Elite performers often consider their organization more stressful than their competition. There’s a reason that crossing the lines, for players and coaches alike, becomes an escape. Though we often assume the escape is from life outside sport, what happens within the building can be just as troubling. 

Your organizational politics drain your performer’s capacity.

Organizational politics defined

This conception that the organization is a major source of stress applies equally to the HPKW and the athlete. Though much of the research in this area has been conducted with Olympic-level athletes, emerging research on the health and wellness of coaches supports a strikingly similar conclusion: much of how professional and elite sport is structured, including the unrealistic expectations, interpersonal relationships based on exchange and transaction, and team chemistry (or lack thereof) creates untenable anxiety and stress.