Masterclass teaches students how to become high-performance leaders

ICMS students explored what leaders can learn from high-stakes coaching during a recent masterclass held at the Northern Beaches Campus. 

The masterclass on ‘The Elite Performance Edge’ brought together ICMS alumnus Francisco Vasconcellos, who is now a Leadership and Performance Coach with the Royal Australian Navy as well as the founder of FVL&D, and Zuli Posada, Talent Acquisition Lead at Atlassian. 

Facilitated by ICMS Professional Placement and Alumni Manager Natalie Harrison, the session gave students practical insight into leadership, self-awareness, teamwork, growth mindset and psychological safety. 

Industry Leaders Share Performance Insights

Francisco spoke about his work as a performance and leadership coach in a high-performance defence training environment, where coaching often focuses on both individual performance and team performance. 

Francisco challenged the idea that high performance means being perfect or operating at full capacity every day. He said leaders need to make room for honest conversations about strengths, weaknesses and improvement. 

“Normalising self-awareness, having traits and weaknesses conversations, and breaking down the myth that high performance equals being perfect: that can be a challenge.” 

What Makes a High-Performing Team

A key message from Francisco was that a group of talented, high-performing people does not automatically become an effective high-performing team. 

He said leaders often make the mistake of assuming that hiring strong individuals is enough. Instead, teams need clear ways of working and shared expectations. 

Francisco pointed to the three foundations of team performance:  

• Creative collaboration 

• Team operations 

• Accountability

“Intentional and deliberate ways of working are the engine room of performance,” he said. 

He described creative collaboration as the part of teamwork where people build something together that is stronger than what they could create alone. 

“We’re collaborating, we’re talking with no barriers, we’re building solutions, something bigger than any one of us together. That’s where collaboration comes in.” 

He said team operations are also essential because good ideas need structure and follow-through. 

“The second one is team operations: the ability to have discipline and follow a direction.” 

Francisco also stressed accountability. Teams need to understand what they are working toward and take responsibility for how they contribute. 

Lessons for Group Work and the Workplace

Francisco linked these ideas directly to student life, especially group assignments. 

He encouraged students to use group work at ICMS as a chance to practise the skills they will need in the workplace. 

“Do it here. Learn how to work with people here,” he said. “Learn how to do this here. Because out there, if you don’t cut it, you get fired.” 

His message was direct: group work is not just an assessment task. It is a chance to learn how to collaborate, manage different personalities, share responsibility and deliver work as a team. 

Growth Mindset and Self-Awareness

Zuli shared advice from her experience in talent acquisition, coaching and corporate leadership. 

She encouraged students to see failure as part of growth, not as the end of progress. 

“A growth mindset will take you places,” she told students.  

“If you have an employee, a leader, a worker, a person that has that mindset, you can work with that person.” 

She also spoke about the importance of motivation when facing setbacks. 

“If I apply for 15, 20, 50, 60 jobs,” she said, “the thing that’s going to keep me going is that deep drive of understanding why am I actually doing this.” 

She also explained that coaching is not about giving all the answers. 

“Coaching is not about telling the individual what to do, but helping the individual to use better frameworks,” she said.  

“How can you acknowledge what you did well, even when things didn’t go well?” 

Building Psychological Safety

The session also covered psychological safety and how leaders can help people speak up. 

Zuli said leaders need to create an environment where people can share ideas, ask questions and raise concerns. 

“The first step to set up psychological safety is to allow people to be who they are,” she said.  

“Allow people to express their opinions, because there’s nothing worse than having an idea and wanting to say something, only to be shut down.” 

She also said leaders need to explain the purpose behind decisions and standards. 

“When it comes to raising standards, explain the why,” she said. “Why are we going in this direction?” 

Advice for Students Starting Their Careers

Students asked about the move from being an individual contributor to becoming a leader. 

Francisco said this shift can be challenging, especially when someone already within a team is given a leadership role. 

“One of the biggest struggles is that first step into leadership, especially if you’re promoted internally,” he said.  

“You were part of the group, and next thing you know, you’re everyone’s boss as well.” 

His advice was simple and practical. 

“Just be nice,” he said. “Be emotionally intelligent. You’ll be learning as much as they are; you’ll be leaning into this leadership role.” 

Zuli agreed, connecting leadership to authenticity and self-knowledge. 

“What I’ve learned, in summary, is I have to be authentic to myself,” she said.  

“That authenticity has given me the confidence to say: I’m comfortable putting this idea forward, but I’m not comfortable working for this person or leading this project.” 

ICMS Brings Industry Experience to Students

The masterclass is part of ICMS’s ongoing focus on connecting students with industry leaders and real-world experience. 

Francisco previously returned to ICMS as guest speaker for the October 2025 Graduation Ceremony, where he shared life lessons with students. 

By hearing from Francisco and Zuli, students gained practical advice on leading teams, handling setbacks and building the mindset needed for high performance in different workplaces.