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TV presenter Jake Humphrey and Professor Damian Hughes' book on unlocking potential, based on their hit High Performance podcast, has been won by Random House Business in a seven-way auction.
Senior commissioning editor Rowan Borchers bought UK and Commonwealth rights to High Performance from Amanda Harris, director of publishing at YMU. Random House Business will publish in hardback, trade paperback, e-book and audiobook in December 2021.
Their book incorporates interviews from Humphrey and Hughes’ podcast, which has received over four million downloads since launching last March. The podcast has featured guests including Steven Bartlett, Tom Daley, Steven Gerrard, Kelly Holmes, Chris Hoy, Siya Kolisi, Matthew McConaughey, Tracey Neville, Jo Malone, Ant Middleton, Mauricio Pochettino and Jonny Wilkinson, many of whose stories feature in the book.
The publisher said: “In their book, Jake and Damian reveal how we can all become high performers. Drawing on interviews with leading sportspeople and entrepreneurs, they uncover the nine hidden principles that drive high performers to success: from taking absolute responsibility for their situation, to working out their non-negotiable ‘trademark behaviours’, to getting the very best out of their teammates. And they draw on cutting-edge psychology to explain why these methods have such a transformative impact. Above all, Jake and Damian reveal how everyone can build the principles of excellence into their own lives—whether on the pitch, in their careers, or at home.”
Humphrey is one of the UK’s best-known TV presenters and is currently the lead Premier League football presenter on BT Sport, having previously spent over a decade at the BBC. Hughes is an expert on high-performance sporting cultures and a visiting professor at Manchester Metropolitan University.
The pair said: “Our aim for the podcast was simple—to host rich, rewarding and revealing conversations that allow anyone, anywhere, at any time, to access the lessons of high performance. The millions of downloads so far prove these are conversations people want to hear. Now we bring all that wisdom into one place—the High Performance book. With the help of Penguin Random House, we know this book will become an indispensable guide, filled with practical tips that will help every reader live the life they want. We can’t wait to share it with you all.”
Borchers added: “It was a treat to discover that Jake and Damian are high-performance authors as well as high performance podcast hosts. Their book offers a rare glimpse into the inner lives of the world’s greatest athletes and businesspeople, and I’m thrilled that they’ve chosen Cornerstone as their publisher.”