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The Great Coaches: Leadership & Life
On Serial Winning Coaches
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Today’s episode is focuses on the topic of Serial Winning Coaches
And Dr David Turner and I are joined for the discussion by Professor Cliff Mallett and Professor Sergio Lara-Bercial who have just written a book called Learning from Serial Winning Coaches based on their research interviewing 17 of these coaches across 10 sports and 10 different countries.
Cliff Mallett is an Olympic and World Championship medal winning coach. He is a distinguished Professor of Sport Psychology and Coaching at the University of Queensland, Australia. And has developed a world-renowned online program in sports coaching and consults nationally and internationally for many elite sporting organisations.
While Sergio is also an international basketball coach who led teams into 4 European Championships. He is a world-renown Professor of Sport Coaching at Leeds Beckett University, England and VP for the International Council for Coaching Excellence. He also conducts applied research in coach development and youth sport and consults globally for organisations such as FIFA, UEFA, FIBA, NIKE and the IOC.
There are so many great ideas in the interview but a few that stuck with me afterwards were:
- The idea of connection before correction when it comes to coaching, as you cant teach anyone until you have connected with them and they know you care.
- The importance of a shared purpose, holding each other accountable and respecting the individual when it comes to building connection within the team.
- And How the great coaches have a philosophy that contains clear values and principles that they use a framework to guide their work, particularly when they face dilemmas.
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
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Al Scates
49:49Our Great Coach on this episode is Al Scates. Al is a former American volleyball player and volleyball coach. As a player, he was selected as a collegiate All American, and also represented the USA National Team. He transitioned into coaching in 1964, and went on to be the head coach of UCLA for 48 years. He went on to become the winningest volleyball coach in the history of the NCAA, securing 19 NCAA titles, which ties him for the most NCAA titles won by a coach in a single sport.Al was selected as the NCAA coach of the year in 1984, 1987 and 1993. His teams hold ten NCAA records, including most consecutive victories (48), most consecutive home wins (83) and most consecutive tournament wins (14). He was inducted into the International Volleyball Hall of Fame in 1993.At 84 Al is still sharp and insightful, and with a positive an optimistic view of the world. In our interview some of the highlights for me wereThe training method he used that encouraged players to move up and down across capability groups that were separated by a blue curtain. And how this encouraged work ethic and produced an egalitarian approach to selection. The quotes he reads from the book by John Wooden that he influenced him so greatly as a young coach. In particular the four law of learning and the stories he tells about the winning teams he had across each of 5 consecutive decades. 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 thegreatcoachespodcast@gmail.com or contact us through our website thegreatcoachespodcast.com
On Ignorance Screams While Wisdom Listens
01:03:03Our Great Coach on this episode is Bill Sweetenham. Bill is an Australian swimming coach, who first started training athletes in the 1970’s in the rural Australian town of Mount Isa. His coaching career progressed quickly and he coached at his first Olympian in 1976. His swimmers have delivered 27 Olympic and World Championship medals and have broken 9 world records. I first interviewed Bill in early 2022, and the discussion was a complete masterclass. He talked about meeting Nelson Mandela and the Great Boxing coach, Angelo Dundee. As well as sharing insights from his long and successful career. We stayed in contact after that interview, and Bill would occasionally add me to emails that he sent to friends containing his observations on sport and life. There was one particularly special one he shared which was a book he had written for his grandchildren after visiting Africa. I recently had the opportunity to visit the part of Australia where Bill lives and I asked him if he would be open to another interview, where we could discuss some of the ideas he had shared in those emails with me. Todays podcast is that conversation recorded in June 2024. We cover mental health, team collaboration and the value of volunteering. Bill was very open and introspective as he was in the throws of finishing a book called ignorance screams whilst wisdom listens. It was agreat experience for me to spend this time with Bill and I hope you enjoy the interview as much as I 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 thegreatcoachespodcast@gmail.com or contact us through our website thegreatcoachespodcast.com
Barry Dancer
