Guenther Steiner is one of Formula 1’s most recognisable team bosses, building Haas from nothing and becoming known for his straight-talking approach to leadership. He joins us to reflect on ambition, pressure, and knowing when it’s time to walk away.

Guenther opens up about his final years at Haas, admitting he stayed around two years too long, and how he knew the belief was gone when he could no longer see a path to a podium. He also reveals the moment he discovered he’d been sacked, and why it brought an unexpected sense of relief.

He shares the thinking that built Haas and how he’s applying the same principles to his new chapter in MotoGP with Tech3. This is a candid conversation about ambition, identity, and knowing when to let go.

Revolut Business 👉 High-performing businesses need powerful financial tools. Get a £200 welcome bonus with Revolut Business when you sign up at https://revolutbusiness.onelink.me/jLOt/hp-ep9-aud and add money to your account by 30/09/2026. Fees, promotion terms and T&Cs apply.

AG1 👉 head to http://drinkag1.com/highperformance and get a free Morning Person Hat to help start your AG1 daily habit - plus a free D3 and K2, and five travel packs

Go Henry 👉 Grow their skills and their money at gohenry.com/highperformance with £5 FREE to get started!

Eight Sleep 👉If you want to discover deeper sleep. Use code HPP to get £360 off your Pod 5 Ultra here: https://highpfrmc.com/eightsleep_au

Vitality 👉 We've partnered with Vitality because our philosophies align perfectly: healthy habits build high performance and can lead to a healthier, longer life. Find out more about health and life insurance with Vitality: https://highpfrmc.com/vitality-hpp-au

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We're revisiting this conversation with James Blunt because it's among the most disarming things we've recorded about belief, ridicule, and where confidence actually comes from.

James made his first album on nothing but belief. He'd burnt his bridges with every record label in Britain and was playing to about twenty people on the twentieth floor of a Ramada hotel — and he was still completely certain the whole world was going to hear it. Understanding the real odds, he says, would have taken the wind out of his sails entirely.

James tells Jake and Damian why you keep your powder dry until you're genuinely equipped, because you only get one shot with the people who matter. Why he never answers criticism on the day it lands — the sting always comes out overnight. Why the only opinions worth weighing come from the people who'll take the mickey out of you to your face. And the three things he carried out of commanding soldiers in Kosovo and into running the same band for twenty years: a good team, real respect for that team, and the conviction to make the call.

Then there's what it cost him... the orchestrated press campaign that turned James into a national punchline and how he dealt with it. Being held back in a dressing room so that Damon Albarn didn't have to stand near him. The hug from Keith Flint he never forgot. And the night in Carrie Fisher's bathroom that produced Goodbye My Lover in a single, unrepeatable take.

AG1 👉 head to http://drinkag1.com/highperformance and get a free Morning Person Hat to help start your AG1 daily habit - plus a free D3 and K2, and five travel packs

Go Henry 👉 Grow their skills and their money at gohenry.com/highperformance with £5 FREE to get started!

Vitality 👉 We've partnered with Vitality because our philosophies align perfectly: healthy habits build high performance and can lead to a healthier, longer life. Find out more about health and life insurance with Vitality: https://highpfrmc.com/vitality-hpp-au

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Jake and Damian tackle the question underneath almost every High Performance conversation: what do the best actually do differently, day to day?

Not the big moments. The small, repeatable ones. Because across hundreds of conversations on this show, the pattern is rarely talent or luck. It's that high performers have built a handful of habits they hold onto when nobody is watching, and they keep doing them long after most of us would have forgotten about them.

In this episode, Jake and Damian hear from:

• Jamie Peacock on why a life of hard decisions becomes an easier life, and the moment on a training pitch in Australia when Damian was on the receiving end of one.
• James Clear on why grit is really about fit, and the question to ask before you commit to any new habit.
• Emily Maitlis on the five minutes of golden time she takes before every interview, including the one at Buckingham Palace.
• Mel Robbins on why she still needs the five second rule to get out of bed, thirteen years after inventing it.
• Dan Carter on earning your weekend, and why drifting through the week is the opposite of high performance.

If there's a habit you keep meaning to start, pick one of these five and begin there.

Thanks to our partners:

Revolut Business 👉 High-performing businesses need powerful financial tools. Get a £200 welcome bonus with Revolut Business when you sign up at https://revolutbusiness.onelink.me/jLOt/hp-ep9-aud and add money to your account by 30/09/2026. Fees, promotion terms and T&Cs apply.

AG1 👉 head to drinkag1.com/highperformance and get a free Morning Person Hat to help start your AG1 daily habit - plus a free D3 and K2, and five travel packs

Go Henry 👉 Grow their skills and their money at gohenry.com/highperformance with £5 FREE to get started!

Vitality 👉 We've partnered with Vitality because our philosophies align perfectly: healthy habits build high performance and can lead to a healthier, longer life. Find out more about health and life insurance with Vitality: https://highpfrmc.com/vitality-hpp-au

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.