The Olympics might only arrive every four years, but the pressure never really goes away, and neither does the planning. From the Sport Ireland Campus, we sit down in our CEO Series on the Sport for Business Podcast with Peter Sherrard, CEO of the Olympic Federation of Ireland, to talk about what leadership looks like when your job is part high-performance sport, part commercial engine, and part crisis management when the spotlight swings your way.
Peter shares the career moves that shaped his style, from working in Milan to fast-paced years with Ryanair, and then into Irish football during the Euro 2016 era. We get into the hard-earned lessons that travel well across sectors: simplify what you can control, prioritise under noise, and build teams where people understand each other’s work before silos take hold. We also talk openly about the governance reset after Rio 2016 and what it takes to rebuild trust in a national sporting organisation.
Tokyo becomes the ultimate stress test. We unpack the uncertainty of Covid-era decision-making, the logistics of protecting athletes and staff, and why resilience is more than a buzzword when rules change week to week. From there, the conversation turns to the business of the Olympic movement in Ireland: the four-year cycle, why events beyond the Summer Games matter, and how a funding model driven heavily by private sources reshapes risk, sponsorship, and long-term planning. We finish with quickfire insights on sport, empathy, laughter, and the power of quiet time for clear thinking.
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Sport for Business is Ireland’s leading platform focused on the commercial, strategic and societal impact of sport. It connects decision-makers across governing bodies, clubs, brands, agencies, and public institutions through high-quality content, events, and insights.
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