The Great Coaches: Leadership & Life

Our Great Coach on this episode is Australian Basketball coach, Rob Beveridge.Rob began coaching state representative sides at the age of 19. Over the next 27 years his career steadily progressed, with some of the key highlights being a Gold medal leading Australia at the World U20 Championships, a Paralympic silver medal, a Commonwealth Games gold medal, and a coveted National Championship with the Perth Wildcats in 2010.Rob has also coached in China, the Philippines, Japan, Indonesia, Korea, New Zealand, United Arab Emirates the Scottish national team and for 6 years coached the World team at the annual Nike Hoops Summit in the USA.And along the way he picked up 14 coach of the year awards from various governing bodies.Rob is a coach with a deep focus on teaching people to become elite athletes, and to achieve this he tries to help them be the best possible version of themselves.He is a humble, self-reflective and with enough experience under his belt to know that great team cultures take time, patience and dedication to build.The key parts of this interview that resonated with me were:How to be a successful coach of an elite level team, you need to be able to understand every single role within the club, so that you can match the theory with how it is actually applied, and this why serving an apprenticeship to develop your craft is so important.The importance in re-enforcing athlete strengths in building their confidence, and getting them to focus during games.And that if you create a positive and fun culture, people will thrive, but if you micromanage, players they start to look over their shoulder, and this ultimately impacts their 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 American Basketball coach Michelle Clark-Heard.Michelle is a Louisville native and played basketball at Western Kentucky from 1986 where she was part of 4 NCAA teams.In 2005 she was appointed head coach at Kentucky State, before becoming the Head Coach for her alma mater Western Kentucky in 2012 and over the next 6 years won 77% of her games.In 2015 and 2017 she was an Assistant for USA teams.And in 2018 she became the Head Coach of Cincinnati University in the American Athletic Conference.Michelle is a coach with a relentless focus on self-evaluation by, as she says, looking in the mirror first, before she gives feedback to others.She also believes in the primary importance of care, for yourself as a leader, and for the people in your organisation.There are many powerful moments in this interview, and the key points that resonated with me were:How the belief you get from your mentors helps counter your own self-doubt and develop as a person.The role of support staff in helping you deal with self-doubt in times of low energy.And The importance of self-love in allowing you to be the best you can be every day.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 Alan Smith.Alan is the former football manager of Dulwich Hamlet, Crystal Palace, and Wycombe Wanderers.In 1994 Alan coached Crystal Palace to the Division One Championship and was also awarded the League Manager's Association ‘Championship Manager of the Year’. In 1995, he led the team to the semifinals of both the League and FA Cups.In 1997, he was appointed by Kevin Keegan to join his beloved Fulham Football Club as the club's new Academy Director, a role he held until 2000.In a career that spans over 40 years he has worked with some amazing coaches, and helped develop players like Gareth Southgate and Chris Coleman who have gone on to have successful coaching careers of their own.Alan is a positive and energizing person, with a lifelong passion for helping others develop. He is also a strong advocate for finding a mentor as a Head Coach to help you be the most effective leader you can possibly be.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 thegreatcoachespodcast@gmail.com.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 Olympic Gold medal winning coach Tim Walsh.Tim is a coach with a deep passion for learning and development, and in this interview, you will hear how he used this to transform a group of athletes from different sports into an Olympic Gold medal winning team that changed the way people think about female participation in contact sports.Tim is a former professional Rugby player who played for teams in Australia, England, New Zealand and Italy.He also played for the Australian Sevens team from 2002 to 2009.He began his coaching career with the Australian Women’s Rugby 7’s team in 2013 leading them to both the inaugural gold medal at the Rio Olympics and the World championship in 2016. He left the team in 2019 with an 85% winning ratio to take on the job as the coach of the Australian Men's Rugby 7’s team.Video link Tim Walsh's epic Australian coaching journeyIf 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 Basketball coach Felisha Legette-Jack.Felisha graduated from Syracuse in 1989 as the all-time leader