39:46Our Great Coach on this episode is Barry Dancer. Barry Dancer is a is a former Australian field hockey player and coach of Australian men's national field hockey team. As a player he competed in 48 international matches for Australia between 1973 and 1979. he was a member of the men's hockey team that won a silver medal at the 1976 Summer Olympics. He began coaching late in his career as a player eventually going on to lead the Great Britain men’s team at the 2000 Olympics. In 2001 he was then appointed the Head Coach of the Australian men’s team and led them to 2 Commonwealth Games gold, 2 Champions Trophies and an Olympic Gold in 2004 and Bronze in 2008.Barry is a coach with a deep well of wisdom, built from many years of success and failures. The highlight so our interview were: How he challenges himself each day with the questions: what have I done today to improve the way that I or my people do things? The learnings he has on managing workload and obsession as a coach and finding a balance that allows you to maintain your energy. And The way he talks about the idea of Belonging and he uses it to remind people of the privilege of being part of something that has a long history, and a bright future. And how this became a motivating factor not something that weighed people down. 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
On Mindset Is Your Superpower
33:49Today’s episode is on the topic of Mindset as a superpower, and we are joined for the discussion by Allister McCaw, Alistair 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. He has a new book out called Mindset is Your Superpower and today we delve into it.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
Shane Beamer
53:04Our Great Coach on this episode is Shane Beamer. Shane is an American Football Coach. He started as a coach in 2000 after finishing as player with Virginia Tech. He then held positions with the University of Tennessee, Mississippi State, the University of Georgia and then University of Oklahoma where they won 3 Big 12 Championships. He was then appointed head Coach for the University of South Carolina In 2020. IN his first year he won the Duke's Mayo Bowl and is the first South Carolina coach to back-to-back games against top 10 teams. 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
On A Billion Dollar Mind
49:39Today’s episode is focuses on the topic of having a Billion Dollar Mind And my good friend and co-host Jonathan Cole who is himself an Executive Coach are joined by the great tennis coach Rick Macci, who has worked with players like Venus and Serena Williams, Maria Sharapova Andy Roddick, and Jennifer Capriati. He is also a 7 times USPTA national coach of the year and in 2010 was inducted into the USPTA Hall of Fame. and If you have seen the move King Richard his character was played by Jon Bernthal. And Dr. Nivedita Jerath, a Harvard-educated neurologist, who together have written a book called A Billion Dollar Mind that addresses the core issues behind negative thought patterns, and helps reshape your mindset with neuroscience-backed techniques and proven strategies.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
Gail Goestenkors
41:50Gail Goestenkors is a former All American player and Coach. At just 29 years of age she was appointed as Head Coach of the Duke Womens program and led them for 15 seasons including 4 final fours and 2 national runners up. She was the ACC coach of the year on 7 occasions, and on 3 occasions led the team to undefeated regular seasons. She has also led the University of Texas and been a Coach on the USA Women's team.Her teams have gone on to win five ACC tournament championships and eight ACC regular season titles. Gail also holds the ACC record for fewest games required to achieve 300 wins (387 games). In 2007 she was the Associated Press National Coach of the Year (2007) and in 2006 USA 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
Jess Thirlby
01:04:37Jess Thirlby is a former England netballer and now coach. As a player she represented England in youth teams all the way to the senior team. She began coaching England National Youth teams while still a player and then retired at 26 to take up coaching full time. She went on to lead Bath to 3 super league titles and in 2019 was appointed England Head 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
Alan McConnell
50:47Our Great Coach on this episode is Alan McConnel. Alan is a former Australian Rules Football and now coach.In 1996 he was appointed as the coach of the Fitzroy Football club for the final 8 games in their 113 year history before they were merged with the team who were then known as the Brisbane Bears.After Fitzroy he joined Geelong under Mark Thompson and was then appointed Head Coach at the Australian Institute of Sport leading Australian best male youth.From there he moved to the newly formed GWS Giants as the Director of Football. Then in 2017 he was appointed the senior coach of the Giants' AFL Women's side becoming the first person to coach both a Men's and Women’s side at the highest level.At present he is a member of the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) High Performance Coach Development team where he mentors and supports some of the nations best emerging and elite high-performance coaches.In 2022 he was awarded the Neale Daniher Lifetime Achievement Award, which is awarded to an individual who has made an outstanding contribution to the game over a 'footy' lifetime.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