Andrew Parsons on inspirational leadership

Andrew Parsons, President of the International Paralympic Committee, talks about leading the Paralympic Movement through crises and how his leadership style has been inspired by Paralympians.

In this episode, he reveals how his career progressed from intern to President of one of the most important sporting movements on the planet.

Click on this link for the complete transcript of the podcast.

Listen to the podcast here

Parsons, who became IPC President in 2017 after overseeing the Brazilian Paralympic Committee, discusses the trials and tribulations of Rio 2016, being welcomed onto the podium by his friend and Brazilian athlete Daniel Dias and the power and importance of being a strong leader.

“My leadership style is I see myself as a server. I serve the Movement, the Paralympic athletes. We need to serve them and the President is just the first server. If you have the right team around you and the right purpose, we can overcome all situations and challenges.”

Key leadership skills are discussed such as problem solving, having a clear vision and focusing on things he can change.

He also speaks in depth on the importance of his role in changing perceptions of persons with disabilities and the opportunities they have in life.

“One of the things we want to have an impact on is having more persons with disabilities working as employees, owners of businesses, bosses, as it happened after London 2012. There are one million more people with disabilities working because of that Games, and employment means citizenship. Diversity should be something that is valued, not only tolerated and respected. The beauty of the world is that we are all different.”

Andrew discusses the plans for the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games following their rearrangement and Netflix’s incredible new film, Rising Phoenix, which charts the growth of the Games and the athletes who make it one of the greatest sporting spectacles globally.

Learning topics for this episode include crisis leadership, inclusive leadership, servant leadership, organisational leadership, team leadership and global leadership.

A Winning Mindset: Lessons from the Paralympics, is the brand new podcast from the International Paralympic Committee and Allianz. It tells the Paralympic stories that will change the way you look at the world and provide you with some hints and tips to benefit your own mindset and behaviours.