GRAHAM SNOWFIELD

NLP Weekly: Making your leadership & performance second nature.  

Performance: Precision Requires Practice

Precision is often the quiet force behind exceptional results. It’s not just about working harder—it’s about being intentional with your energy, focus, and actions.

Precision isn’t simply about skill; it’s about the intention behind each action. It's about the deliberate practice away from the moment of performance. The same principle applies to whatever field you’re in, to whatever you aspire to be better at.

Individuals who achieve the highest level of success refine their precision through preparation, and continuous improvement. Precision is a dynamic process, honed by assessing and adjusting - by getting feedback on where you need to improve most.

Now here's the thing, demonstrating your natural talent at a clutch moment of performance, does not indicate precision. It doesn't indicate long term,...

NLP Weekly: Making your leadership & performance second nature.  

Performance: The Power of Positive Self-Talk

I forgot the importance of positive self-talk. True story.

When elite athletes push their limits, the difference between breaking a record and falling short often lies in what’s happening in their minds. I recently read Endure by Alex Hutchinson. He explains how much of an athlete's physical performance is shaped by their mental strategies—especially self-talk. For example, long-distance runners who used phrases like “I can keep going” or “I’ve got this” reported feeling less fatigue and performed better than those whose internal dialogue was neutral or negative.

Positive self-talk isn’t limited to athletics. It’s a cornerstone of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), a psychological approach used to help people reframe negative thought patterns. CBT teaches individuals to identify automatic...

For attendees of Delta Leadership Networking to get to better know speakers in advance of events, I created my own "Colbert-style" questionnaire.

Graham Snowfield, 8x Certified High Performance Coach, Founder of Semper Leadership Certified Coaching and Wild Walks Wilderness Coaching, and other local leaders for a conversation on:

• Single Points of Failure - how to identify & strategies to avoid / mitigate
• Deep Play & Deliberate Rest - the 2 missing elements of the 10,000 hour rule
• Winning Aspirations for 2025 - most effective ways to build & execute your strategy

Delta Leadership Networking Questionnaire:

Q1: What attracted you to live / work in Delta?

GS - my wife has had horses in Ladner for longer I've known her, which originally put in on my list. I've lived all over the place from Victoria, Vancouver, North Van, Kingston, near Niagara Falls, the Dominican Republic, plus a couple of stints in Guadalajara. I love the mountains, but as long as...

NLP Weekly: Making your leadership & performance second nature. 

Performance: Recovery as a Competitive Advantage

When we think of high performance, we often focus on pushing harder, going further, and doing more. But here’s the truth: recovery isn’t a luxury—it’s a necessity.

Recovery isn’t just physical. Yes, your muscles need time to rebuild after a workout, but your brain and emotions need their version of recovery too. Mentally, it’s about giving your mind space to process and reset after a period of intense focus. Emotionally, it’s about letting yourself fully experience and release what you’ve been carrying.

Recovery doesn’t mean stopping entirely. It can be active: a walk, mindfulness practice, a journaling session, or even laughter with friends. It’s about replenishing your reserves so that you can show up fully charged when it’s time to perform again.

What’s the cost of neglecting...

NLP Weekly: Making your leadership & performance second nature. 

Performance: Bring the Joy and DGAF.

Our lives are short. Hilariously short. If we live for 4,000 weeks, we live to be 80. I want to enjoy the weeks, the days, the minutes.

Yesterday when picking up my daughter from pre-school we were invited to go watch the "big kids" show off their Halloween costumes in the gym. Naturally the costume parade didn't begin on time. The walls of the gym were lined with parents and younger siblings waiting.

A couple of toddlers were running in short bursts into the empty space.

"Dada, I want to run." 

"Okay. You can go run."

"No. I want to run with you."

"Awesome. But can you catch me?!?!" as I run off into the middle of the gym wearing cat ears being chased by a 3 year old in a white cat costume.

We ran, jumped, hopped, giggled and laughed all around the gym until it was time for the "big kids" to come in. It would have been very easy for me to say we needed to...

