Course Structure & Format
Leading High Performance Organisations employs a variety of cutting-edge learning approaches to deliver a rich, immersive experience for participants over the 3 consecutive days:
Action and Experiential Learning
- Dive into real-world scenarios through hands-on activities, bringing concepts to life and enabling participants to practice high-performance principles in a controlled sporting environment.
Practical Workshops
- Engage in applied learning sessions that equip participants with tools, frameworks, and strategies to unlock the next level of performance in their own roles, teams, and organisations.
Exclusive Behind-the-Scenes Access
- Gain unparalleled insights into Leinster Rugby’s operations, exploring the culture, systems, and leadership practices that underpin their success.
Guest Speakers and Panel Discussions
- Hear from a mix of Leinster Rugby leaders, and Smurfit faculty offering diverse perspectives on the intersection of business, sport, and human performance.
Peer Learning and Collaboration
- Connect with other senior executives to exchange experiences, share challenges, and co-create solutions in an interactive and supportive environment.
Reflection and Application
- Structured opportunities to reflect on learnings, align them with organisational contexts, and create actionable strategies for immediate application.
Leinster Rugby Post Programme Experience
- Participants will be presented with their course certificates at a special lunch & networking reception at a Leinster Rugby home match before taking their seat to enjoy the match.
This multi-faceted approach ensures participants leave with not only inspiration but also the practical skills, tools and insights needed to design ways or working and implement strategy in an ever-changing world.

Course Content
During this intensive three-day course, you will gain exposure to a wide range of topics and themes including:
Unlocking High Performance
- Explore what performance and high performance means in elite sport, and how to contextualise it for your organisation.
Leinster Rugby’s High-Performance Fabric:
- Experience Leinster Rugby’s systems, culture, and recipe for sustained success, with access to senior stakeholders across the organisation including the leadership team, head coach, players, and commercial team.
Strategy Execution in Sport and Business – The Connections
- Learn to navigate strategy execution through uncertainty, using confidence, ambition, and actionable tools from sport and business.
Strategy Delivery and Teaming – How to Measure
- Dissect strategy execution through a sport and business lens. Apply tools and thinking to measure and model effective ways of working and interacting.
Collective Leadership and Resilience
- Examine leadership dynamics, mindset shifts, and resilience in high-pressure, post-pandemic realities.
Harnessing Data and Technology
- Examine the role of on-and-off-field data in Elite Sport and consider how what data you need to drive performance and decision-making.
Winning Under Pressure
- Build a definition of winning for you and your team for 2025-2026.