Belonging: The Ancient Code of Togetherness: The International No. 1 Bestseller

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But there is another world. Where the hormone soup recipe is wrong and doesn’t allow us to be at our best. Clearly here is no performance benefit in this. But the England of Sterling and Kane, of Saka and Maguire is a very different one to Ottoway’s, surely? They are not trying to replicate anything from the past, Eastwood says. “We should be proud of our history, understand and respect it, but ultimately this is about us, a very diverse, young, technically different group of people. It’s about inspiration and a sense of belonging to motivate us to create our own story.” We may become more aggressive, though we are likely to target that at those people who owe perceive as having lowered status than us.

Belonging is a vital book for our disconnected and leaderless times. It’s one whose lessons should be taught in schools across the world, because the power of creating a sense of togetherness could help heal our fractured society. Visioning is an essential ingredient in our super strength of creating teams. It gives people a chance to visualise and imagine what they’re working towards. We need to work from purpose to vision, to mission, and then to plan. Only 3% of leader’s time today is spent visioning, but 75% of workers expect their leaders to paint pictures of the future.

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When the sun shines on us we are alive, we are strong. For we have had passed down to us a culture that immerses us in deep belonging. We feel safe and respected. We share beliefs and a sense of belonging. We feel safe and respected. We share beliefs and a sense of identity with those around us and this anchors us. We share a purpose with them. We share a vision of the future. We fit in here. Rituals and traditions tie us together. The experiences and wisdom of those who walked in the light before our time are passed on to us.” Eastwood is unequivocal that his work is not warm and fuzzy, but goes to the heart of performing in high pressure, highly scrutinised situations: “Belonging has a profound effect on behaviour … We have this need to belong. If the need is fulfilled, it becomes quite profound in terms of managing your own stress. We have a capacity to communicate at a much higher level. Our communication skills, particularly for males, are much better when you feel you belong. Belonging is a must-read for anyone interested in building a long term high-performing team.' - Stuart Lancaster

If you want to get the best out of people in the Ryder Cup team or football team or Royal Ballet School or whatever, you have to connect them to something bigger than themselves and connect them to people around them.” At a time when it is easy to feel disheartened by sport’s crises of corruption, abuse and burnout, Eastwood offers a compelling vision of what sport can be. Another favourite Eastwood question to ask is “What gets in the way of you being the best version of yourself?” Blasting taboos, Eastwood shows us a clear path to help sport be “the best version” possible for everyone involved and for society more broadly. Cath Bishop (left) and Katherine Grainger when the British women’s rowing pair were world champions. Photograph: Fiona Hanson/PA

Initially a navigator’s strength came from their ability to simultaneously carry in their hands both a grand vision and an intimate understanding of the detail. For Eastwood’s ancestors the grand vision was new land, and the intimate understanding of the detail was the sun, the stars, and the constellations - all of which were used to navigate at the time.

The sun rose in the east and shone on our first ancestor. Here is our origin story. Just as happens with each passing day, the sun slowly moves down this unbreakable chain of people. Each of us will have our time in the sun. But the sun is always moving. Moving towards the west, where it will finally settle. When the sun shines on us we are alive, we are strong. For we have had passed down to us a culture that immerses us in deep belonging. We feel safe and respected. We share beliefs and a sense of identity with those around us and this anchors us. We share a purpose with them. We share a vision of the future. We fit in here. Rituals and traditions tie us together. The experiences and wisdom of those who walked in the light before our time are passed on to us. Studies show how storytelling ability enhances a leader’s influence and power through shifting the hormonal state of the group. —> I should find powerful storytellers like Orran and work closely with them. Slowly we have lost touch with our primal instincts as a creeping shift has taken place from ‘our’ purpose to ‘my’ purpose with individualistic societies in the Western world. These values - getting ahead of everyone else - work against our need to belong. They push a mindset of seeing ourselves against rather than with others.Eastwood was intrigued by the belonging cues that occur during a Royal Marines Commando Green Beret ceremony when new Commandos are inducted into the Marines. It was conducted in a deeply personal manner, with the Royal Marines understanding that the ceremony provided a critical opportunity to instil a deep sense of belonging. As an Olympian now engaged in cultural change in sport, and calling for the redefinition of success beyond medals and the greater prioritisation of athlete and coach wellbeing, I am keen to understand how we can share Eastwood’s approach that so seamlessly entwines performance and wellbeing. To feel a sense of belonging is to feel accepted, to feel seen and to feel included by a group of people, believing that we fit in, trusting we will be protected by them. I feel that a Rory McIlroy or a Harry Kane, they want to be connected to something bigger than themselves and to have a special bone-deep relationship with people around them. And I’m yet to find an example where that’s not true,” Eastwood says. Beyond kin, this concept of Whakapapa frames our connection to any group we belong to. It is a universal idea and one that Eastwood has coached on around the world.