Send us a textMy guest, Dagur Sigurðsson, and I have known each other for almost 20 years. It was great to reunite with Dagur and bring him on my show to talk about his amazing journey in professional sport and playing/coaching the game at the Olympic level. Dagur  represented his country of Iceland in the Summer Olympics held in Greece in 2004 and over the years developed himself into a world renowned coach in the sport. He spent time in Austria before going on to coach professionally in Germany and lead the German men’s national handball team in the world championships and the Olympics. Dagur has a distinct coaching style that sets him apart from others and as you listen to this episode, you will learn about what he believe is most important in leading and coaching others and how he strives to deeply connect with those around him in order the lift them up and push them to be their best. As a family man, he is deeply committed to his loved ones and as a coach/mentor to his athletes, he is equally committed to helping them strive for excellence and through his leadership, he believes that context is everything and that a leader must deeply understand the context of the organization in order to put leadership moves into action that spark continued growth and progress. Dagur is on a mission as the Japanese men's Olympic handball coach and recently had the opportunity to lead his team in the Tokyo Olympics. He has signed on through the Paris 2024 Olympics and everything he is now doing is helping to plant the seeds for slow and continuous growth over time in order to put his athletes in the best position possible for competition. As well, he is deeply committed to spreading a love of the game of handball in Japan. I hope you enjoy this episode as much as I did.  More About DagurRead here: https://www.handball-planet.com/dagur-sigurdsson-leads-japan-until-paris-2024/

Send us a textMy guest today, Rudy Ruettiger, exemplifies what it means to have the deep resilience and persistence needed to make a dream come true. For those who are not familiar with Rudy Ruettiger, his life story was made into a major motion Hollywood sports film in 1993 and to this day, nearly 30 years later, still stands as one of the most inspiring sports movies out there. In fact, in the words of the late, great Kobe Bryant: “If Rudy could accomplish what he did without being blessed with the physical talent to play football at that level, what could I accomplish if I worked as hard as he did? After watching that movie, I decided that I would always work as if I'm the last man on the team that had everything to prove.”Kobe describes Rudy as being the one person who's had the biggest influence on his life and he literally broke down in tears the day he met Rudy in person letting him know what a difference he made in his life and career. As well, 4 US presidents were so moved by the movie that they wrote hand written letters to Rudy himself. The 4 presidents were both Bushes, Bill Clinton and Barrack Obama. Rudy Ruettiger was an undersized walk on who earned a spot for two years on the Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team in the 1974 and 1975 seasons. Although he did not dress for games, he was given the opportunity to put on the uniform and dress in the last home game of his senior year in 1975 and got in the game in the the closing minute to record his first ever tackle in the final moments of the game. The final scene of this movie is a moving tribute to who Rudy was and why he was so loved.His story, however, is about so much more than football which is why Hollywood and Notre Dame deeply supported the making of this movie.  Full disclosure here, as a college football player myself back in Canada in the 1990s, I was an undersized player who had to work very myself to have a chance to be starting quarterback and punter for my university team. The movie Rudy was a great inspiration to me at the time and taught me that I needed to push myself even harder to be the best I could be with the talent I possessed.In our episode today, Rudy and I talk about what it was like for him growing up in the family of 14 brothers and sisters, the loss of his best friend which ultimately sparked his desire to quit his job and move to South Bend Indiana to make the Notre Dame dream happen, and we also talk about his spirituality and the desire he has to make a difference in the world by sharing his story. We also chat about Hollywood actor Sean Astin who played his character in the movie and how he and Sean collaborated in order for Sean to do the very best he could in the role of Rudy in the movie. I was super excited to record this podcast with Rudy, but due to technical difficulties and a poor internet connection, there were a number of glitches that prevented us from recording the entire interview. After editing, I managed to capture only 17 minutes of our 40 minute conversation but there are still some gems in there. Connect with Rudy:Website: https://www.rudyruettiger.com/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rudy-ruettiger-76b46458/Rudy's Documentary: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6824050/Rudy's Movie: https://www.netflix.com/title/60002332

