Building the high performing team: lessons from football
Tom Allen, Head of Sports Science & Performance, Arsenal FC

We are pleased to welcome Tom Allen, Head of Sports Science & Performance at Arsenal Football Club, to the Global CFO Network to examine how high performing teams are built and sustained in demanding environments. With extensive experience across elite sport, including leadership roles at Aston Villa, Tom has been closely involved in the design and leadership of performance systems that support consistency, resilience and excellence at the highest level of professional sport. At Arsenal, Tom’s work centres on far more than physical preparation. His role brings together data, coaching insight and organisational discipline to ensure individuals and teams perform effectively under constant scrutiny and pressure. A core theme of his approach is clarity: focusing on the few measures that genuinely matter, aligning stakeholders around shared objectives, and embedding feedback and accountability into everyday practice.

In this session, Tom will draw out lessons from elite sport that are directly relevant to Finance professional. He will explore how high-performance cultures are deliberately shaped, how leaders can balance data with judgement, and how teams can remain effective amid uncertainty and competing demands.

This is an online event open to member CFOs and their team members in the region.