sustainable healthy foundational behaviours first. The types of behaviours that are the hallmark of peak performance, yet leave us with the emotional energy to vigorously engage in all aspects of life. Once we have worked together to optimise your foundational behaviours, we will then develop high performance behaviours for you, or your team, to hit and maintain peak performance over the long term.
Understanding human behaviour and how to use psychology to reach our potential has always been a passion of mine, be that whilst flying military aircraft, coaching elite performers, or providing expert oversight for high performance programs.
My journey commenced over 20 years ago, when I became an Air Force pilot. Since then I have gained extensive experience training, coaching, and mentoring many accomplished people across a variety of settings in operational, training, sporting, and healthcare environments – nationally and internationally.
My experience is complemented by tertiary qualifications in psychology and research.
In my personal life I am married, have 3 children, a dog, and a cat. In the small amount of spare time that I have, I love cycling in the Adelaide hills.
What I Offer You
real life experience
Lived experience in high performance
- 20 years as a military pilot, with experience working in complex, volatile, uncertain, and aversive environments.
- Proven skills in resilience, flexibility, and mastering the management of the unknown at individual, team, and management levels.
- A breadth of experience in mentoring and coaching individuals and teams in complex environments both nationally and internationally.
- Experience in leading and managing large teams in a variety of settings.
- Skills in developing and evaluating high performance programs for work teams.
- Practice in performance optimisation for special force operators (SAS), military pilots, elite athletes, directors, doctors, and executive managers.
Science behind high performance
Scientific experience in human behaviour
- Bachelor of Science with a major in psychology graduating with distinction from Curtin University.
- Bachelor of Psychological Science with First Class Honours from The University of Adelaide.
- PhD Scholar in The Adelaide University School of Psychology, researching ways in which to optimise individual and team performance in complex environments with a focus on decision making.
- Professional research roles at Curtin University, with attainment of research grants as part of a team to investigate self-reflection and team debriefing in elite teams.
- Published works in the Journal of Sport, Exercise, and Performance Psychology.
- Awarding of the prestigious Australian Government Research Scholarship for exceptional research potential at a PhD standard.
- Trained in Workplace and Business Coaching.
- Cert IV in Training and Assessment.
The Process
One of the most critical elements of high performance is understanding your why. When we understand this, you can then discover what is driving your behaviour, and why you make certain decisions in your environment – especially when under stress or in conflict. When you begin to understand your motivational value system, your why, you will then be able to best align your personal values and motivators with the most adaptive behaviour for your environment. To measure your why, and better understand your behaviour, we begin by using the Strength Deployment Inventory 2.0, a tool extensively used in environments where high preforming individuals and teams are critical for success. We then build upon these results to develop an individualised approach to your training.
Approach
As a PhD Scholar researching individual and team performance in complex environments, combined with 20 years in the Air Force as a pilot and high performance manager implementing high performance training programs. My approach is underpinned by science and delivered through practical and credible approaches to help you and your team excel in complex environments.
By combining behavioural science and real-life experience, I bring a rigorous scientific approach, bespoke for your needs, to understand what success looks like for you. I then develop an approach to help guide the transition for you and your team to high performance.