Dr Catherine Bishop - Triple Olympian, Rowing World Champion and Olympic Silver medallist. Author of The Long Win: The search for a better way to succeed. - a podcast by Sarah Williams

Cath draws on her careers as an Olympic rower and conflict diplomat, combined with her experience of working with a wide range of organisations across sectors to raise performance, transform cultures and develop effective leadership and teams.

As an Olympic rower, Cath competed at three Olympic Games. Highlights include winning the World Championships in 2003 and an Olympic silver medal in 2004.  

As a diplomat for over a decade, Cath specialised in conflict issues, with postings to Bosnia and Iraq, as well as leading in Whitehall on the UK civilian contribution to stabilising conflicts around the world. These experiences equipped her with leadership, negotiating skills, resilience, and the ability to deliver outstanding performance under extremely challenging circumstances.

Cath has published, The Long Win: The search for a better way to succeed - that challenges the often narrow lens we have on what winning means, and sets out a new way of thinking and reframing success across business, sport and education.

Cath continues to be active in supporting the next generation of sporting talent, including through support of the Youth Sport Trust, the True Athlete Project and as Chair of Love Rowing (British Rowing's Charitable Foundation). 

Cath has commentated for Henley Royal Regatta and the BBC Boat Races and been invited to review the newspapers on Radio 4’s Broadcasting House. Cath is an Honorary Fellow of Pembroke College, Cambridge and the University of Wales, Aberystwyth, and a Steward of Henley Royal Regatta.

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Show notes

• Who is Cath
• Working in the world of leadership, development and culture
• Being an Olympian and working as a diplomat 
• Her new book - The Long Win: The search for a better way to succeed 
• Her early years growing up
• Not being sporty!
• Getting into a rowing boat for the first time
• Having fun on the water
• Being willing to try new things
• Having no pressure or expectations
• Being in the Olympics and dealing with the pressure and the stress
• Writing about long win thinking 
• Moving away from short narrow definitions of success
• Winning the silver media at the Olympics - success or failure?
• What does success look like?
• Framing success in your own terms
• Focusing on the journey
• The power of clarifying what matters
• The medal
• Resilience and how people can develop it
• Why progress is not always in a straight line
• Reframing and moving forward
• Working with a sports psychologist 
• Encouraging women to say yes to new challenges
• Confidence 
• Why doubts can be a good things
• Fitness and exercise and how it plays a part of her life now
• Dr. Stacey Sims 
• How to connect with Cath
• Keep exploring what’s possible, together with others 
• Future plans for 2023

 

Social Media

Website: cathbishop.com 

Instagram: @cath_bishop 

Twitter: @thecathbishop

Book: The Long Win: The search for a better way to succeed 

 

 

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