Darcy Norman - Improving performance in the MLS, Serie A, Bundesliga and winning the World Cup with the German men's national team.

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Darcy is the Director of High Performance with Chicago Fire FC (MLS) and has been operating at the highest level of soccer for nearly three decades. His career spans some of the biggest stages in the game, with roles at European giants Bayern Munich and AS Roma, as well as extensive experience in international soccer. Darcy spent six years with the US Men’s national team and was part of the German national team staff that made history winning the 2014 World Cup in Brazil. Alongside his work in elite soccer, Darcy has also held performance leadership and consultancy roles with Exos and Kitman Labs. His depth of experience, perspective, and knowledge is second to none and in this conversation, Darcy reflects on a career defined by highs, lows, and a lifetime of lessons, both professional and personal, which all began on the rural slopes of Canada far from the packed stadiums and bright lights of the world game.

Highlights from the episode…

• What it was like being part of the beginnings of “Athlete's Performance” the organisation that went on to be commonly known today as the world renowned performance company, Exos.
• Working at Exos, the revolutionary ideas, structures, systems, personnel etc. that Darcy still leverages to this day in the high performance programs he’s involved in.
• How Darcy, admittingly "having no clue about soccer” secured a role with one of the biggest clubs in world soccer, Bayern Munich (Bundesliga).
• The "Power Formula" that Darcy has refined to facilitate performance in his players across all the environments his worked in.
• The "Trust Equation". How to get buy in from your athletes…and keep it!
• How Darcy was able to maintain professionalism and perform at the highest level in amongst the uncertainty and volatility that comes with abrupt coaching changes.
• When accepting roles abroad what considerations he makes to ensure that the move works both professionally and personally.
• Conflict resolution. Having difficult conversations in challenging times with staff, players, media etc.
• How Darcy got a better understanding of human performance by reviewing an unexpected source in the "Supply Change Council of America’s" website.
• “Linking your thinking”. Structuring his thoughts and tools he uses to develop the frameworks and models that he implements around RTS, performance enhancement, injury prevention, management etc.
• Being a part of the 2014 World Cup with the German national team, what it was like to win it and a humbling story post winning the World Cup.
• We discuss the ever-expanding use of technology and whether we are obligated to use it when the data exists. What are we not considering when being a slave to technology.
• With a World Cup being held in the US and all the work he is doing with the Chicago Fire FC, what is Darcy is excited about?

People mentioned:

• Shad Forsythe: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shad-forsythe-b94757237/?originalSubdomain=uk
• Craig Friedman: https://www.linkedin.com/in/craigfriedman/
• Mark Verstegen: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Verstegen

Darcy Norman contact details:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/darcy-norman-1705496/
• X: https://x.com/DarcyNorman
• Website: https://www.darcynormanconsulting.com/contact

Host: Luis Resa

Contact me on:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/luis-resa-a975196b/
• Email: [e-mail]

Thanks for listening and please leave a review. If you would like more information on anything mentioned in this episode simply send me an email.