Leaders need the HIGH PERFORMANCE Mindset of an extreme athlete!

And more urgently than ever before, says Dr. Matthias Krüger, Head of JENEWEIN Academy. Together with world record holder Jonas Deichmann, he has therefore launched a new Masterclass format.

by Dr. Matthias Krüger, Head of JENEWEIN Academy

All the more remarkable, then: German extreme athlete Jonas Deichmann completed 120 Ironmans on 120 consecutive days. Anyone who completes an Ironman achieves something inherently impressive and prepares for it for months — years, in fact. For Jonas Deichmann, it was simply everyday life for four months.

When you keep this in mind, it becomes clear: physical performance capacity alone cannot be scaled to achieve such a feat. To accomplish this, you need applied psychology and a level of mental performance that far exceeds the norm. For us at JENEWEIN — a team that has been researching, teaching, and coaching leadership, motivation, and mindset for years — Jonas is living proof that peak performance demands a special mindset. And this applies not only to sport!

What is a High Performance Mindset?

At JENEWEIN, we define a High Performance Mindset as a way of thinking aimed at fully realizing one’s own potential and achieving above-average results. A High Performance Mindset describes the attitude of growing through consistent practice — with mental strength, continuous learning, and the pursuit of excellence, without neglecting well-being. An attitude that works across all areas of life.

Key characteristics of the High Performance Mindset include: an ambitious vision and inner drive, a pronounced Growth Mindset, shaping and nurturing a supportive environment, willingness to take responsibility, and resilience.

Such a mindset is not reflected in how much someone works, but in how they think: whether someone sees challenges as a threat or as a stimulus for growth, whether mistakes are interpreted as personal devaluation or as learning opportunities, whether responsibility is taken on or delegated.

From a scientific perspective, we know today that people with a pronounced Growth Mindset not only persevere longer, but also achieve measurably better results. In a large US study involving more than 12,000 young people, for example, performance improved significantly — particularly among the lower-performing group — after a brief Growth Mindset intervention. A few minutes of intervention produced an enormous effect.

The core message, therefore: the mindset is trainable. It is not a gene or a character trait, but rather something to be understood like a muscle.

Why successful leaders need a High Performance Mindset

Many people think High Performance is a topic for elite athletes. But in our work, we see the opposite: it is above all a topic for leaders, entrepreneurs, high potentials, and teams who work in an environment where pressure, change, and uncertainty have become a permanent state.

In our organizational development work and coaching, we encounter the same dynamic time and again: people are extremely well-trained and competent, and yet they hold themselves back. Not professionally, but emotionally. They feel driven rather than empowered to shape things. They react instead of lead. They fear risks and setbacks instead of developing and pursuing visions.

On top of this come hard figures that substantiate these blockages:

• According to the JENEWEIN Confidence Index, only 44% of employees in the DACH region look optimistically toward the future of their organization
• Around 48% of respondents in a BCG study feel burned out
• Globally, according to the WHO, around 12 billion working days are lost each year due to depression and anxiety disorders — an economic cost of approximately 1 trillion US dollars

We are therefore leading in a world where mental and emotional strain is very high and continues to rise. A High Performance Mindset is therefore not a «nice-to-have», but a professional survival competency. Not only for leaders — but especially for them.

What we can all learn from Jonas Deichmann for our professional lives

Jonas’ 120 Ironmans are so impressive that some might think: «That’s madness. That’s no benchmark for me.» We see it differently, because Jonas’ achievement is not coincidence but the result of structure, psychology, and multi-faceted training. What sets Jonas apart is not an indestructible body — he had Achilles tendon problems, knee inflammation, and pain along the way, which he speaks about openly — but rather his mental architecture:He breaks down the impossible into small, manageable steps

• He focuses on what he can influence — not on feelings that come and go
• He relies on routines rather than motivation
• And above all: he connects his performance with purpose. His mission is greater than the pain.

This mindset makes him not only an exceptional athlete, but a teacher from whom leaders can benefit enormously. Because the mechanisms that carry him through the Mexican desert or across the Alps are the same ones that carry us through transformation processes, difficult decisions, or phases of high pressure. For this reason, we are for the first time inviting you to a Masterclass together with Jonas Deichmann.

How we train a High Performance Mindset in the Masterclass

A changed mindset rarely begins with a «wow» moment. It begins with conscious, repeated, small interventions and the establishment of new routines. In the Masterclass «High Performance Mindset», that is exactly what we do. Consciously, in an in-person format and within a peer group, we create the framework for personal reflection in order to find individual answers and measures. Over two days, participants pursue five goals in collaboration with JENEWEIN’s speakers and inspired by Jonas Deichmann’s insights:

1. Gain clarity on your own «North Star» — High performers almost always have a clear vision: an image that releases emotional energy. This image serves as an anchor, especially when things get difficult.
2. Cultivate a Growth Mindset — The belief that one can develop abilities acts as a catalyst: it boosts self-efficacy, willingness to learn, and perseverance. And yes: it can be trained, step by step.
3. Deliberately strengthen resilience — Resilience is not «enduring at any cost». It is the ability to remain emotionally flexible, to integrate setbacks, and to realign. Meta-analyses confirm that resilience training works. Participants become measurably more robust and remain more capable under stress. Research speaks of «clearly positive effects» (e.g. Leppin et al., 2018; Liu et al., 2020).
4. Shape an environment that supports you — I experience this time and again: the best mindset is of little use if the environment is destructive. That is why at JENEWEIN we work so intensively on team dynamics, psychological safety, and a genuine culture of ownership.
5. Take your own health seriously — High Performance without self-care is self-sabotage. Good sleep, movement, genuine recovery phases, and clear boundaries are not «well-being topics» — they are performance factors.

Are our inner attitude and mindset more important than ever?

We find ourselves in an age of permanent and ever-faster change. Strategies shift, markets move, technologies outpace themselves. Only one thing remains constant: people follow people — their attitudes, their opinions, their stance, their energy.

Conscious engagement with oneself is therefore an important foundation of modern leadership. Because when we ourselves act with more courage, clarity, resilience, and humanity, our teams do the same. To meet the challenges of today, we need more places where performance brings joy. We need teams that want to grow. And for this we need high performers who inspire — people who believe in themselves and encourage others to do the same.

If you have made it your mission to lead through performance and attitude — without loading yourself up more and more — then this Masterclass will give you exactly the structure you are looking for.

Registrations for the limited places will be accepted from January 7, 2026.