Send us a textMy guest today epitomizes what it means to follow a dream and to completely transform oneself into an olympic champion. Andrea Proske joins me for a discussion about her amazing life journey. At 27 years old, Andrea had very limited experience with team sport and although an active person by nature, she had never pursued excellence in her life through sport, let alone had never rowed in her life. At 27, She was working in the hotel industry at the time and had the opportunity to compete in her first Tough Mudder race. After this race, she became inspired to change her life and to find something new and challenging to tackle. As she says in this episode, she felt stuck in her life, not sure what to do. She wasn’t sure what this new challenge was going to be, but would go on to give rowing a try and what a story this turned out to be as 3 short years later she earned herself a spot on the Canadian Women’s National Rowing Team. In our conversation today, we unpack the roles of resilience and determination in Andrea’s life and how she was able to overcome numerous obstacles throughout the 8 years that she took up the sport of rowing, including a serious accident in 2015. In Andrea’s own words, Failing forward quickly became her motto…. she braved injuries, underperformance, the firing of an abusive head coach, falling out of the boat more times than she cares to admit,  a global pandemic and a historic Olympic postponement. But along the way she learned valuable lessons on handling failure, burnout, uncertainty… and the power of sisterhood.On Friday, July 30th, Andre Proske’s dreams came true as her and her team of 9 won Canada’s first gold medal in rowing in nearly 20 years. In this episode, Andrea talks about the Tokyo Olympics and what life has been like since winning gold. She also shares the work she is doing now and what her biggest hopes are in moving forward in her life. Wherever you are in the world listening to this, I hope you find value in this discussion as there is so much that we can learn from Andrea’s journey. About Andrea: In her Olympic debut at Tokyo 2020, Andrea Proshe was a member of the women’s eight that won gold. It was Canada’s first Olympic gold in any women’s rowing event since Atlanta 1996 and the first gold in the women’s eight since Barcelona 1992.As a club rower looking to break onto the national team in 2016, Proske attended her first international regattas in Amsterdam (Holland Beker) and London (Henley Royal Regatta). The highlight was winning the senior women’s single sculls at the Henley and by the end of the year she was received her invitation to the national team.She first represented Canada on the senior international circuit in the double sculls with Gabrielle Smith in 2018. In their World Cup debut as a duo, they won silver in Lucerne. Later that summer, they finished sixth at the World Rowing Championships. They won another World Cup medal in 2019, this time a bronze in Rotterdam. They capped the season with a fourth-place finish in the double sculls at the world championships, qualifying the boat for Canada for Tokyo 2020.Connect With Andrea: Website: https://andreaproske.com/Twitter: https://twitter.com/AndreaProskeInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/andreaproske/

Send us a textOn the show today, Dr. Gervais, joins us to take a deep dive into who he is and the work he does. We will explore the themes of personal excellence, vulnerability, self-awareness and pursuing mastery of things that matter most. Dr. Gervais feels fortunate to have worked with some of the most talented people across the globe helping to unpack the guiding principles that they have put into action in their life, with consistency, to have the profound impact that they have through their craft. Michael has done over 300 podcast interviews, as well has worked in the field of high performance psychology for more than two decades. His podcasts are deep, rich and full of wisdom/insight and he not only learns from some of the best in these interviews, he also challenges them, in the healthiest ways possible, to reflect deeply on their own life and oftentimes many of his guests walk away from these conversations with deeper wisdom about themselves. He has changed countless lives through the life lessons he shares not only on his podcast but also through his amazing online course Finding Your Best that he co-designed with his business partner and close friend Pete Carroll head coach of Seattle Seahawks. About MichaelAs a sport/performance psychologist, Dr. Michael Gervais is one of the world’s leading experts on the relationship between the mind and elite performance. Over the course of a 20-year career working with world class performers and organizations, Dr. Gervais has developed a  framework for the mental skills and practices that allow athletes to thrive in pressure-packed environments. Gervais’ influence can be felt across many touchpoints of popular culture.  His clients include the NFL’s Seattle Seahawks, world record holders, Olympians, MVPs from every major sport, internationally acclaimed music artists, and Fortune 50 CEOs.Gervais has worked across  three summer Olympic Games (Tokyo, Rio, London) and two winter Olympic Games. He has served as the Olympic high-performance psychologist for USA Beach Volleyball,  USA Beach Volleyball, USA Women’s Indoor Volleyball, and, most recently, USA Surfing in Tokyo.  