This week my co-host, Professor Eric Knight and I continue our exploration of Thriving Teams with Ben Darwin. Ben is a former Australian Rugby Union player who represented his country 28 times. He retired at the age of 27 after a neck injury and moved in to coaching before co-founding Gain Line Analytics, a company that has uses empirical analysis to understand the way professional sports teams work and succeed with each other. It is one of the more fascinating interviews we have had on the podcast because of the challenging views he has on the traditional drivers of success. Some of the key highlights are: The idea that small groups can be highly effective and the example he gives from military and history to show that it is the cohesion of your team, not the size of the talent pool you pull from that is key to success. His description of cohesion as understanding between the component parts of a team. And that this understanding is much more predictive of outcomes than the individual skill. And How effective cultures have normative behaviors that are established over time, are harder to change and can be learnt more easily across the components of the team. If you would like to know about more Thriving Teams or use the diagnostic we have created to understand how close to Thriving your teams is you can check out our tools here: https://thegreatcoachespodcast.com/thriving-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 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week my co-host, Professor Eric Knight and I continue our exploration of Thriving Teams with the Great Coach Jill McIntosh Jill McIntosh is a former Australian National netball player and team coach. As a player she won the 1983 World Championship and then coached the national team to the championship in 1995 and 1999, as well as gold medals at the 1998 and 2002 Commonwealth Games. She has also coached the National teams of Singapore, Northern Ireland and Jamaica. And is presently the coach of the Cardiff Dragons in the UK Super League. In 2020 she was inducted into the Sport Australia Hall of Fame The key highlights from the interview are: How many coaches are good at knowing what they want, but they fall down when it comes to creating the “How” of how they will achieve it. The way she uses her rule of excellence to guide all the teams activities. The importance of getting in sync as a team, and they she goes about moulding teams to achieve this. You can find out more about Thriving Teams here: https://thegreatcoachespodcast.com/thriving-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 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In 2022 we were talking with 2 of the great coaches we have interviewed over a coffee, Eddie Jones and Neil Craig, as we got up to leave they challenged with an idea; so many sports coaches have models to illustrate what they think high performing teams do, why not compare them against what the coaches you are interviewing are saying? It was an interesting idea that stayed with me afterwards and in early 2023 I found some time to do this. I looked at models from Coaches, Academics and Consultants. I printed them off and laid them out on a table and started to compare them against the insight database that we have built up. That database has 1500 one to two minute videos from the coaches and is coded into buckets like culture, communication and mental skills. You can find it here: https://thegreatcoachespodcast.com/individual-insights/ The model that I thought best reflected the messages I was hearing from the Great Coaches , was the Thriving Teams model developed by the consultancy Thompson Harrison in conjunction with Oxford professor Robin Dunbar. Their model builds from the idea that organisation only thrive when people do. And they identify six dimensions that enable this; Belonging, Purpose, Connection, Culture, Values and Learning. In this podcast I will talk about their model and use audio from the Great Coaches to bring it to life. If you would like to know more about Thriving Teams you can find the information here: https://thegreatcoachespodcast.com/thriving-teams/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Liam is a former Irish Hurling player and now Coach. Liam played 13 senior games with Tipperary over 10 years. He retired in 1999 and in 2002 began coaching Tipperary youth teams. In 2007 he was appointed senior coach, and in 2010 he led to team to their 26th All Ireland Victory. Liam then took a year break from coaching at the highest level to spend more time with his family, as well as to coach local teams. In 2018 he returned to coach Tipperary and in his 2nd year won the All Ireland final again. His challenge on whether you focus on the setback or the bounce back and how this idea flows through his story and the championship teams he has led. His belief that a perfect day is when you give to somebody who might never be able to repay it. And his focus as a leader on creating an environment where the person gets to flourish. How the great coaches are innovators and focused on creativity so that they can get to the future before anybody else. 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.

