In PA Life’s recent spring issue, David Osgathor, Performance Consultant, Oracle Red Bull Racing discusses how mental wellness in both individuals and teams is a crucial foundation in achieving excellence and the desired outcome…
This year at IBTM, I had the privilege of speaking to a room full of high-performing professionals and talked a lot about the importance of recognising and supporting the ‘team behind the team’.
In high-performance environments like Oracle Red Bull Racing, success is never just about the person in the spotlight. It’s about the coaches, engineers, strategists, operations employees and support teams whose performance quietly underpins everything. The same is true in business. Executives don’t perform in isolation — they rely on trusted PAs and EAs who create order, clarity and momentum behind the scenes.
“The lessons are clear: when people feel supported and mentally well, performance follows.”
At IBTM, I challenged delegates to rethink what performance really means. Too often, we define it purely by outputs. But sustainable high performance isn’t built on relentless pressure alone. It’s built on mental wellness, strong communication, and healthy team dynamics. For PAs and EAs, this message is especially important.
Executive and Personal Assistants are in a key position monitoring mental wellness and performance
You are often the emotional barometer of an organisation. You manage competing priorities and absorb pressure from multiple directions, all while anticipating problems before they arise. You’re expected to be calm, adaptable and endlessly capable — frequently without the space to stop and reset. But here’s the truth: you cannot support peak performance in others if your own wellbeing is running on empty.
Mental wellness at Oracle Red Bull Racing team is a core performance tool
In elite sport, we’ve learned that burnout is not a badge of honour. It’s a performance limiter. When mental wellness declines, decision-making suffers and small errors turn into big ones. The same applies in corporate environments — particularly for assistants who sit at the heart of the action.
My work focuses on helping individuals and teams perform at their best without burning out. That means creating environments where excellence and wellbeing can thrive side by side. It means recognising that mental wellness isn’t a “nice to have” — it’s the foundation that allows us to become the very best version of ourselves.
Corporate workshops at Oracle Red Bull Racing on mental wellness as a performance too
At Oracle Red Bull Racing’s Milton Keynes base, I deliver performance workshops for corporate clients that explore exactly this. Through practical exercises, we look at how people perform under pressure, how transferable skills from elite sport apply to business, and how health and wellbeing directly influence results. The lessons are clear: when people feel supported and mentally well, performance follows.
EAs and PAs – look after your own wellbeing first
For PAs and EAs, I’d encourage you to take this message seriously — not just for those you support, but for yourselves. Advocate for clarity. Protect recovery time. Invest in your own development and wellbeing with the same dedication you bring to everyone else’s success.
Because when the team behind the team is thriving, everything else performs better.
And that’s where real, sustainable excellence begins.
You can Contact David in LinkedIn
