Penny Briscoe OBE has been Director of Sport at the British Paralympic Association for more than 20 years. She has also been involved in no less than eleven summer and winter Paralympic Games.
For the last five Games she has been Paralympics GB’s Chef de Mission – leading the team to an astonishing total of 290 medals.
This summer she will lead the team again, at Paris 2024.
She tells Honorary Visiting Professor Mike Sassi, she is proud that Britain is a world leader on the field of play. But her role is to make sure Britain is a world leader off the field too.
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welcome to the Nottingham business school Business Leaders podcast where Business Leaders tell their stories and share their insights all our guests have a personal connection with Nottingham business school so listen learn enjoy and share welcome to another episode of the notam business school Business Leaders podcast with me Mike sassy Penny Brisco OB has been been the driving force behind par Olympics GB for more than two decades as director of sport at the British par Olympics Association she’s played a pivotal role in shaping the team’s remarkable achievements and ensuring athletes with disabilities have the opportunity to Excel on the world stage under her leadership the par Olympics GB team has been hugely successful at both Tokyo 2020 and R 2016 where it ended up second in the overall midds table Penny’s passion for inclusive ity and her unwavering commitment to the par Olympic movement have won her respect across the globe they’ve also helped Britain become one of the most successful teams in the world this summer at Paris 2024 Penny who lives in naam will again be team manager or chef de mission to use her full title so Penny Brisco um it’s a great pleasure to welcome you here to the not and business school Business Leaders podcast great to be here so um thanks for sparing time cuz I know you’ve been very busy how’s it going yeah it’s it’s going well um we’re sort of just about seven months to go to the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 par Olympics and there’s there’s some strange phenomena that as the clock ticks into that first moment of the game’s year everything seems to to change it’s been busy but then it it seems to get even busier so I’ve been back at my desk a month and and it’s just been full on I’ve did uh I one trip to Paris last week I’m going back out this week um and we’re always juggling multiple games so we’re not just focusing on Paris we’ve got Milan CA as the next Winter Games and I’m currently writing our best prepared team strategy for the LA 2028 game so it’s never dull so so you’re juggling I’m absolutely yeah very good at juggling it’s a a skill that I’ve developed over over multiple game Cycles but yeah paris’s is looking good um I think that it’s been a really interesting cycle in terms of we’re very used to working in sort of four five six year Cycles so we could be on the ground five or six years ahead and obviously with the TR the the sort of um the covid impact on on Tokyo and the games being pushed into 21 in effect we lost a year of the Paris planning cycle so it’s been a truncated cycle um I think we learned an awful lot in the Tokyo cycle in terms of ripping up plans and starting again and and just actually being comfortable with that and being confident in our I guess our own ability to to replan and and re regroup um so yeah Paris is looking really really positive and I know the athletes are really excited as are their families and friends because you know it was a very quiet games in Tokyo with no fans in the in the St behind closed doors behind closed doors so with the proximity of Paris we’re hoping there’s going to be lots and lots of Brits in in the Paris environment and uh and cheering us all on indeed now as chef de Mission you were very successful in in in Tokyo and in Rio um what are the particular leadership pressures of your role I think I mean the leadership starts you know a significant period out both in terms of my director of sport role in terms of I lead Paralympics G ‘s best prepared team strategy so how do we go into every games knowing the environment being ready for the environment because every games is different whether it’s heat and humidity whether it’s the culture of the of the different host cities whether the different competition programs sport programs so you know it that that leadership journey is is a long one it doesn’t just get plunked on you here’s here’s your folder take the team to the games this we a long way out as well isn’t it I mean you start preparing for this year’s games in well F around five to six years so we try once the host city is announced to get on the ground get our towels down if you like um and just really I guess embed ourselves in the culture find out you know make those relationships that ultimately come around to to sort of hopefully bear dividends you know at games time so it’s a long journey and for me it starts with how do we build a team so we’ll bring in 23 different sport programs together you know between 250 300 athletes and other sort of similar number of staff so we go from a very small um BPA team support of around 40 people and we grow that team to you know well in excess of 600 so it starts with Team identity and culture you know what are our standards what are our expectations how do we want to turn up as a paralympic how do you lay that down over a period of four five years 250300 people I think you were talking about there how do you how do you set down what you want I think the obviously part of being a leader is your your vision um and I think I have a a very clear Vision in terms of how I think you know par Olympics GB should turn up to the games and you know we’re a world leading Nation on the field of play but I also expect us to be a world leading Nation off the field of play so it’s everything that we do in terms of I guess our standards of behavior how we engage with the the different stakeholders uh how we compete how we deliver our IND individual roles as staff members um we did a brilliant piece of work going into into uh Tokyo with our athletes commission called winning