Max Lankheit is the current Director of High Performance at the San Jose Earthquakes. Max's experience in the high performance sport world spans many countries over many years but sports and sports science wasn't always the goal for Max. In his more youthful years, Max studied acting where he discovered his creative flare and self labeled egotistical attitude that was quickly put back into place from his teachers and mentors. Although this may seem unrelated Max's experience with finding his identity and managing a healthy level of ego is what drove him towards sports science and high performance sports. With no major sporting/athletic experience of his own Max acknowledges that any good high performance manager of director in sports sciences needs to have a healthy level of ego, in an effort to build authority and ultimately a level of trust.
It's fair to say that this conversation with Max was not a usual chat on the podcast. We take an in depth journey into Max's perspectives, philosophies and beliefs around high performance sports. We chat through why it is important to understand athletes as people first and elite competitors second along with how to seek understanding so that you can cater for people's needs before executing on the process.
Max quotes 'People, Process, Performance' as his pillars for success and speaks to why these are so pivotal from his experience in the industry.
Without a doubt one of the most in depth episodes we have recorded with so many valuable insights and takeaways for listeners of all types, we hope you enjoy.
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Linked In: linkedin.com/in/maximilian-lankheit/
Instagram: @maxlstrength
Twitter: @MaXLStrength