Our Great Coach on this 'best of' episode is Sue Enquist.Sue played softball at UCLA from 1975 to 1978. She was a part of the team that won the 1978 Women's College World Series and became UCLA's first All-American softball player.In 1980 she transitioned into coaching and retired with a career winning percentage of 83. As a coach her teams won 10 national championships, and produced 65 All-Americans and 15 Olympians.She was also a coach for 1996 Olympic Gold medal winning team.In 2008 she was inducted into the International Women's Sports Hall of FameSue is a coach who believes in the type of transformational leadership where, in her words, you are more collaborative, truthful and positive in developing skills. She believes that when people feel safe they will go for it when it comes to courage, and that your role as a coach is to be the eyes of the athletes development, and feed them with what she is seeing in their progress.She is also highly articulate, passionate and a firm believer in the importance of curiosity as a leader to ensure that your program is always changing and developing. She also explains that High performing teams have high standards, expectations, accountability and efficient failure recovery routines.This was a thought provoking conversation, and we hope you enjoy it as we did.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 'best of' episode is Gary Kirsten.Gary played 101 Test matches and 185 One Day Internationals for South Africa between 1993 and 2004. He retired as the first ever South African to play in 100 tests, and the first Test batsman to make hundreds against each of the other 9 Test nations.He became the coach of the Indian cricket team in 2008 and led them to win the World Cup 2011, the Border-Gavaskar Trophy vs Australia in 2009, the first ever test series win in New Zealand and to become the become the top-ranked team in Test matches.In 2011 he was appointed as head coach of South Africa, and led them to also become the #1 ranked test team.He has also coached the Hobart Hurricanes in the Australian Big Bash League and Royal Challengers Bangalore in the Indian Premier League.Gary is a coach who is deeply authentic, and comfortable expressing both his own vulnerabilities, and heightened expectations.He believes that the quality of his coaching is determined by the effectiveness of his facilitation skills, and so is reflective and philosophical about the techniques needed to reach the athletes he leads.He is that rare breed of person who has been able to reach the pinnacle of his sport as both an athlete and coach, and this lends his story an added layer of credibility, whether it is talking about the deficit of mental skills he experienced as a batsman, or the importance of understanding what the environment requires of you as a leader.This was a great interview, a real highlight for us, and I hope you enjoy it as much we did.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 Thomas FrankThomas is the Head Coach of Brentford FC in the English Football League Championship.He started his career coaching youth teams in Denmark. His success with the National Under 17 team led to his first senior appointment with Brondby in the Danish Superliga in 2013. He turned their performance around delivering top four performances in successive years.In 2016 he joined Brentford as an Assistant Coach before becoming their manager in 2018.At the end of 2019 season he was awarded Manager of the Year and in May 2021, Brentford beat Swansea for promotion into to the English Premier League for the first time in 74 years.Thomas is an emotionally intelligent coach with an innate understanding of the dynamics that shape the culture of teams.His beliefs about the importance of humility, and the value of hard work and standards are timeless. He understands that to experience the joy of success, you must endure long periods of struggle, and yet through care and what he calls, appreciative enquiry, you can sustain the energy needed to continue on.This was a wonderful conversation with a coach on the rise, and I hope you enjoy it as much as we did.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 Underdogs and we are joined for the discussion by Sean Murray who has just written a terrific book about the 1984 USA Volleyball team that won the Olympic Gold medal. His book is called, If Gold Is Our Destiny: How a Team of Mavericks Came Together for Olympic Glory.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.comSean can be reached through his website: https://www.realtimeperformance.com/ or email: seanm@realtimeperformance.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Todays episode is on the topic of Values, and it features audio quotes from 22 coaches that we have interviewed on the podcast.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 American women's basketball coach Brenda FreseWhile injured as a player at the University of Arizona, Brenda volunteered as an assistant coach at Pima Community College. After graduation in 1994 she started as an assistant coach at Kent State.In 1999 she was appointed into her first Head Coach role at Ball state and then in 2002 to the University of Maryland. Her success with Maryland places her in the elite levels of women’s basketball, the highlights of which are:· 2006 NCAA Championship· the 2009 and 2012 ACC Championships· Big Ten champions in 2015· 4x Big Ten Coach of the Year (2002, 2015, 2019, 2021); National Coach of the year awards in 2021, 2013 and 2002· And a winning % of 78 at the end of the 2021 season.Brenda is the type of calm, spirited leader who can see a clear path forward when the anxiety within the team is at its apex.She is able to regulate her emotions, and response in such a way that it matches the moment and helps to build self-belief in others. She demands a lot from her athlete and support team, but you have the impression that she also gives more than she gets.There were many key parts of this interview but some of the key points that stayed with me afterwards were:Her view that great coaches are able to connect with people in a way that makes the person feel like they are worth a million dollars.Her view that women in leadership positions need to move beyond being grateful and lead the change they want to see.Her focus on positivity and bringing confident energy into practices and game day; as she this enables you to produce the best performance that you are capable of.This was a wonderful conversation, and I hope you enjoy it as much as we did.