The Great Coaches: Leadership & Life

This episode is On Mental Skills and we are joined for the discussion by Aaron Walsh.Aaron a Mental Skills Coach presently working with the Chiefs Rugby and Scotland Rugby. Aaron has also worked  with Hockey New Zealand and New Zealand Football. He also coaches players from the San Francisco Giants, Arizona Diamondbacks and NY Mets and New Zealand All Blacks. He also coaches corporate leadership teams on creating and maintaining a High Performance working environment. You can reach him here: linkedin.com/in/aaron-walsh-561690b0 The key parts of the interview were:  How a key part of developing someones mental skills is reshaping or reframing their relationship to pressure. And how he describes his job as a mental skills coach to shrink the gap between someones capability and what they deliver under pressure.How a culture is the environment that people experience everyday within the group they belong to.Have great coaches and leaders creating social belonging within the team. And to achieve this have  what he calls 3C’s connection, consistency and competency.If you are interested in improving your own leadership and would like to understand what Executive Coaching entails you can contact me on paul@elevatedleadership.com.au or visit our website elevatedleadership.com.au. We work with business exec's, sports coaches and do some pro bono work with emerging leaders. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Jack is a former rugby union player who represented both the USA and World 15. He has also coached the USA National team the Eagles to 16 Test victories.He is presently in his 41st year as coach of the University of California bears. IN that times he has led the team to 23 National Collegiate Championships in 15s, and five national titles in 7sHe has also been named a Living Legend by the Pac-12 Network is a member of U.S. Rugby Hall of Fame and Cal Athletics Hall of Fame.Jack is a master coach with so many hard won insights. Just a few of them that stayed with me afterwards were:  The way he talks about mental toughness as being the ability to focus on the next most important thing.The mindset he tries to bring into his team of grateful for everything entitled for nothingAnd How he views leadership as a skill not a rank.If you would like to send us any feedback or if you know a great coach, who has a unique story to share, then we would love to hear from you, please contact us at paul@thegreatcoachespodcast.com or contact us through our website thegreatcoachespodcast.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Our Great Coach on this episode is John Kessel. As a volleyball player John participated in 16 U.S. Open Championships and played professionally in Europe. He started coaching at the Collegiate level in the USA in 1971 and led teams to National titles in 1986 and 1987. He was Team Leader for the 2000 USA Olympic Beach Volleyball Teams in Sydney, which brought home one gold medal, and for the 2004 USA Paralympic Women’s Sitting Volleyball Team in Athens, which came home with the bronze medal. It as a coach and administrator though where he has had the most profound impact on the game. He worked for over 30 years at Volleyball USA and 20+ years at World ParaVolley.He is an author of over 12 books, including the IMPACT coaching manual which is now in its 33rd edition.  He has been inducted in the Volleyball Coaches Hall of Fame and in 2007 was named a Sport Ethics Fellow by the Institute for International Sport. John consults to other Olympic Sports, well over 20 in fact, and travels around the world talking about coaching and in particular in the youth space. This was one of those interviews which I would classify as a master class. Among the many highlights som that resonated with me were:  His view that the player who knows why they are doing something will beat the player who knows how to do something. The power of praise as a coach, and looking for ways to catch people doing the right things and reinforcing those. How one part of a coaches job is to help each individual within the team show competency and this does not necessarily have to be connected to skills required within the team, and how this strengthens the group.And How he defines success as a coach as never being an athletes last coach.If you would like to send us any feedback or if you know a great coach, who has a unique story to share, then we would love to hear from you, please contact us at paul@thegreatcoachespodcast.com or contact us through our website thegreatcoachespodcast.com  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Alan is a volleyball player and now coach. As a player he was a Collegiate All American and represented the USA Team.He was an Assistant Coach at his Alma Mater, Long Beach State University in 1996 before taking over as Head Coach in 2000. He has led them to 7 final four appearances and back-to-back NCAA championships in 2018 and 2019.From 2009 until 2012 he was also the Coach of the USA Men’s team and led them to Gold medal at 3 Continental Championships as well as Gold at the 2012 World League.Alan is a reflective and thoughtful leader, who manages to couple a program with a strong structure and supportive environment.Some of the highlights from the interview for me were:The way he encourages his team to focus on the message not the tone during in-game communication. The importance of not coaching to the last point, but to be able to manage your emotions and look forward. The importance of honesty and not using “feelings” when describing selection decisions And how he uses Mindset Monday to reset and prepare for the week ahead. If you would like to send us any feedback or if you know a great coach, who has a unique story to share, then we would love to hear from you, please contact us at paul@thegreatcoachespodcast.com or contact us through our website thegreatcoachespodcast.com  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Today’s episode is on the topic of Being Coachable, and we are joined for the discussion by Allistair McCaw, who has just written a terrific new book called Habits that Make a Champion.Allistair is that rare person who excels across disciplines and industries. In addition to being an author who has sold over 300,000 books, his podcast ranks in the top 1% in the world, and for the last 25 years he has also consulted and worked with Olympic Gold Marriage, Grand Slam Champions, Fortune 500 companies, NCAA Colleges, and Professional sports teams. And you will hear him mention some of the these in this terrific interview.Allistair also has a fantastic social media presence.If you would like to send us any feedback or if you know a great coach, who has a unique story to share, then we would love to hear from you, please contact us at paul@thegreatcoachespodcast.com or contact us through our website thegreatcoachespodcast.