Dr. Gervais is the host of the popular Finding Mastery podcast that explores the psychology of the world’s most extraordinary thinkers and doers. In 2020, Gervais wrote an Audible Original, Compete to Create: An Approach to Living and Leading Authentically, with NFL coach Pete Carroll. He also created a six-week online course to bring the principles and practices of high performance mindset training into businesses and homes. A published, peer-reviewed author and nationally recognized speaker on optimal human performance,  Dr. Gervais has been featured in premier media outlets including NBC, ABC, FOX, CNN, ESPN, NFL Network, Red Bull TV, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Outside Magazine, WIRED, Sports Illustrated and ESPN The Magazine.Connect with MichaelWebsite: https://findingmastery.net/Finding Your Best Course: https://competetocreate.net/findingmastery/Twitter: https://twitter.com/michaelgervaisinstagram: https://www.instagram.com/michaelgervais/Michael's Audiobook: https://www.audible.com/pd/Compete-to-Create-Audiobook/B088ZQ4L1NSpecial thanks to Bronx band Conversing with Oceans for the podcast musichttps://ww

Send us a textWhen Tania Lattanzio reflects back on early days in her life, she has great appreciation for growing up in a bi-cultural family as it helped her develop a deep curiosity of culture and travel from a young age. This love of travel would help open the doors of possibility for Tania and provide her with many wonderful experiences that allowed her to see the world and learn more deeply about people and culture. Tania knew early on that she wanted to be an educator and, after university,  was willing to take the risk to leave Australia to find one of her first teaching jobs in London, England. It was this experience that opened many doors for Tania and as she continued on her path in education, she began to develop a deep appreciation and passion for teaching and for creating classroom environments that inspired young people to take more control of their own learning journeys.Tania’s path in education would continue to evolve for her in many different ways ultimately leading her to take on a position working for the ASIA PACIFIC IB OFFICE as a professional development trainer and It was through this experience that Tania was able to further develop her craft and lead many workshops for teachers around the world. She loved being able to visit schools, meet different educators, and help them to develop their own teaching practice. Tania moved on from the IB and launched her own consulting agency and is now Director of Innovative Global Education. In this role she works as an educational consultant throughout the world helping to develop and conduct professional learning for teachers and leadership, modelling pedagogy in classrooms and working intensively with teaching teams, through mentoring and coaching, to improve planning, teaching and assessment.As you listen to this conversation today, you will hear the passion that Tania has for the work that she does. She shares deep insight in this episode and it is my hope that any educator and educational leader will have take away value that they can apply in the work that they do. I want to thank Tania for taking the time to be on the podcast and for being willing to share her story and the work that she does. And with that, let’s jump right into this discussion with Tania Lattanzio. About TaniaTania Lattanzio is an experienced international educator. Previously a teacher, coordinator, and manager with the International Baccalaureate, she is now Director of Innovative Global Education. In this role she works as an educational consultant throughout the world.This role involves developing and conducting professional learning for teachers and leadership, modelling pedagogy in classrooms and working intensively with teaching teams, through mentoring and coaching, to improve planning, teaching and assessment.A key focus of Tania's work is developing and designing conceptual curriculum for schools, this work involves conceptualising curriculum across subject areas and year levels. This also involves equipping teachers with ideas and strategies to ensure that the learning has a conceptual focus.An advocate of inquiry, she works with educators to provide students with an education that is purposeful, meaningful and relevant to their lives, where students have opportunities to be motivated and have agency of their learning.A passionate educator Tania works closely with educational settings to specifically meet their needs through supporting school reform, making significant shifts in pedagogy and developing conceptual curriculum frameworks in both local and international settings. Tania has worked with schools and teachers from early childhood through to high school.Connect with TaniaWebsite: https://www.innovativeglobaled.org/Twitter:

