Ollie Phillips: How to create world class teams

What separates a good team from a world-class one?

My guest today has lived that question at the highest levels. Ollie Phillips captained England in rugby sevens, rowed across oceans, and now runs Optimist Performance, helping teams move from great to world class.

We explore why most organisations spend 95% of their time playing the game and only 5% practising the hard skills of leadership and teamship. Ollie reveals how elite teams build unshakeable trust, why practising discomfort before big moments matters, and how momentum can be the most contagious force in any environment.

You’ll hear about Ollie’s transition from being the best in the world to starting again as a beginner, and how infectious energy combined with clarity of purpose creates unstoppable teams. If you’re leading a team right now, this conversation will give you fresh tools to unlock world-class performance.

You’ll hear about:

• Why practising discomfort builds world-class performance capability
• Creating communities through shared experiences
• Trust as the foundation of high-performing teams
• Communication that considers how messages need to be heard
• Red flags in team environments and cultures 
• The difference between never losing and loving winning
• Why 95% of time goes to playing versus practising
• Recognising progress without comparing yourself to others
• How momentum multiplies in both directions

More about Ollie

Ollie’s journey has taken him from international rugby pitches to the boardrooms of global businesses, across oceans, over mountain peaks, and into some of the toughest environments on Earth. What unites it all? A lifelong obsession with unlocking performance — in himself, and in others.

He captained England Rugby 7s, was named World 7s Player of the Year, and coached Wales Women and China’s Olympic programme. He’s swum the English Channel, circumnavigated the globe, stood at the North Pole, and holds four world records for feats of endurance and teamwork in some of the planet’s most extreme locations.

Alongside that, he’s held senior leadership roles at PwC, advising global businesses on culture, strategy, and transformation. He now sits on boards across private equity, sport, and exploration, and holds an Executive MBA from Cambridge.

• Ollie’s profile
• Optimist Performance
• Insights