behaviors so rather than having a code of conduct I wanted to flip that on its head rather than what we won’t do or what you can’t do as a team member what we will do so you know what what we want to see what we want to hear what we want to feel and what we commit to because that’s interesting because there was there were a lot of worries complaints a bit of In from from teams around the world at previous games and I noticed that and you made a big point of not getting involved in that of always was I trying to get your I kept seeing British paralympians in front of the camera always accentuating the positive always saying well yes you know whether it was accommodation or it was facilities or whatever but was all po absolutely I mean that I think you’re referring to obviously Rio and Tokyo were different games but the challenge with Rio was was the city going bankrupt were the paral Olympics even going to happen uh was the V and venues going to be ready and I think in terms of my leadership in Rio uh there was a deliberate move for me to be on the ground early to try and quell some of the disire and and feed positive messaging back into to the team in the UK um but there were some challenges and I think as a leader you want to try and absorb those and dissipate the the the challenges rather than put them on to other people so we just had a plan in terms of me and my my senior leadership team that when the athletes arrived it would our our accommodation our building would look like a home from home and and there was a lot of hard work that went on behind the seams but when the when the athletes arrived they wondered what the the the you know the noise was all about because we had a brilliant accommodation and whilst other nations were bashing the organizing committee um we tried to work with the organizing committee and we’ve got the resource to be able to do that but for me never dwell on the negatives just just try and take control and and create the best possible environment that you can and do you think that impacts in the end of the medals tables both both par Olympics you were second in the medals table what 250 300 medals perhaps do you think that is all part has an impact it feeds into that I think there’s a there’s a bigger picture to understand in terms of the role that I play and my team contributes to is that we are we have a strategy that talks about building the team we have a strategy that talks about understanding the environment so that we all go in with the right tool kit to be able to deliver we talk about being ready so games ready for our roles for the environment for the team and we have a very unique role in terms of leading and creating the environment so it all of that hard work five six years whatever it might be we create the environments where 23 different sport teams can Thrive so we talk about thriving in the team environment so that’s very much you know know the the work that that we do and on a day-to-day basis it’s the work of the national governing bodies the performance directors uh the head coaches the scientists the administrators uh the Medics so it’s very much a team effort in terms of you know the the sports leading their preparation and competition programs and then us coming together as a one but without that being a sort of harmonious one I think it’s very difficult for for us to that ambition which is for us to thrive in environment and for us to have a positive team experience as well as obviously being successful so we don’t just talk about success so we want to perform well but it’s the how of our what so do we win well do we have a positive team experience and and do we we carry oursel as that world leading team on and off the field of play Okay so let’s go back to the beginning for yourself and and your leadership um while you were at University you canoed for Britain uh internation International Sports with yourself then you went into a bit of secondary school teaching but then you went back to be an international coach how long did it take you to decide what you really wanted to do I think from a very early age I love sport I’m an absolute Sports notot I play it I watch it I you know I’m I’m a parent of kids that do Sport and have have done sport um all their lives so I think I’ve I really value sport both in terms of you know I guess the societal impact that sport has and you know I I guess in this day and age as well health and well-being both physical and mental sport can play a huge role in in that so um I really do believe in in the power of sport um back in the day when I was a a sort of a mid teenager there weren’t too many options I I wanted to do something to do with sport um but you really had sort of to be a PE teacher or maybe a physio I definitely wasn’t sort of intelligent enough to be a medic or anything like that but did you know that you how do I put this gu being crude do you know you’d be in charge you know you people would look up to you um I I’ve got some old pictures probably from when I was 9 10 11 and I was the team captain at netball and I’m there in the middle of the picture with a ball and maybe you know that that that was I guess the start of something that hadn’t wasn’t necessarily planned but clearly I enjoyed being a leader um maybe I was a little bit bossy and you know I’ve certainly had to evolve in terms of my thinking and I’m not always right and and and and um but yeah so I went down the teaching route because I I’d done some coaching alongside my paddling um and I obviously did a a a PGC at lbra I did my teaching practice at West Bridford school um had a had a brilliant time there and and that transition into a sort of a teaching role was was quite easy um but I think that I didn’t achieve what I wanted to do as an athlete I never made the Olympics as an athlete I competed for GB um but I didn’t make that you know that that was the Pinnacle so you’re driven by a bit of unfinished business then yeah absolutely absolutely and in 19996 a part-time not a part-time a short-term contract came up at British Cano in and I I’ve been doing some coaching with the under the under 18s under 23s done some work at our home um world championships in 1995 um with the team