Graham is a Rugby Union Coach. He started coaching in 1975 while teaching at Auckland Grammar school. His coaching and teaching continued and in 1993 he was to win the first of 4 consecutive Provincial Championships with Auckland. In 1996 he resigned as a headmaster to take up full time coaching with the Auckland Blues, leading them to back to back Super 12 titles in 1996 and 1997. He then took on the role as Head Coach of Wales and In 2000 led them to the 6 Nations Championship and the Grand Slam. While coaching Wales he also led the British and Irish Lions on a tour of Australia. In 2003 he was appointed coach of the All Blacks and went on to lead them to the 2011 World Cup. In 2012 he was awarded a Knight Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit (KNZM) in services to rugby.[17] In this terrific interview some of the key highlights are: The way the teams culture was built from its purpose which was to be the best sporting team in the world. And the role that humility played in bringing this to life.   How by the time he was appointed All Blacks Coach he had learnt the importance of empowerment and moving from a coach driven environment to a team driven environment. And how this was the catalyst for the leadership groups he put in place.  The way the difficult decision he has made in his life have gone on to benefit him in the longer run. And how in his words “’learning about yourself under pressure” has been a key part of his development as a leader. 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 Tim Sheens. Tim Sheens is an Australian Rugby League coach. He played 166 games for the Penrith Panthers and then moved in to coaching in 1984. He coached the Canberra Raiders to Premierships, in 1989, 90 and 94 and then in 2005 led the Wests Tigers to the premiership. He has also coached the NSW team to the 1991 state or origin series win and the Australian team to the 2013 World Championship. Some of the key highlights are: The philosophy he borrowed from an American coach of “being consistent in treating everybody differently.” And how as a result he doesn’t see people management in black and white terms. How Tim identifies 3 things that effective teams need to be doing every week: working on their public perception, thining about the opposition and making sure that small groups within the organisation don’t start talking negatively about other small groups.  How the best coaches are good recruiters, and they select people who are going to suit their style.  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.

Kelly is an American Volleyball coach. He started coaching volleyball in his teens, helping out at summer camps. He then went on to Assist at High School level before getting his chance as an Assistant at the University of Houston in 1997. He was given his first Head Coaching role at the University of Albany in 2001 and led them to 3 regular season championships. In 2012 he was appointed as Head Coach of the University of Wisconsin and has led them to 5 Big 10 Championships, 4 NCAA Final Fours and the 2021 NCAA Championship. Some of the highlights of our discussion were: His view on the importance of his teams environment teaching life lessons at a critical time in peoples lives. The way he talks about balancing optimism and positivity against just cheerleading and the story he shares about rubber wrist bands to illustrate this. The importance of removing the worry the players may have about the coaches mood. 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.

Becky is an American soccer coach who has just retired after leading the University of Florida Gators for 26 years. She was the inaugural coach in 1994, and went on to win the NCAA title in 1998. She retired with a winning percentage of 75, and ranks second in total number of all-time wins among Division I coaches. In her time at Florida she also led the team to 14 SEC championships. With her colleague Brett Ledbetter she also runs the very successful What Drives Winning conferences that bring together Great Coaches from all over the world. In this interview some of the key highlights for me were: ·     Her belief that there is no task that is so important or critical that it should stop you from her bringing your best energy to the team. ·     Her view on the importance of courage as a coach. ·     That the way you treat people is more important that the tactics you deploy. ·     And the story she shares about how she controls her emotions during a game. Which I think has great applicability in the work place. 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.