NLP Weekly: Making your leadership & performance second nature. 

Performance: You make a decision every 12 seconds.

Okay, not exactly. I'm currently reading Endure by Alex Hutchison. It focuses primarily on human physical endurance - running, mountain climbing, adventure pursuits, explorers, etc. 

In Endure, Hutchinson discusses how any activity that lasts longer than approximately 12 seconds demands a conscious decision to continue. Once an activity exceeds that 12-second threshold, energy reserves shift. The brain steps in more actively gauging factors such as fatigue, pain, breathing, and perceived effort. 

Your decision-making to keep going becomes an ongoing process, with the brain assessing how much energy and effort are available and weighing this against the potential for exhaustion.

“Endurance” is not just physical. It is a mental capacity to persist. The longer the activity continues, the more your brain engages...

NLP Weekly: Making your leadership & performance second nature. 

Performance: 47 seconds of attention. 

Get ready for this. In 2004, the average attention span on a screen was 2.5 minutes. (Facebook became available to everyone in September 2006.)

Dr Gloria Mark shares in her book, Multitasking in the Digital Age, that the average attention span is now just 47 seconds. The median attention span is 40 seconds, meaning half of the observed attention spans are 40 seconds or less.

Yes, seriously. Do not be dismayed at this. This is the level of your competition.

When thinking about your own performance, having the discipline to practice paying attention, the discipline to sustain focus will be a massive differentiator.

Imagine the impact on your performance of being able to listen for 2.5 minutes. More than 3X better than the majority of people (again your competitors).

Minimize distractions. Put the phone away. Turn off notifications.

Leadership: Help. Offer it....

NLP Weekly: Making your leadership & performance second nature.

Performance: Glimmers > Groundbreakers

A gratitude practice is now recognized through multiple studies, "to benefit our mental and physical health, decision-making, metabolism, hormone regulation, and helps us in times of crisis." (Big Think, April 2020)

One of the recurring themes that I find when discussing with clients what they are thankful or grateful for is their initial inclination to identify one massive action or occurrence from the past few days that significantly and sustainably changed the trajectory of their life for the positive, forever. 

Okay - a little exaggeration there, however, more often than that when someone is asked to pause and share for what they are most grateful from the past week, they struggle to identify something because they self-admittedly are searching for something that serendipitously entered their life solving their current biggest challenge or frustration.

A...

For attendees of Delta Leadership Networking to get to better know speakers in advance of events, I created my own "Colbert-style" questionnaire.

Amy, a Tsawwassen resident, is an inspiring human fulfilling multiple leadership roles: Director of Finance at TELUS, founder of UNION Swimwear, Director of Reach Child & Youth Development Foundation, Director & Treasurer for the Canadian Association for Williams Syndrome, and mother to 2 amazing daughters.

Amy organized Delta's first Happiest Walk in Canada and is the author of Life with Williams Syndrome bringing both much needed awareness and funds to her daughter, Olivia's rare genetic condition.

Amy's leadership conversation at Delta Leadership Networking will focus on:

• the impact of "bright lines" on performance & leadership
• adopting a "how can I help you succeed?" mindset
• how to apply leadership learnings from one role to another

Delta Leadership Networking Questionnaire:

...

For attendees of Delta Leadership Networking to get to better know speakers in advance of events, I created my own "Colbert-style" questionnaire.

Richard competed in swimming for Canada in the 2008 Beijing & London 2012 Olympics. He co-founded November Project Vancouver (part of the largest free-fitness community in the world). His swim career was gratefully supported by KidSport.

Richard, a father of 3, teaches at South Delta Secondary School. He continues to play many meaningful roles throughout the community.

Richard's leadership conversation at Delta Leadership Networking will focus on:

• elite individual performances as part of a team,
• criticality of building meaningful community,
• leadership practices for Generations Z & Alpha

Delta Leadership Networking Questionnaire:

Q1: What attracted you to live / work in Delta?

RH - Getting a job at South Delta Secondary gave me an opportunity that rarely comes up in my field. To walk into a...