and uh I got that role and it was a it was a huge leap of faith and I think it it wasn’t something I’d done as an athlete so I never committed to training full-time as an athlete and you get into that lifestyle of you get your first job you buy a car they’re always seems to be commitments and I I never sort of was able to reel back from that so you’re training early training late it’s not optimal and and I guess I I sort of had regrets in terms of how I went about my sort of career as an athlete but you’re taking a chance going from a a very clear permanent potentially permanent job Clear teaching Pathway to taking a chance on a temporary contract yeah I loved my sport you know it was all about an opportunity to be a coach a professional coach in my sport leader and and you know I guess a step on a on the on the ladder of of leadership um and it was an incredible year you know we spent so many days away in in America training and getting ready for Atlanta and and I knew that that sort of I wanted to try and stay in sport rather than in education if I could and there was a sort of an interim period of uncertainty where what you know was my contract going to be extended and and it and it wasn’t for a little while but then Lottery funding came in and British canoeing was successful um we got you know onto that sort of Lottery uh funding award system um and then you know I had a permanent contract and and sort of the rest is history really see you were appointed director of the British par Olympic Association in the early 2000s um um you were at the at the top of your at the top of your profession there weren’t many women in administrative roles within within um within sport able boded or par Olympic how was that yeah I mean you’re you’re right Mike I think that even when I was in caning in coaching there were so few females you know I think I was was one of the few globally to be working on the sort of the circuit if you like um you found a few more physios going back to my you teach or you a physio um and then when I came across to par Olympics GB in 2001 I was I had a manager post and my director left uh and I was kind of in the driving seat really uh but I do think it’s sometimes to do with timing that at that point in par Olympic sport that there wasn’t the profile and and there were great athletes there were great people committed passionate people um but there were two full-time roles in all of our Sports at that time one in athletics um technical director one in swimming in Paris sport yeah and they were both males so for me to sort of secure that that directorship was I think significant um but I think it was also a reflection on the movement the par Olympic movement it’s a very welcoming movement um it’s very inclusive by definition it’s a diff it’s different culturally it’s different structurally to to the Olympic and and professional uh sport structures but that’s a role which you have shaped haven’t you because you’ve done it for 20 years it was it was you’ve explained it was a in in early days it was it was out on its own but now you’ve built it into what it is yeah I think I just felt I suppose a different set of emotions when I first arrived I I just assumed that paralympic Olympic were sort of parallel universes but what I hadn’t picked necessarily picked up is that the Olympic history was probably a 100 years longer than the par Olympic history um and therefore it was far more Developmental and and those first few months as a manager it was like KY this is a bit sport development and I’m not sure that’s my skill set and and I did have some worries that I wasn’t going to be able to sort of have an impact and it was a case of well I can either moan and groan and or or roll my sleeves up step inside into that sort of Uncertain environment and try and make a difference and and I guess I’ve been striving to ensure parity in terms of the level of support for par athletes um the sort of the the the expertise to be able to ensure that the programs and support and the funding are Equitable uh to those on the on the Olympic programs so and and an important part of that success has been your role as as shf Miss at the two par Olympics um what difference have you brought did you bring in that role I I think from my perspective it’s been very much about creating environments where both athletes and staff can Thrive never underestimating the hard work that goes into that journey and wanting to ensure that we as as par Olympics GB uh actually create those environments where people can Thrive and they can have a positive team experience and and I and I guess having that vision and wanting to pull out all the stops so a whether you’re an athlete or or a staff team member you can deliver your personal bests you can you know you can achieve and deliver against your dreams and and that is is is a hugely powerful driving force I me you must love it I know that sounds like I don’t mean to be tried but your leadership is is based on being a great team manager you’ve you’ve talked and written about being a a people person about taking on a role that you love you’ve done it for well you’ve done the overall par Olympics for for 20 years but as as as team manager the last two Olympics very very successful is that an important part of it the fact that you love it so much that you live and breathe it I I love Sport and I love the games whether it’s the two Olympic games that I did as a senior National coach in Atlanta and Sydney H and then the how however I think it’s 11 par Olympic Games summer and winter um and just a sort of little anecdote I was in Vancouver in 2010 and it was just setup period the athletes weren’t in yet and I I real I stopped I was walking around the village and I realized I was kind of bouncing and and I think it just sort of struck home how much I really enjoy the game’s environment and building you know for that moment where you know we create those incredible environments that are you know whether it be the pregame prep or or the the games time environments themselves that you know really hopefully add value to athlete preparation and performance um so every games is different you know I’ve had the opportunity to to travel