The Growth Project

Humility is the gateway to growth and learning is a lifelong pursuit. In this episode, Clemson Men's Head Soccer Coach Mike Noonan sits down with Dr. Milt Lowder to reflect on the power of staying curious, coachable, and committed to improvement. They explore what it means to lead with clarity, live out your core values, and have the courage to align your actions with your beliefs, on and off the field.

What makes you who you are? Personality is one of the most studied, and misunderstood, constructs in psychology. In this episode, Drs. Drew Brannon and Cory Shaffer explore how personality assessments can be both powerful and problematic. While the right tools can accelerate self-awareness and growth, the wrong ones can lead to unhelpful labels and limitations. They discuss how to move beyond stereotypes and embrace the full complexity of human personality in service of development and performance.

What does it take to stay grounded while competing at the highest level and then guide others to do the same? NCAA champion, LPGA Tour winner, and Solheim Cup team member Heather Bowie Young joins Dr. Katie Nichols to reflect on 17 years of professional golf, the challenges that shaped her, and the deep gratitude that fuels her coaching today. Now Associate Head Coach for Clemson Women's Golf, Heather shares the mindset it takes to persevere through failure, lead with authenticity, and keep growing, in sport and in life.

As society begins to reopen after weeks of lockdown, the transition back to daily life brings both opportunity and challenge. In this episode, Drs. Milt Lowder and Drew Brannon explore the psychological effects of re-entry and how it impacts our mindset, relationships, and performance. They share practical strategies for increasing self-awareness, managing stress, and using mental skills to navigate this shift with intention. Whether you're returning to the office, reconnecting socially, or recalibrating routines, this conversation will help you re-engage life with clarity, resilience, and purpose.

How do we define slumps in life? Finding yourself in a slump - whether in work, sport, or life in general - is inevitable, but how do we respond correctly so that as we progress, we are actually catching ourselves from falling into slumps and approaching them with the correct expectations and a growth mindset? In episode 69 of The Growth Project, Dr. Kimberly Shaffer and Dr. Cory Shaffer discuss solutions for overcoming slumps.

What happens when you put everything on the line, just to find out how good you really are? In this episode, Dr. Cory Shaffer is joined by Casey Weathers, former first-round MLB draft pick and current coach in the Cincinnati Reds organization. Known for his powerful "How Good Am I?" speech that went viral on YouTube, Casey unpacks the mindset behind that moment. Together, they explore the idea of experimenting with mental frameworks, practicing gratitude through setbacks, and discovering meaning in the highs and lows of a professional journey.

How do you respond when life throws its hardest pitches? In this episode, Dr. Cory Shaffer sits down with professional baseball player Mike Freeman, Clemson alum and player for the Cleveland Guardians organization, to explore the mindset required to turn failure into fuel. They dive into what it means to "be your own coach," how to embrace every role with purpose, and the habits that separate those who grow through adversity from those who get stuck in it.

"It's tough to define culture and exactly what it is, but when you are a part of a good culture, you know it." In this episode, Dr. Milt Lowder sits down with Robert John, Division Vice President of Heart Failure at Abbott. Robert shares how his early life experiences shaped his mindset as a leader and why he believes culture is the heartbeat of any successful organization. This conversation explores what it truly means to invest in people, build trust, and create environments where others thrive.

Shane Day is the current quarterbacks coach for the San Fransisco 49ers. In this episode, Coach Day talks with Dr. Drew Brannon about his development, especially as a coach, and all that he's walked through to get to where he is, how he thinks about the concept of mastery, and how important it is that he builds relationships with his players. This conversation was recorded shortly after playing in Super Bowl LIV, but due to the COVID 19 outbreak, we postponed releasing this interview in order to focus on being a resource during the first several weeks of the pandemic.

This is a challenging time to be a leader and there is no playbook for how to navigate what we are experiencing or what could lie ahead. There are a long list of factors at play right now that leaders can't do anything about. What can they do? In this episode we'll address three things leaders can be doing right now to help drive well-being and performance within their teams.