Send us a textIn this episode, Jacqui  Weatherly, also known as the Tai Chi Lady, shares what early days were like for her growing up in a small rural community outside of Adelaide, Australia. Her father, a former physical education and dance teacher was a mentor to Jacqui and exposed her to multiple different forms of outdoor activities such as rock climbing, hiking and other pursuits. This allowed Jacqui to easily be able to tackle difficult physical challenges in her life from a young age. In her last couple of years of high school, Jacqui transferred schools and went to live with her grandparents in the city. She talks about this being a very difficult transition for her as she went from living in a very small town where she knew everyone to moving to a big city and attending a high school where she did not know anyone at all. Despite the difficulty, Jacqui learned a lot about herself through this experience. Jacqui would go on to pursue a career as a physical education teacher internationally and settle in Nanjing, China for 7 years at the Nanjing International School as head of the physical education department. As you listen to this episode you will hear Jacqui describe some of the mental challenges that she went through over the years and how these challenges truly sparked within her a desire to look within and to seek a major change in her life in order to find more fulfillment and to better understand herself. As well, you will hear the framework that Jacqui applies to combat fear and doubt in her life. She describes tackling fear in her life in a way that allows her to not be controlled by it and to embrace it so that she can constantly grow and learn in meaningful ways in her life. Jacqui speaks openly and candidly about the impact that anxiety has had on her and takes us through how her journey of TAI CHI has genuinely helped to physically and mentally transform her life. What was initially meant to be a year off studying CHEN Tai Chi in rural China has turned into a 6 year journey of pursuing mastery of her craft. Jacqui shares many life lessons learned through TAI CHI and also shares insight into how any teacher, whether they be a classroom teacher or physical education teacher can begin to apply basic elements of TAI Chi with their students. About Jacqui WeatherlyJacqui was born and raised in Australia. After finishing school, she completed a Bachelor of Education Degree in Secondary Physical Education. She taught Physical Education and Health for 17 years in Australia, the USA and China. She resigned from her job as the Head of the PE Department at Nanjing International School in June 2016 after 7 years, to follow her passion to study martial arts. She studied Chen Style Tai Chi full time for a total of 2.5 years at the Traditional Tai Chi School in Yangshuo, China.Jacqui begun competing in Tai Chi competitions in September 2017 and has won numerous gold, silver and bronze medals in both taijiquan and taiji weapons events in China, Hong Kong and Australia over the past 5 years.She was an intern teacher for beginners at the Yangshuo Traditional Tai Chi School in 2017/2018. This allowed her to deepen her knowledge, understanding and application of Tai Chi to effectively pass on the culture, skills and theory to other students.Jacqui now lives in Brisbane and is currently working on her own school, "Qi, Myself & Tai Chi", where she hopes to continue teaching Tai Chi to help improve the health and overall wellbeing of herself and others, whilst also passing on the ancient traditions and art of Tai Chi.Connect With Jacqui:Instagram- https://www.instagram.com/tai_chi_lady/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Ta

Send us a textIt was a pleasure to have Jim Knight back on my podcast for a second time. I wanted to have Jim back on my show to take a dive into his Radical Learners online course called the First 90 Days of Instructional Coaching. Today’s conversation is pretty much focused on ideas and insight related to this course which you can find at courses.radicallearners.com/collections.In this course Jim Knight introduces the foundational principles, skills, and framework necessary for the first 90 days of instructional coaching, including The Partnership Principles, The Impact Cycle, and resources for coaching in action.I have been going through the course with some of my colleagues at The KAUST School in Saudi Arabia and it has sparked some excellent discussions on our leadership team around the role of the coach and how best to maximize time in order to be the most effective coaches that we can be for those who we serve. In our conversation today Jim and I review what the impact cycle is, how to facilatate discussions with teachers around their ‘current reality’ in order to set relevant, timely and meaningful goals, and to then look at strategies that they can apply in order to meet those goals. As well, Jim and I discuss the roadblocks that get in they way of successfully implementing and going through the impact cycle. Jim shares a lot of insight and knowledge that can be applied to the work that any coach does, but also major considerations when trying to deepen the impact that teachers have on student learning. It was an honor to have Jim back on the show. I hope that this conversation between Jim and I sparks some thinking on your part and that you get some valuable takeaway from this episode. About JimJim Knight, Senior Partner of ICG, is a research associate at the University of Kansas Center for Research on Learning. He has spent more than two decades studying instructional coaching, writing several books on the topic.  