to North America and Europe and Asia uh I love sort of being in different countries and sort of pitting you WS against the different against with the different cultures so how do you how do you I guess navigate to ensure that the outcomes that you’re looking for are best for the team so that can be challenging with different cultures and that is in itself is is brilliant and every team is different you know I don’t know how many athletes I’ve had the the honor of of leading and and and work working for um but it’s probably you know at least a thousand in terms of there about 50% turnover of athletes and staff every games um and I think just it feels like a a real family parasport and you know there’s athletes I’ve known and staff members for 20 years and they do feel like you know we’re part of a family and and seeing how they’ve grown you know even Rich Whitehead you know obviously famous Nottingham athlete I first met him from in in 200 six and he was playing ice Sledge hockey and then you know he transformed himself into obviously a marathon runner and then a sprinter and and just being just feel really privileged to be part of of these athlete Journeys and to see how they grow as humans as well as as as athletes okay I just want to ask you about dealing with disappointment because there was there was was one blip you wanted to be shf mission in 2012 you didn’t get that job and you I think I’ve read something that you’ve written where you went back and had a reassessment because you wanted that role and it didn’t quite work out for you you dealt with that came back even stronger subsequent Olympics and I know that leaders often struggle to to to deal with with change and disappointment how did you do that yeah so the the context there is that we got a new CEO in in 2011 the previous CEO had been Chef to Mission so had sort of combined a sort of business role with a team role uh and our our uh Chief execu in 2011 decided that’s not my skill set I want to focus on the business um great communicator and wanted to do both sort of national international relations so I thought I’d put forward a really strong case in terms of his options if it wasn’t going to be him who it might be and uh and ultimately you make a he made a decision that that didn’t go in my favor and I was just absolutely gutted um you know it was our home games could you imagine leading the team in London leading the team out in in a stadum filled with a 100,000 adoring uh fans and um and it sort of like it it sort of rocked me um and I did take a a few moments to reflect and and what It ultimately came down to is what a hypocrite I would have been if I’d have walked away at that stage because I love parasport I love everything about the movement and you know our home games was hugely significant in terms terms of raising I knew it was going to be hugely significant in terms of raising the profile of of of our athletes of of the the British team of the movement and to have walked away at that stage would have you know my authenticity would be would have been questioned so it was just it was just a um you know how long did it take you in physical time to to grit your teeth and and get on with it not very long not very long I got I got over it you know at the end of the day you know to be a good leader it’s not about you it’s about the team it’s about other people and and it’s it’s about I guess continuing to contribute and so I just set my stall out that I was going to continue to be the best director of sport I could be the best Deputy Chef to Mission that I could be and uh and and to see what happened OB did very well because subsequently ragingly successful yeah and the guy that didn’t recruit me in in 12 um then appointed me in in 14 and and it was I can remember it to this day he offered me the job in Starbucks in Birmingham New Street and I did have a cry and uh and that was just for me just a dream come true to to lead one of the the foremost Global sports teams and it it was a dream come true what what a fantastic story to say why you should you know get over your mind of disappointments grit your teeth carry on Wow exactly so as you know this is a podcast on behalf of the nightland business school um uh where there were many leaders and would be leaders if you were to offer one piece of final advice leadership advice to all those people what might that be I mean I think leaders evolve I’m a different leader now than than that sort of 11y old kid holding a net ball and and you know there’s a lot a lot of water’s gone under the bridge so learn from your experiences I think that the whole that the the whole principle of valuing others is is is is absolutely Mission critical I think emotional intelligence in leadership so know yourself but know team and I I think just be authentic I think from my perspective I bring some real old-fashioned values into my leadership style so treat others how you’d like to be treated yourself you know punctuality good manners be courteous uh but I also think you know that authenticity and if if if it stops feeling really great to be a leader then you’re probably not doing Justice to yourself or to the team that you’re trying to develop because ultimately leadership is about developing others taking them on that Journey inspiring creating a next generation of leaders and I know there are at least half a dozen if not more people who are more than capable of stepping into my shoes at par Olympics GB so always keep an eye on who’s coming up as well and and just never be complacent so so yes and uh and perhaps be always looking towards the next leader bringing on the next leader absolutely I mean that that is an integral part I see it as as my role to inspire that next Generation uh of leaders but also supporters you know it’s an incredible movement to to be part of I feel hugely proud never never lose sight of of the privilege of being a leader uh and and you know just continue to to look ahead look to the Future and um and to being as good as you can be every single day Penny Brisco chef de mission of par Olympics GB um Good Luck in Paris and thanks very very much for being our guest on the not business school Business Leaders podcast as