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Our Great Coach on this episode is Dan McKellar Dan is a former professional Rugby Union Player and now coach.He played more than 150 premier grade games at Souths Rugby Club in Brisbane, Australia winning a premiership with them in 2000. He started coaching as a Player-Coach at Wicklow in Ireland in 2002, before becoming the Head Coach of his old side Souths Rugby Club in 2008. He then became Head Coach for the Tuggeranong Vikings Rugby in 2011 and won back to back premierships with them.In 2018 he became Head Coach of the Brumbies in the Super Rugby competition and led them to the 2020 Super Rugby AU premiership.In 2021 he became as Assistant Coach for the Australian Wallabies and then in 2022 was announced as the head coach for Leicester Tigers.Dan has a nice balance between the science and art of coaching and in this terrific interview some of the highlights for me included:The importance of life-balance and how he has added this to the trademarks he looks for in the coaching group.How the time you invest with each individual in an organisation will mean a lot to them, and strengthen their connection to the organisation.The importance of self-awareness as a leader, but also having people around you who are will to empower you to learn about leadership through being given opportunities to lead others.If you would like to send us any feedback or if you know a great coach, who has a unique story to share, then we would love to hear from you, please contact us at paul@thegreatcoachespodcast.com or contact us through our website thegreatcoachespodcast.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Today’s episode is focuses on the topic of Turning Points and we are joined for the discussion by Dr David Turner. Dr David Turner is a Senior Lecturer in Sports Coaching at Anglia Ruskin University, Cambridge, United Kingdom, where he is a member of the Cambridge Centre for Sport and Exercise Sciences. He has been a sports coach and an educator for around 40 years. His research interests are centred around expertise and learning in sports coaching and beyond. He is particularly interested in the use of storytelling to derive and represent the wisdom of great coaches, and has an ongoing project of public talks and articles entitled Learning From Legendary Coaches.  If you would like to send us any feedback or if you know a great coach, who has a unique story to share, then we would love to hear from you, please contact us at paul@thegreatcoachespodcast.com or contact us through our website thegreatcoachespodcast.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Noeline is a former national team player who is currently head coach of the New Zealand national netball team, the Silver Ferns. As player Noeline won a silver medal 1998 Commonwealth Games and a bronze medal at the 1995 Netball World Championships. From 2002 to 2013 she was the Head Coach of Waikato Bay of Plenty Magic leading them to the Championship in 2005, 2006 and 2012. In 2017 and 2018 she coached the Sunshine Coast Lightning to back to back premierships in the Australian Suncorp Super Netball league. Then in 2019 she famously led New Zealand to victory in the World Cup. Some of the highlights for me were:How the great coaches are able to mobilize people and create an environment where people want to keep coming back.The importance of having strategic drivers that will drive the vision you have for the club or team,The importance of succession planning and proving the right experiences to everyone in the team so that they grow.And the story she shares about her daughters experience of not getting on court for the team she plays for, and how this illustrates the way the she approaches learning and helping people reach their potential. If you would like to send us any feedback or if you know a great coach, who has a unique story to share, then we would love to hear from you, please contact us at paul@thegreatcoachespodcast.com or contact us through our website thegreatcoachespodcast.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Nick Montgomery is a former professional soccer player and now coach.As a player he started his career in England most notable playing 349 games for Sheffield United.In 2012 he moved to Australia and played for the Central Coast Mariners.  In 2018 he started as an Assistant coach at the Mariners before being appointed as Head Coach in 2021. In just his second season he led the team to A -league championship where they beat the more fancied and resourced Melbourne City 6-1. And in 2023 was appointed Head Coach at Scottish club HibernianSome of the highlight were:The way Nick goes about understanding what drives each individual, how this fuels his belief that people can change; and the results he had at the Mariners to prove this.How he was able to turn a team with one of the lowest salary budgets into premiers by building on what he calls a siege mentality, coupled with seasoned professionals and young energetic players and his own unshakeable belief.And The role that visualization played in the story of their underdog championship.If you would like to send us any feedback or if you know a great coach, who has a unique story to share, then we would love to hear from you, please contact us at paul@thegreatcoachespodcast.com or contact us through our website thegreatcoachespodcast.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Today’s episode is focuses on the topic of Mindset and we are joined by Mark Zimmerman to talk about Mindset. Mark is a Mindset coach and works with sporting teams across Australia and his homeland South Africa. His passion is Rugby and he has great energyand some of the things he said that resonated with me were:How he defines mindset as your mental outlook, and how that either helps or hinders your performance in a professional or just a competitive arena.The analogy he uses to explain how your mindset is the software that powers your hardware.And The interesting link between the collective mantra a team might use and their mindset.You can reach Mark at https://otmcoaching.com.au/ If you would like to send us any feedback or if you know a great coach, who has a unique story to share, then we would love to hear from you, please contact us at paul@thegreatcoachespodcast.com or contact us through our website thegreatcoachespodcast.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.