In this Sport Fuels Life podcast episode, we have a very special guest who shares the valuable lessons he learned from working with Cirque Du Soleil. This extraordinarily demanding contemporary circus provided a master class on high performance.
Based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, Jean Francois Menard is highly regarded in the field of performance psychology. At the age of 25 and fresh out of graduate school, he joined the world-famous entertainment company Cirque Du Soleil, where he coached circus artists to handle immense physical pressures and perform their best (up to 450 times a year). Five years later, he founded Kambio Performance and has since become a sought-after mental performance specialist.
During the past four Olympic Games, the athletes he coached won 17 medals for Canada. His private clients are proven winners: Olympic gold medalists, X-Games and Super Bowl Champions, surgeons, musicians and corporate leaders.
Jean Francois Menard is a professional speaker for organizations such as the FBI, PepsiCo, RedBull, Cisco, RBC and NASA and is also a bestselling author of two books: “Train Your Brain Like an Olympian” and “Team Chemistry”.
His insights on achieving high performance are helpful to athletes, coaches, and more!
Key Insights: Takeaways from Our Latest Episode
- Performance Repetition: “Cirque du Soleil is that they can do up to 475 shows a year.”
- Audience Connection: “You’re not really doing the same show every night…you’re performing for an audience.”
- Energy Management: “When you perform so much in a year you can’t give 100% every show.”
- Quality Over Quantity: “If we have 60 cast members that give 80% of what they have every single show, we’re going to have a wicked show.”
- Learning from Clowns: “Clowns are some of the most fascinating, intelligent, savvy individuals I’ve ever met.”
- Being Present: “Where’s your phone when you’re coaching? … Just getting your phone out of your way…you’re going to be more present.”
- Making Athletes Feel Valued: “You need to make your people feel felt. Because when you make someone feel felt, you can do whatever you want with them.”
- Attention Span Issues: “We are in a society where we are so distracted…our attention span now is shorter than a goldfish.”
- Patience with Athletes: “Sometimes you’re going to have to dig a little deeper to convince them.”
- The Role of Coaches: “When coaches are very good at doing this, you become a better coach.”
Connect with Jean Francois Menard
Website: https://jeanfrancoismenard.ca
Instagram: @j.f.menard
Linkedin: @jfmenardconsultant