As a player, Sean was a Goalie at Springfield and was twice names All American. Sean coached Endicott University from 1998 to 2015, leading them to 8 CCC Championships, as well as taking the Division 3 school to as high as 5 in the National rankings. He has coached 21 All American players. And in 2020 led the the Cannons in the Premier Lacrosse League, to the Championship. Sean is a terrific leader and role model and in this interview some of the highlights for me were: The role that positivity plays in correcting and sustaining culture The pillars of respect, trust and accountability that shape his teams; and how he talks about bringing these things to life in everyday actions. And The story he tells about starting as a head coach at 26 years old with a team and writing to each player individually, and then maintaining that connection over the years. 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 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 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Kevin is an American paralympic athlete and now Wheelchair Rugby coach. As an athlete he won 2 Bronze medals at the 1988 Paralympics, before transitioning into coaching Wheelchair Rugby in 1992. His team, Lakeshore then went on to 5 consecutive National Titles. This led to him being appointed Team USA coach where we won a silver at 2002 World Championships and a Bronze at the 2004 Paralympics. In 2009 he was appointed coach of the Canadian National team and led them to a silver medal at the 2012 Paralympics and gold at the 2015 World Wheelchair Rugby Challenge. He is presently the head coach of the Japan Wheelchair Rugby team where he led them to Bronze at the 2022 world Championships. 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 rugby's Damian McGrath. Damian started life as a teacher, but then in his words “took a gamble” and moved into professional coaching. He has now coached teams across multiple countries, in both rugby league, Rugby union, as well as Rugby sevens. He has coached at Club level with the Leeds Rhinos in England’s Super League and was England’s Assistant Coach at the 2000 Rugby League World Cup. In 2015 he became Head Coach of the Samoan National 7s team leading them to a Cup success in Paris. He then took over as Head Coach of the Canadian National 7s team leading them to a historic Cup success in Singapore. He also coached national Rugby 7’s teams of Germany and Kenya. He has just released a new book: Can You Be Fluent In Success? The highlights are:  How he uses the play by Thomas Moore, A Man for all season to describe the roles a coach must play. The story she he shares about the bass player Herby Flowers who played the famous riff on Lou Reeds son Walk on the wildside. To illustrate how coaches get the most from the options available to them. His theory on the doubt percentage and how he uses this to find that little bit extra in people. And the idea of a mental highlights reel and how he has used it during his career to fortify his confidence.  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.

Muffet is an American Basketball coach who led the women’s team at Notre Dame for 33 seasons. In all she led the team to 9 final fours, 7 championship games and 2 NCAA champion ships in 2001 and 2018. She was inducted into the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame in 2011 and the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame and Legends of Coaching award in 2017. Some of the highlights include: Her thoughts on empowering young women and doing this through a mixture of listening and encouraging them to use their voice to talk about things that are important to them.  How believing in people after they fail at something is one of the most important things a leader can do.  Her view that women are often not taught that it is not OK to be competitive and ambitious, and the work she does to help women understand that it is OK to be like this on the court. 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.

Doug is a former Ice Hockey Head Coach, GM, and sportscaster and he has just written a terrific new book called Draft Day: How Hockey Teams Pick Winners or Get Left Behind.  Doug is a great story teller and some of the highlights of our discussion were; The importance of scouting staff, and how in Hockey they have to cover Canada, the USA. And key parts of Europe like Czech, Slovenia, Slovakia, Sweden, Finland and Russia.  How he talks about the tension between scouting and analytics, and describes analytics as the salt and pepper you put on your meal.  The way he talks about trading for the future, not the past. And the story he tells about his biggest draft mistake and how it ended up costing him personally 30 million. If you have any comments or feedback you can reach us at paul@thegreatcoachespodcast.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Mike Hesson is New Zealand cricket coach. He started his coaching career in his early 20’s while playing in the UK. From there he progressed through Assistant coaching before accepting a the role as Argentina’s head coach in 2003. He returned to New Zealand and became Head Coach of Otago and leading them to the 2008 one-day trophy and the 2009 T20 championship. In 2011 he took on the job of Head Coach of Kenya before being appointed the Head Coach of the New Zealand national team, the Black Caps in 2012. He went on to take them from a One-Day international ranking of 8th to 2nd by the time he left the role in 2018. He finished his tenure as one of the most successful coaches I the nations history with highlights including a record breaking 13 game winning streak. He has gone on to coach the Kings in the IPL and Islamabad in the Pakistan Super League. Some of the highlights include:  On being comfortable with silence and not feeling like you have to always fill it as a coach with information. But instead using it as a space to observe and gather information so you can be helpful later on. The way he uses questions to help lead people, as he believes that the majority of the team the player has the answer they just haven’t been asked the right question. The importance of authenticity and in his words “if I want my players to believe in me and trust me and have relationship with me, they need to know that it's actually me rather than me trying to be somebody else.” 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.

Vern is that rare individual who has coached at the elite level across multiple sports. His foundation is in Track & Field coaching, however over a career that spans almost 50 years he has worked in Major League Soccer, Major League Baseball, the NBA, Cricket, the NHL, Softball, Swimming and with San Francisco Forty Niners. Kansas City Chiefs. He is also the author of 9 books and over 100 articles. By any sense of the definition he is a coaching polymath. In this terrific interview some of the key highlights were: Verns view on The importance of pointing out an athlete’s negative self-talk and working with them on reframing it.  How he defines mental training as mind plus muscle equals life.  The importance of rhythm when it comes to analyzing elite performance.  And How he describes his philosophy of trying to help the best be better. And how he tries to achieve this as a coach by helping prepare the athlete for the path ahead, not preparing the path for them. 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.