Jim’s articles on instructional coaching have been included in publications such as The Journal of Staff Development, Principal Leadership, The School Administrator, and Teachers Teaching Teachers. Jim directs several research projects, including Pathways to Success, a comprehensive, district-wide school reform project in the Topeka, Kansas, School District. Jim also leads the Intensive Instructional Coaching Institutes and the Teaching Learning Coaching annual conference. Jim has presented and consulted in more than 40 states, most Canadian provinces, and around the world. He has also won several university teaching, innovation, and service awards.Connect with Jim:Website: https://www.instructionalcoaching.com/Radical Learners: http://courses.radicallearners.com/collectionsTwitter: https://twitter.com/jimknight99

Send us a textDr. Jim Loehr is a world-renowned performance psychologist, Co-Founder of the Human Performance Institute, and author of 17 books including his most recent book… Leading with Character- Ten minutes a day to a brilliant legacyIn the opening of his latest book, Leading with Character, Dr. Jim Loehr describes a pivotal moment in his life that happened when he was 16 years old. He considers this moment to be his first exposure to real evil in the world and explains how this experience would go on to greatly shape the career path that he would one day take. From his more than 35 years of experience and applied research, Dr. Loehr believes the single most important factor in successful achievement, personal fulfillment, and life satisfaction is the strength of one’s character. He strongly contends that character strength can be built in the same way that muscle strength is built—through energy investment.He has worked with hundreds of world-class performers from numerous arenas of sport, business, medicine, and law enforcement, including Fortune 100 executives, FBI hostage rescue teams, and military special forces including navy seals and green berets.Dr. Loehr’s ground-breaking, science-based energy management training system has achieved world-wide recognition and has been chronicled in leading national publications, including the Harvard Business Review, Business Week, Fortune, Newsweek, Time, US News and World Report, Success, Fast Company and Omni. He has appeared on NBC’s Today Show, ABC’s Nightline with Ted Koppel, the CBS Evening News with Dan Rather and CBS Morning News, and the Oprah Winfrey Show, as well most recently, he was on the very popular Tim Ferris podcast.In this episode, Dr. Loehr and I take a deep dive into the major themes that he wrote about in his latest book Leading with Character: Ten Minutes a Day to a Brilliant Legacy and the power that personal journalling can hold in our lives when we stick with it, when we are consistent and when we are very honest with ourselves. We unpack many of the themes he discusses in his book including how to construct a powerful, robust personal credo that will become a source code for vetting all future ethical decisions and for helping to build a strong and meaningful life and leadership legacy in order to have the deepest impact possible on the world. Dr. Loehr's Bio:Dr. Jim Loehr is a world-renowned performance psychologist, Co-Founder of the Human Performance Institute, and author of 16 books including his most recent, The Only Way to Win. He also co-authored the national bestseller The Power of Full Engagement. From his more than 30 years of experience and applied research, Dr. Loehr believes the single most important factor in successful acheivement, personal fulfilment and life satisfaction is the strength of one’s character. He strongly contends that character strength can be built in the same way that muscle strength is built throught energy investment. Jim Loehr is also well known for his individual work with top-flight athletes and Olympians. A sampling of his elite clients from the world of sport include: golfers Mark O'Meara and Justin Rose; tennis players Jim Courier, Monica Seles, and Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario; boxer Ray Mancini; hockey players Eric Lindros and Mike Richter; and Olympic gold medal speed skater Dan Jansen. Connect with Dr. Loehr:Website: https://www.jim-loehr.com/Get his latest book at:  https://www.amazon.com/Leading-Chara

Send us a textIn this conversation, Dr. Yong Zhao and I unpacked many different layers of his life and his work. However, we devote much of this episode discussing his latest book Learners Without Boarders-New Learning Pathways For All Students which was published in July 2021. Dr. Zhao has written more than 20 books and has spoken and presented in many countries around the world and is widely recognized as one of the most influential education scholars. It was a pleasure to have this conversation with Dr. Zhao and I hope that anyone listening will benefit from hearing about his work and research. Dr. Zhao's BioYong Zhao is a Foundation Distinguished Professor in the School of Education at the University of Kansas and a professor in Educational Leadership at the Melbourne Graduate School of Education in Australia. He previously served as the Presidential Chair, Associate Dean, and Director of the Institute for Global and Online Education