So, for the first of our Leading and Learning Webinar series, host Paul Spiers, founder of the New P&L Brand Purpose Institute, sat down with Owen to talk about what schools need to understand about belonging, how to make the required changes and how to sustain it. A copy of Eastwood's new book, Belonging , was given to every England player when they reported for duty at the European Championships' - Telegraph Once language emerged, Homo sapiens began congregating around the campfire to tell and share the Us story. This helped to promote our survival by keeping the group bonded together and aligned in the face of surrounding challenges.

Initially a navigator’s strength came from their ability to simultaneously carry in their hands both a grand vision and an intimate understanding of the detail. For Eastwood’s ancestors the grand vision was new land, and the intimate understanding of the detail was the sun, the stars, and the constellations - all of which were used to navigate at the time. We reconnect to the past which requires understanding the heritage of a team and the tribe they represent. A whakapapa is moulded featuring key ancestors, moments and legacies of the team but also studied is the wider story of the tribe the team represents. We have become disconnected from each other. It all started with the Industrial Revolution where wee moved from workers possessing multiple skills and dynamically performing them, to production lines where rows of workers each performed a distinct role. Somewhere along the line here we’ve lost our humanity.

At a time when it is easy to feel disheartened by sport’s crises of corruption, abuse and burnout, Eastwood offers a compelling vision of what sport can be. Another favourite Eastwood question to ask is “What gets in the way of you being the best version of yourself?” Blasting taboos, Eastwood shows us a clear path to help sport be “the best version” possible for everyone involved and for society more broadly. But there is another world. Where the hormone soup recipe is wrong and doesn’t allow us to be at our best. Clearly here is no performance benefit in this.

When our Us story is weak, we are weak. We should talk about how to do tasks, but it’s integral not to forget the what and why too. Belonging is a must-read for anyone interested in building a long term high-performing team.' - Stuart Lancaster The heroes in our stories personify the best version of Us. The villains fall into two camps: Them, but also the individuals within Us who are selfish - those who put themselves before Us and thereby risk our safety, stability and status. Cath Bishop (left) and Katherine Grainger when the British women’s rowing pair were world champions. Photograph: Fiona Hanson/PA

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The powerful metaphor it introduces to explain the meaning of ‘whakapapa’ (a concept held by Aotearoa New Zealand Māori) is so clear and meaningful, it surely can be used to make a difference. This concept is universal but in many cultures undervalued or even obscured by modern life. We are wired to be extremely pragmatic and highly strategic in how we toggle between Us and Them. Eastwood grew up in an area where traditional schools were delineated between Catholics and Protestants. But when a regional sports team was created then both Catholics and Protestants would come together as a unified tribe against the region to the North of them. That means no complex models, no fancy diagrams. Eastwood draws on our “evolutionary super strength” to connect and belong that seems so blindingly obvious, you wonder how it ever dropped out of sport. Working “in the shadows”, offering a sounding board to captains, coaches and chief executives, Eastwood urges them to embrace emotions.

Aspects of Owen's unique approach finding your identity story; defining a shared purpose; visioning future success; sharing ownership with others; understanding the 'silent dance' that plays out in groups; setting the conditions to unleash talent; and converting our diversity into a competitive advantage.There are plenty of other leadership tips in this book that are of importance to groups, movements and organisations. One of these is the importance of visualisation, not just to plan for things going right, but also for coping when things go wrong. Eastwood also speaks with teams about what they can control, and what they can’t. This enables them to focus on what’s in their power to influence.