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 the Vince Lombardi. Vince Lombardi was an American Football coach who is best remembered as the head coach of the Green Bay Packers in the 1960’s, where he led the team to 5 National Football League championships, including the first ever Superbowl in 1966. He finished his coaching career in the NFL with a winning % of 74, and a post season winning rate of 90%. He is considered to be one of the greatest coaches in American Football history, and the trophy awarded to the Super bowl winner is named in his honor. Vince Lombardi passed away in 1970, however we are going to reconstruct an interview with him, by using his exact words. I used 4 key books to find the words you will hear, and the words are 99% Vince Lombardi’s, with the occasional addition of a conjunctive word, or pronoun to connect phrases. What It Takes to Be #1: Vince Lombardi on Leadership, by Vince Lombardi When Pride Still Mattered : A Life Of Vince Lombardi Paperback by David Maraniss Vince: A Personal Biography of Vince Lombardi Paperback by Michael O'brien Vince Lombardi on Leadership: Life Lessons from a Five-Time NFL Championship Coach Paperback by Pat Williams and Jim Denney 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 NBA coach Jenny Boucek.Jenny is a former WNBA player, Assistant Coach and Head Coach. The first person to hold all 3 roles in the league’s history.She began her coaching career in the WNBA during the 1999 season as an assistant with the Washington Mystics.In 2000, she joined the Miami Sol, also as an assistant coach, for three seasons.Jenny was an Assistant Coach with the Seattle Storm when they won the WNBA Championship in 2004 and 2010 and the Head Coach for the Sacramento Monarchs and Seattle Storm.In 2017 Jenny became the player development coach for the Sacramento Kings, becoming the third female assistant coach in NBA history.In 2018 she became an Assistant Coach for the Dallas Mavericks and since this interview was originally released, Jenny was named an assistant coach of the Indiana Pacers in July, 2021.Jenny is a coach with a deep sense of purpose, and belief in the power of intrinsic motivation to drive you to become the best version of yourself. Her career is a study in perseverance and risk that has resulted in redefining paradigms. She is self-reflective, empathetic and focused on helping those in her circle of influence become, in her words, a better me for a better we.This was a wonderful conversation, with a coach who transcends what it means to lead in both elite mens and womens competitions, and we hope you enjoy it as much as we did.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 Damien Hardwick.Damien is an Australian rules football coach and former player.As a player, he played 207 games for Essendon and Port Adelaide, winning premierships with each club in 2000 and 2004 respectively.He was appointed to his first head coach role in 2010 with Richmond; and led them to premierships in 2017, 2019 and 2020. He is now the longest tenured coach in the clubs 136 year history.In 2017 he voted Coach of the Year by his peers. And is also a member of a small and elite group of people who have both played in and coached an AFL premiership.Damien’s journey as a coach has been documented in books and in documentary’s, and in this interview he takes us through the key inflection points that led to him changing his philosophy, and then ultimately leading his team to 3 premierships.It’s a terrific story, there are so many highlights and here are just a few that stayed with afterwards:His descriptions of the effort that went into building the championship environment that eventually led to 3 premierships.How it was a leadership course on Authenticity at Harvard that led him to change his style, and ultimately unlock improved performance in the team.And the use of the triple H framework: hero, hardship and highlight to encourage his team to become more open and vulnerable with each other; and how this deeper level of connection translated into improved performance.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 WoodenCoach Wooden was an American basketball coach who led the UCLA Bruins to 10 NCAA Championships, including a record 7 titles in a row.Over a 29-year coaching career, his teams won a record 88 consecutive games, and he was voted coach of the year on 7 occasions. As a player he was names a collegiate All American on 3 occasions and was the first person to be enshrined in the Basketball Hall of Fame as a player and coach.He is one of the most revered coaches in history and is by far the coach mentioned most by the Great Coaches we have interviewed.John Wooden wrote 13 books on coaching and leadership; but it is his opus from 2005, the Pyramid of Success through which he has become internationally recognized. In that book he lays out his key principles to leadership and success in life.Unfortunately Coach Wooden passed away in 2010 at the age of 99. However, he left so much rich material behind that we are going to recreate a posthumous interview with him.Much of the footage of him is copyrighted and so not able to be reproduced without a lot of cost and bureaucracy, so we have ordered his words around key coaching and leadership themes hired an actor to read those words. And that is what you will be listening to today.We used multiple books to find the words you will hear:Coach Wooden's Pyramid of SuccessWooden: A Lifetime of Observations and Reflections On and Off the CourtWooden on Leadership: How to Create a Winning OrganizationThe Essential Wooden: A Lifetime of Lessons on Leaders and Leadership 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.