for points and rebounds.She transitioned quickly into coaching and in 2002 was appointed Head Coach at Hofstra University. In 2006 she became the Head Coach of Indiana University in the Big Ten conference. During her six years there, the Hoosiers won 18 or more games three times and made postseason appearances in each of those years. After a six-win season though she was fired.She was given a second chance as a head coach at the University of Buffalo, and has led the Bulls to a period of sustained success, winning the Mid-American Conference in 2018 and getting through to the Sweet Sixteen at that year’s NCAA tournament.Along the way she has also served on two USA Basketball gold medal-winning coaching staffs.Felisha is a coach with a deep reservoir of resilience and wisdom that comes from the long and winding road she has taken from the tenements of New York City to being courtside at the NCAA championship.She believes in redemption and second chances, and the power of authenticity to bridge the divide with the people around you. 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 Mark Robinson.Mark is a former English cricketer, who played for three different English counties; Northamptonshire, Yorkshire, and Sussex.He served as the coach of Sussex from 2005 to 2015 leading them to 2 county cricket championships. During this time he also coached English youth cricket teams. In 2015 he became the coach of the English Women's Cricket Team, famously leading them to their World Cricket Cup victory in 2017, and then to the final of the World T20 cricket championship in 2018.He was awarded an OBE in the Queen's 2018 New Year Honours.And is presently coaching Warwickshire County Cricket Club in the UK National League.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 Dr David Parkin (OAM) who is a former coach, and former player in the Australian Football League.David played 211 games for the Hawthorn Football Club captaining the club from 1969–1973, and was a part of their 1971 premiership winning side.He started coaching with his old side in 1976, leading them to a premiership in 1978. He then coached Carlton Football Club to successive Premierships in 1981 - 1982, and again in 1995.He is one of just six coaches to have coached over 500 games.He is also a noted academic and author. He received an Australian Sports Medal in 2000 and a Medal of the Order of Australia in 2013. And in 2010 was inducted into the Sport Australia Hall of Fame.David is an iconic coach, with the type of deep-seated wisdom that only comes from experiencing both the highs and lows of elite sport and life. And in this interview, he talks about both.He is philosophical and self-reflective, and yet possessive of the pragmatism needed to turn this into action. He is also a life-long learner, and sharer; always available to offer mentoring, or as he calls it, being a critical friend, to those that ask.David is the author of 5 books on the topics of Leadership, Coaching and Teams, his seminal book looks at the lessons on leadership from the sporting arena that can be applied to corporate teams.Captain-coach leadership : performance strategies from professional sport. Winning With Pumped Up People 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 Valorie Kondos Field.Valerie, or Miss Val as she's more affectionately known, was the head of coach of the UCLA Gymnastics team from 1991 to 2019, leading the team to 7 national and 18 Pac 12 Championships.She was voted NCAA Coach of the Year four times by her peers and in 2016 was voted the Coach of the Century by the PAC12 Conference.Her 2019 TED Talk, titled Why winning doesn’t always equal success, has been viewed over 3 million times, and she recently released a best selling book called Life is Short, Don't Wait to Dance.Valerie is a passionate, warm and inspiring person and in this discussion she shares her hard won wisdom on topics ranging from the beauty of imperfection to beating cancer with a mindset focused on gratitude.She embraces her vulnerability and uses it to reflect on her career as a coach where, in her words, shes wishes her athletes could have been led by the coach she was in the last 10 years of her career.Valorie's Book on Amazon  |  Life Is Short, Don't Wait to DanceTED Women 2019 | Why Winning Doesn't Always Equal Success 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.they are in the play-off to win elevation to the Premier League.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.In this interview you will hear him talk about;How he shapes the team around the core values of Hardwork, Performance, Attitude and TogethernessHow he works with a mentor every week who uses constructive cynicism to help him stay focused on his vales and energy levels.How he believes football is art and when create a specific picture on the pitch it gives him so much joy.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 MavericksJenny 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.