Fora meet Jake Humphrey, High Performance podcast

Decorative image — Career lessons with Jake Humphrey
The chart-topping High Performance podcast has its home at Henry Wood House. Here, its founder and presenter Jake Humphrey, shares what he’s learned from listening to hundreds of high performers.
Written by
Paul Croughton

You might say there are two sides to Jake Humphrey: what you see and what you don’t. Large chunks of his career have been highly visible – comes with the territory as a TV presenter, steering coverage of Formula 1 and the 2012 London Olympics for the BBC, or Champions League football for BT Sport (not to mention CBBC before that). But the 46-year-old, Norwich-based father of two has shown a deep commitment to excellence away from the cameras, too.

In 2010, Humphrey launched Whisper TV, now a successful production company with over 300 employees, while his ongoing curiosity about self-improvement led him to create the High Performance podcast. Based in Fora’s Henry Wood House workspace, with Professor Damian Hughes, the pair quiz inspirational figures from sport, business and entertainment on the lessons they’ve learned on their journeys to the top of their fields. So, what has he learned from them, and from his own success?

1. I wanted to create something like High Performance for a long time but wasn’t sure how

Maybe there was a bit of self-doubt: do people want to listen to some ex-kids TV presenter talking about high performance? Then I heard Damian doing a talk at Norwich FC and I loved his thought process. His background is sport and he’s really credible. I thought he’d say no, because he was a lecturer at Manchester University, doing loads of other things. I called him, and straight away he said, “Yeah, I’d love to do that.”

2. The first episode we did was with (world’s most successful Olympic sailor) Ben Ainsley

I remember at the end, one of us asked Ben how it was, and he said, “No one ever asks me questions about how I’ve done it. They just want to know what I’ve done.” And we thought: “Maybe we’re onto something.”

3.When we started, I wanted to ask people about hard work, missed opportunities and overcoming difficult challenges

But when you talk to high-performing people, they tell you those things will never give you joy. I realised that moments of achievement give us a very short-lived thrill. It’s like being an addict, the only way to get that thrill again is to go for a bigger hit. That’s dangerous, because where does that end?

"High performance is being hopeful – even on the bad days – that there’s good stuff around the corner."
Jake HumphreyFounder, High Performance

4. My definition of high performance is hope fuelled by optimism

Understanding that joy is temporary has informed my thinking. There are days where I feel sh*t, when things aren't going my way. High performance is being hopeful – even on the bad days – that there’s good stuff around the corner, and on the good days, you hope it lasts as long as possible.

5. It’s not the fact; it’s how you react

It’s not the thing that happens; it’s how you react to the thing that happens.

6. When I was hosting football programmes, if someone didn’t like it, that really mattered to me

Now, if someone doesn’t like an episode of High Performance, I’m very relaxed about that. If it’s not for you, fine, but for the people this is for, it’s valuable. A quarter of a billion people have downloaded or watched High Performance. We don’t advertise it. It’s not on TV. You have to actively try and search it out.

"What's that great phrase? Other people’s opinion of me is none of my business."
Jake HumphreyFounder, High Performance

7. I remember watching a documentary about the Bee Gees

The media said they were the greatest band in the world one year, then when disco became uncool, they said they were the worst band in the world. And Robin Gibbs says, “I now realise that we weren’t the best band or the worst band. We just were.” I think that’s where I’ve got to. I’m just here, and I can’t worry about what other people make of that. What’s that great phrase? Other people’s opinion of me is none of my business.

8. Having a clear purpose for your life stops your ego from taking you down the wrong path

The purpose of the podcast isn’t to get millions of downloads, but to get more people around the world closer to their own version of high performance. We have to create a world where we can reach people. We built an app where we can understand our audience and serve them what they want. Then teachers told us they wanted these high-performance soft skills taught in schools. We’re working with a bunch of trusts around the UK to deliver that to tens of thousands of young people. Then businesses reached out, so now we also do coaching days and talks for business.

9. Fora shared our ambition for being a bit disruptive and created a space for High Performance

We were renting studios across London with no base. Fora worked with us to build this studio and production office. We’ve got photos of all our amazing guests, so when you come here you really feel like you’re coming to High Performance.

10. I love being around those other businesses in the building

One of my favourite things is to go for a coffee downstairs, start talking to people and find out what they do. Working in silos is one of the most dangerous things – a workspace like Henry Wood House stops that from happening.

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