Leadership AQ: Pickleball as a way to become more adaptable

Our ever-changing and challenging times requires the ability to adapt. Adaptive Intelligence (AQ) is more important than ever, yet it is often an ability we don’t focus on enough.

Leveraging proven methods from the domains of executive coaching, advanced emotional intelligence, peak performance, and applied mindfulness - Leadership AQ is a multi-modal experiential learning program that explores key adaptability fundamentals. Separated into the two categories, they include:

Mental Mastery:

• Cognitive Flexibility

• Decision-Making Under Uncertainty

• Future Orientation

• Growth Mindset

• Antifragile Mindset

• Situational Awareness

• Openness to Experimentation

Personal Mastery:

• Self-awareness of impulses and emotions

• Self-awareness of personal narratives

• Letting go of fears (of being seen, of failure, of letting others down, etc.)

• Letting go of limiting beliefs (“I’m an introvert,” “I’m not talented at that,” etc.)

• Habits: unlearning and creating

• Freedom from attachment to outcomes

• Getting out of your head: Flow state / performing under pressure

The sport of pickleball is widely recognized as an activity that promotes physical, mental, and social well-being. Its inclusive nature nurtures human connection, a sense of belonging, intergenerational relationship-building, and mutual growth. The activity has grown by leaps and bounds in recent years largely because of how accessible it is. The sport is easy to learn, yet difficult to master.

In the Leadership AQ program, I use pickleball as a platform for experiencing and deepening the learning of key adaptive intelligence fundamentals. The advantage of using pickleball is that pretty much anyone can participate. And all players can work together: youth and senior, inactive and super-fit, uncoordinated and cat-like agile.

See Your Blind Spots

Our psychological blind spots can lead us to make unwise decisions and perform poorly. This program is designed to blend important education with a fun activity that facilitates mind-body-connected learning. Embodied learning can uncover powerful personal insights. These include awareness of emotional triggers and ingrained narratives that form our biases.

When we become aware of our personal impulses and stories, they cease to be blind spots - and we can then be wiser with our decisions and actions.

For more details about the modern neuroscience around embodied cognition, see this page.

How It Works

Leadership AQ includes multiple sessions, both in-person and via virtual meetings. The program is designed to be eye-opening, fun, engaging, and transformative. Beyond just intellectual learning, it is a facilitated nervous-system-level education of adaptability principles.

Engagements are customized to meet the needs of specific groups. Here is a sample outline:

1. An in-person group educational workshop covering adaptability concepts, personal exploration, and leadership development.

2. A 1-on-1 virtual meeting session for individual executive coaching to explore personal challenges and goals - at work and in personal life.

3. A fun, team-building in-person group pickleball learning and playing session that brings to life the concepts explored. This session is taught by Pickleball Canada NCCP-certified instructors, with safety being the #1 priority.

4. A 1-on-1 virtual meeting coaching session for post-play introspection, reflection, and additional executive / leadership coaching.

5. A post-program review and debrief.

By elevating our adaptive intelligence, we will be able to more skillfully navigate uncertainty and show up at our best - both at work and at home.