Living the Dream with Curveball

Elevating Excellence: Jim Alenby on Unlocking High Performance in Business and Sport

Jim Allenby · November 9, 2026

Executive Coach · Entrepreneur · Leadershipin

Interview with Jim Allenby

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Podcast: Living the Dream with Curveball

November 9, 2026 · 39 min

Send us Fan Mail Send us Fan Mail In this dynamic episode of Living the Dream with Curveball, we welcome Jim Alenby, a high-performance coach who draws from his extensive experience in elite cricket to empower senior executives and business leaders. Jim shares his unique…

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Elevating Excellence: Jim Alenby on Unlocking High Performance in Business and Sport

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Living the Dream with Curveball

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Key topicsAlready Good. Now What?: coaching designed for clients who are not underperformingJim Allenby coaches people who are already good. After 20 years in professional cricket in the UK he works with Australian internationals, including IPL players, and in the last two years with CEOs and directors who arrive with nothing obviously broken. That changes the whole intake, because there is no problem to fix: the work starts with preparation, honest review and recovery routines that most high performers leave to mood or momentum. He runs the same cycle he uses with cricketers, rebuilt around a director's calendar, and tracks measurable outcomes so clients can see the sports process working. Listeners hear what to measure when the usual scoreboard already says they are winning.The conversation your team is avoiding is usually the one costing you performanceMost leaders do not lose trust because they have a difficult conversation; they lose trust because they let small issues become unspoken standards. In elite sport, Jim Allenby saw how quickly performance drops when players are allowed to hide behind effort, intent, or reputation instead of facing what is actually happening. He brings that same lens into leadership coaching, helping executives separate uncomfortable honesty from personal criticism so feedback becomes a route to clarity rather than conflict. For leadership, business, and performance podcasts, this opens a practical conversation about how to raise standards, protect relationships, and stop avoidance becoming culture. Sugarcoated: Why Your Best People Stop Improving the Moment Feedback Goes SoftJim Allenby watched good players go backwards on a diet of encouragement. Twenty years playing professional cricket in the UK taught him that praise feels generous in the moment and leaves a player with nothing to work on by Friday, while the feedback that actually moves someone is specific, unemotional, and aimed at the work rather than the person. He now coaches Australian internationals, including players who compete in the IPL, and for the last two years has run the same review cycles with CEOs and directors, where the habit is worse because nobody outranks the person being reviewed. He gives leaders the wording that separates a correction from a character judgement, and the review rhythm that makes corrections routine instead of an event. Listeners leave able to say the useful thing on Monday without spending trust they will need later.View all topics →

About Jim Allenby

High-Performance Coach for Athletes and Executives with Sports-to-Business Focus

14,000+ Runs in professional cricket450+ Wickets in professional cricket2012 Glamorgan Player of the YearAround 20 years Playing cricket

Jim Allenby is a high-performance coach who translates sports preparation and review practices into performance gains for elite athletes and senior executives.
He arrived at this work through a long playing and coaching career in cricket; years of interviews, TV and radio exposure, and repeated backstage experience with athletes made him notice a gap - few practitioners help already-good performers get measurably better. That gap led him to apply athlete preparation and review systems to business leaders and to begin writing and packaging those ideas.

His practical credibility comes from around 20 years playing cricket, professional media experience, coaching a number of Australian cricketers including players who compete in the IPL, and recently beginning a parallel practice for executives - roughly the last two years for the executive work. He also runs several businesses while building a portfolio of articles and media appearances to support his coaching brand.

Day to day he designs and runs preparation, performance and review processes for professional athletes and for CEOs, directors and senior executives; he coaches on in-competition preparation, post-performance review, and mental and routine practice. He regularly works with international athletes and Australian cricketers, and he adapts the same structures for executive clients seeking measurable performance improvement.

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About this episode

Send us Fan Mail

In this dynamic episode of Living the Dream with Curveball, we welcome Jim Alenby, a high-performance coach who draws from his extensive experience in elite cricket to empower senior executives and business leaders. Jim shares his unique insights on the importance of refining already successful individuals, highlighting the gap in coaching that focuses on enhancing performance rather than just fixing weaknesses.

With a rich background as a professional cricketer, Jim recounts his journey from the cricket field to the coaching realm, emphasizing the mental and emotional aspects of high performance. He discusses how elite athletes prepare for competition and what business leaders can learn from their approaches to maintain ambition and motivation over time.

Throughout the episode, Jim explores the significance of self-awareness, effective performance reviews, and the necessity of resetting goals for those who feel they’ve plateaued in their careers. His practical advice encourages listeners to develop internal systems for self-assessment and to embrace the process of continuous improvement.

What You’ll Learn in This Episode:

- The difference between being busy and performing at a high level

- How elite athletes prepare for high-stakes decisions

- The importance of self-awareness in achieving peak performance

- Strategies for effective executive performance reviews

- Insights on resetting goals for sustained success

For more information on Jim Alenby and to follow his work, visit www.playerschoice.com.au and connect with him on LinkedIn for valuable insights into high performance coaching.

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