in the College of Education, University of Oregon, where he was also a Professor in the Department of Educational Measurement, Policy, and Leadership. Prior to Oregon, Yong Zhao was University Distinguished Professor at the College of Education, Michigan State University, where he also served as the founding director of the Center for Teaching and Technology, executive director of the Confucius Institute, as well as the US-China Center for Research on Educational Excellence. He is an elected member of the National Academy of Education and a fellow of the International Academy of Education.Yong Zhao has received numerous awards including the Early Career Award from the American Educational Research Association, Outstanding Public Educator from Horace Mann League of USA, and Distinguished Achievement Award in Professional Development from the Association of Education Publishers. He has been recognized as one of the most influential education scholars.Zhao was born in China’s Sichuan Province. He received his B.A. in English Language Education from Sichuan Institute of Foreign Languages in Chongqing, China in 1986. After teaching English in China for six years, he came to Linfield College as a visiting scholar in 1992. He then began his graduate studies at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 1993. He received his masters in Education in 1994 and Ph.D. in 1996. He joined the faculty at MSU in 1996 after working as the Language Center Coordinator at Willamette University and a language specialist at Hamilton College.Connect with Dr. ZhaoTwitter: https://twitter.com/YongZhaoEdWebsite: http://zhaolearning.com/Dr. Zhao most recent book Learners Without Boarders can be found here: https://www.amazon.com/Learners-Without-Borders-Learning-Pathways/dp/1506377351

Send us a textIn his early days, Dan Chambliss was inquisitive, well-read, and curious about the world around him. Growing up in a home that valued reading and learning, Dan was able to create strong connections across multiple disciplines that helped to broaden his view of the world and to gain deeper understanding of the nature of the human spirit. Dan had very little interest in sport when he was young and in his own words, struggled with the basic motor coordination needed to participate in many different forms of team sport. Although he didn’t consider himself even remotely close to being an athlete, he somehow ended up becoming passionate about swimming. He worked endlessly on improving his skills in the pool and began to thrive which helped him to understand the power of perseverence and the importance of developing a greater belief in himself and what is possible when he set his mind to it. As you listen to this episode, you will hear the passion that Dan has for the work that he does and his lifelong quest to better understand the power of group dynamics in helping to shape a person’s character and their pursuit of excellence both personally and professionally. I came across his research in Angela Duckworth’s best-selling book Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance. In her book, she outlines Dan’s amazing work with the US Olympic Swim Squad and shares what he learned not only by observing swimmers of all abilities, but in particular the elite swimmers. By studying how the best swimmers in the nation pursued mastery of their craft, he learned deeply about how they connected with their coaches and teammates and the importance of developing strong relationships when striving to be one’s bestDan has been a member of the Hamilton College (Clinton, NY) faculty since 1981 and earned Master's and Ph.D. degrees from Yale University; in 1982 his doctoral thesis received the American Sociological Association’s prize for the best recent dissertation on medical sociology. His research interests are higher education, formal organizations, social psychology and research methodsHe is the winner of the ASA's Theory section prize for his work on organizational excellence in his widely-reprinted 1989 article, “The Mundanity of Excellence: An Ethnographic Report on Stratification and Olympic Swimmers,” and is author of the book Champions: The Making of Olympic Swimmers, which was named the 1991 Book of the Year by the U.S. Olympic Committee. This episode was just a mini-dive into Dan’s life and his work, he’s done so much more and has made a huge impact in his field. You can click on his Twitter link below or any of the links seen in this introduction about him. Dan continues to remain open and curious about the world and strives to read and learn every day. When I asked him about the legacy he hopes to one day leave behind, with great affection he said that he wants to always be remembered as a teacher, not a researcher, a writer or an academic, but to be remembered as a teacher who always wanted to make a difference in the lives of the students he taught. He is a wonderful person and it was a genuine joy to interview him on my podcast. I hope that wherever you are in the world, that you find some gems from this episode that you can apply in your own personal and professional life. Connect with Dan: Twitter: https://twitter.com/DanFChamblissSpecial thanks to Bronx band Conversing with Oceans & Alex Bondarev for creating the podcast music.