The Power of Character in Sustained Success | Paddy Upton | TEDxIIMBangalore

What if your greatest professional strength had nothing to do with skill—but everything to do with character? In this deeply moving and insightful TEDx talk, celebrated cricket coach and mental conditioning expert Paddy Upton explores how strengthening who you are as a person can directly lead to long-term, sustained success. Drawing from his tenure with the Indian national cricket team—working alongside legends like Sachin Tendulkar, MS Dhoni, and Virat Kohli—Paddy reveals a secret goal he and Gary Kirsten quietly pursued: to help players become not just better cricketers, but better humans. Through poignant stories, including a powerful moment of self-awareness from Tendulkar and the humility-driven rise of Hashim Amla, Paddy shows how character shapes legacy. He also dissects the downfall of sporting giants like Lance Armstrong and Mike Tyson, exposing how cracks in character—not ability—led to their fall. In a world obsessed with results, Paddy challenges us to decouple identity from outcomes, embrace present-moment focus, and recognize the silent superpower of self-worth. From World Cups to the chessboard, this talk is a compelling case for why deepening your roots as a person can give you the wings to soar in your career. Paddy Upton, a leadership coach, speaker, mental game coach, helped lead the Indian national cricket team to win the 2011 ICC Cricket World Cup for their first time in 28 years, and to become the World’s No. 1 Test Team for their first time. He then helped lead the South African cricket team to become the first to simultaneously hold the World No. 1 ranking in all three formats of the game. He has been mental coach to over 350 professional athletes from 20 different sports, including working with 5 world champions, and 20 international sportspersons of the year. At the recent Paris Olympics, he was mental coach to the Indian Men’s hockey team who won bronze as well as Gukesh Dommaraju, the 2024 chess World Champion. He has four university degrees, was appointed Professor at Deakin University, and is author of The Barefoot Coach; Life-changing insights from coaching the world’s best cricketers. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx