Cody Royle is the Head Coach of AFL Team Canada, the men’s national team for Australian Rules Football. He was born and raised in Australia, but has lived in Canada for over a decade now. Cody has spent the last number of years researching, interviewing, and writing about leadership, culture, and performance. As a result he is the author of two books on these subjects, Where Others Won’t and The Tough Stuff. In addition he has his own podcast titled, Where Others Won’t, where he has interviewed the likes of Joe Dumars, Adam Grant, Patti McCord, Michael Gervais, James Kerr, Rasmus Ankersen, Tony Granato and Peter DeBoer. Our discussion with Cody validated a lot of what our experiences and assumptions have been about coaching. Cody provided both anecdotal as well as empirical evidence to support the concept that coaches need to be high performers themselves, which in turn allows for their athletes to achieve peak performance. This self-care included nutrition, sleep, fitness, and most importantly in having someone to work with, a listening partner, who is outside of the inner circle who has no judgement, and is totally impartial. Cody’s discussion is a great kick off to season 3 of the Beyond the X’s and O’s Podcast. Listeners are sure to take away numerous insights on how to be an effective coach and leader with today’s athlete. Enjoy the discussion. Find out more about Cody at: https://www.codyroyle.com/