As one of Team Canada’s mental performance coaches and consultant with b2ten, Jean François has worked with elite athletes across 17 Olympic sports. He’s also a speaker and bestselling author, and in 2021 released his book, Train Your Brain Like An Olympian - Gold Medal Techniques to Unleash Your Potential at Work. “I work with people who want to be the best in what they do,” explains Jean François.
One of the Olympians Jean François coaches is Mikaël Kingsbury, the most celebrated freestyle skier of all time and one of Team Canada’s Opening Ceremony flag bearers. Part of Kingsbury’s team for the last three Olympics, Jean François has a deep understanding of a trio of dimensions: Kingsbury’s personality, the task he needs to achieve, and the environments in which he competes.
He breaks it down: “Mik loves to not necessarily just win, but to push boundaries. His philosophy is ‘if there’s a competition, there needs to be a winner, so why not me?’ It’s not arrogance, it’s self-belief and the joy of competing.”
When it comes to the task, Jean François says freestyle skiing is a prime example of performance-on-demand as athletes navigate moguls while landing two jumps. The stakes are huge: “For an Olympic performance, we’re talking about the 20 seconds it takes to ski, once every four years. If you screw up, you don't get a second chance.”
Then, there’s the ever-changing environment, whether it’s snow conditions, time of event, or spectator dynamic. Within this context, Jean François and Kingsbury’s goal is simple yet critical to success: to direct the Olympian’s attention towards what deserves his attention.
Jean François’ role in this requires flexibility and adaptability. He focuses on “coaching in the moment,” helping athletes tend to their immediate needs and pressures. Just one expert in the coaching roster, Jean François works closely with an athlete’s entire team to create a 360-degree plan for their training and performance.
Beyond competition, Jean François meets with athletes to make their abstract emotions more concrete, using metaphors, analogies, and plenty of whiteboard brainstorming. “The real magic is what happens in between our minds—when we’re discussing stuff and thinking about ideas and what could work,” says Jean François of these sessions.
“I work with people who want to be the best in what they do”
Jean François Ménard (MA ’07; BSc ’05)
uOttawa: “The best master’s program in sports psychology in Canada”
It was at uOttawa that Jean François first learned of the mental performance field and the possibility of a career path that has let him help people achieve their dreams.
He remembers the undergraduate sports psychology course taught by the late Dr. Terry Orlick, who was one of Canada’s leading mental performance coaches.
“That class opened my eyes and worked with my background of being a dreamer, setting goals, and understanding the power of mindset,” explains Jean François. Going on to complete a master’s in sports psychology, he says what made uOttawa’s program exceptional was its applied nature and professors who could share their real-life experiences.
“There are many moments when I was at the Olympics, or working with the Montreal Canadians, or when I’m doing coaching with a surgeon that I can literally pinpoint using something I learned in a class in 2006 with a particular uOttawa professor,” Jean François says. “That’s not common.”
Diverse professions, same gold medal mindset
In addition to his work with athletes, today Jean François coaches a range of professionals to apply performance psychology in their field. He has also delivered more than a thousand keynotes for organizations like NASA, PepsiCo, Red Bull, and the Canadian government.
“Think of a teacher when the kids are not listening and they need to stay confident to gain control of the class. Or the politician who is dead tired on the campaign trail but needs to be the best version of themselves,” offers Jean François. “Working with a mental performance coach is still quite foreign for these professions where I would argue the performance psychology is sometimes even more important than for athletes.”
And it’s never too early to apply performance psychology. For young people who want to be elite in their field, Jean François encourages pursuing a large volume of new experiences, mentors, and ideas. “In your 20s and 30s you have a lot of energy, and this is when your brain is still open and ready to be influenced,” he says.
Critical, though, is the opportunity to reflect in a distraction-free environment. “If you think of a tennis player, they don’t have their phones on their chairs between sets. They’re thinking about the way they just played so they can keep competing well or adjust their game.”
So, whether it’s sitting in quiet reflection or hopping on the Rideau Canal for a late-night hockey shinny—a favourite activity from Jean François’ uOttawa days—what’s clear is that you don’t need to be an Olympic athlete to start thinking like one.