Anson is an American soccer coach (in the USA it is referred to as soccer not Football) who is currently the Head Coach of the Womens Team at the University of North Carolina. Under his leadership the team has won 21 of the 31 NCAA Championships. His teams have a winning record of 91%. He has been named the NCAA coach of the year on 8 occasions. In 1991 he also led the USA team to the first Womens World Cup. The USA have gone on to win the World Cup and 4 occasions and one-third of the players in those teams have come through Ansons team at North Carolina. Another notable alumna from his team is Sarina Weigman who led the UK to the Women's Euro 2022. Anson has firm and challenging philosophies that he has hones over many many years, and listenting to him made me reflect on the way I parent and lead.  In this fantastic interview some of the highlights for me were:  How coaching men and women the same was a mistake. And his associated learning that women are better at making moral judgements based on how people are affected, and he personally would prefer to be led by someone like that.  The concept of the competitive cauldron which shapes the culture in his team, and is based on rankings for performance on a multitude of ares at training and in games.  His fantastic idea that "And if you're a female, and you're competitive, you are excoriated by your own culture, like there's something wrong with you. No, there's nothing wrong with you."  And How the first step on any leadership journey is learning to lead yourself, and this is where most people fail because it requires action that scares 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.

Aimee is an American Gymnastics coach who led the USA Team at the 2016 Rio Olympics. However, she is perhaps best known as the coach of Simone Biles, who she started coaching in 2003 when Simone was just 6. Aimee and Simone were together for 14 World Championship and Olympic Gold medals. Simone became the first woman ever to win three straight all-around titles and the first gymnast to capture 10 gold medals at the World Championships. As you’ll hear in this terrific interview, Aimee’s approach to gymnastic coaching breaks with tradition, and is marked by a strong sense of doing what is right for her athletes, many of who are teenagers in elite competitions. Some of the other key highlights for me were: The way she has learnt about tailoring her communication to the many age groups she leads, and how she is never afraid to apologise when she gets it wrong. The way she deals with the anxiety that her athletes feel, in search for the perfect 10 in gymnastics And The way she helps her athletes control their emotions in competition, by bringing them back to their practice, and not trying to do any more than they do then.  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 Brendan Joyce. Brendan played for 13 seasons in the Australian National Basketball League. Upon retiring he transitioned into coaching and led the Ballarat Miners to 2 CBA Championships.   He then went on to coach more than 400 games in the National Basketball League, winning the championship in 2001 with the Wollongong Hawks. He Has coached at 3 Olympics, twice as an Assistant to the Australian men’s team, and once as the Head Coach of the Australian women’s team, with who he also won a bronze medal at the 2014 World Championships. And has twice been voted the NBL coach of the year. He is presently in Taiwan coaching the Kaohsiung Aquas and won the championship with them in 2022, and was subsequently voted coach of the year. In this terrific interview some of the key highlights were: The way he talks about finding the line when it comes to challenging people to the right level, and how your consistency is a good tool in helping you achieve this. The need to develop a high level of confidence and self belief as a coach given the criticism you will experience. But also ensuring this doesn’t spill over into arrogance. How he encourage his players to find the balance between being aggressive to score, but also doing what they can to make the extra pass. And The link between good team chemistry and clarity on roles. 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 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Today’s episode is focuses on the topic of A Second Set of Eyes. And we are joined for the conversation by Cody Royle. Cody is an author, podcast host and a Coach of elite level sports coaches and he has just written a fantastic book called a second set of eyes. Some of the highlights from this interview with Cody are: The idea of helping the coaches he works with to in his words Coach free, a state where they can intuitively use their innate knowledge and not be distracted in a game situation.  The idea that Coaching high performance knowledge work and there are things you can di to facilitate a better environment for this work.  And his own purpose which he describes as wanting to rehumanize coaching  You can find out more about Cody on his website. He is also very active on Twitter. 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.