The Captains Coach Podcast: Recent Episodes
Ben Smith
Learn more about sports deception in this series on The WHY, WHAT, MODELS, and APPLICATION for sports deception.
Another Sports Philosophy series conversation coming at you today and with that comes another awesome guest for our audience. Dr. Cesar Torres is a professor of Philosophy of Sport at Brockport University. He also happens to be the mentor of our last guest-Dr. Adam Pflegor. If you listened to my conversation with Adam you will definitely hear the similarities and crossover between the two perspectives. But today Dr. Torres and I focus mostly on his opinion of the purpose of sport which he puts so simply and perfectly. We drive that purpose through the rest of our conversation on what effects the belief in that purpose have on how you play the sport to how you coach a sport; how to measure success, things players and coaches take for granted, the important difference between motivations to play sport and the purpose of sport, and so much more. I think today’s conversation with Dr. Torres is one of the most helpful for coaches specifically not just in this series but out of all my conversations on the show. If you buy in to this and explore some of these ideas it becomes pretty difficult to have a shallow or unfinished coaching philosophy. But I’ll get out of the way here and let you listen for yourself. Please enjoy on another episode of The Captains Coach Podcast.
We have another Sports Philosophy episode for you today. My guest is Adam Pflegor. Adam is a professor in the Sports Administration Department at Belmont University focusing primarily on the Philosophy of Sport and Sport Ethics. Our conversation today centers around Adam’s opinion on what the purpose of sport really is. I won’t give it away here but it leads us into a longer discussion on respect for one’s opponent and the effect your treatment of your opponent has on the rest of your game and approach to the game. The whole conversation really got me thinking about all the secondary and tertiary consequences of how we look at the opponent and what we tell ourselves about our opponents. All of that gets tied back into the larger sports philosophy conversation we are having so it was fun to bring through that lens and along that path. It was an awesome conversation, Adam was a blast to talk to, and we touched on what I think are some helpful ideas to coaches and athletes alike so please sit back and enjoy another episode of The Captains Coach Podcast.
Coming at ya with another conversation as a part of our Sports Philosophy Series today with my guest Dr. Michael Burke. Dr. Burke is a senior lecturer at Victoria University in Australia. He specializes in philosophy of sport and has a very pragmatic approach in his work. He is a member of both the International Sociology of Sport Association and the International Association for Philosophy of Sport. During our conversation we talk about a variety of things but focus on the purpose of sport and a coach’s role in that purpose, how to develop a coaching philosophy, some of the shortfalls in sports philosophy as well as common pitfalls of coaches. Just like the rest of my conversations during this series this one was so interesting to me and opened up some more thought pathways I otherwise wouldn’t encounter. If you want to learn more about Dr. Burke or his work please visit vu.edu.au and look for his name in the directory. So without further ado please enjoy my conversation with Dr. Michael Burke on The Captains Coach Podcast.
On our fourth episode of the Sports Philosophy Series I bring you my conversation with Pamela Sailors. Pam is a philosophy professor at Missouri State where she teaches mostly Philosophy of Sport Courses which I have become increasingly intrigued by through these conversations. Pam originally started in the bio-ethics world and moved into sport-ethics and philosophy of sport via the performance enhancing drug conversation. She is extremely passionate about sports and is something she has always loved as you’ll hear in our conversation. Today we’ll cover the three main purposes of sport as Pam sees it and why some other traditional answers may not fit the bill. We also discuss some of Pam’s biggest pet peeves and what she sees wrong in the sports world today, namely, sport as a business and the increasing reliance on technology. Pam also points out some things coaches and administrators may take for granted or may not even think about. She brought up a handful of ideas that are going to keep me occupied and wrestling with for the near future. It was an absolute blast having her on the show so please sit back and enjoy my conversation with Pam Sailors on another episode of The Captains Coach Podcast.
Philosophy of Sport: Key Questions-Emily Ryall
Endure-Alex Hutchinson
Into Thin Air-Jon Krakauer
Touching the Void-Joe Simpson
We are back to our regular program today interviewing a current Captain, shifting back from our Sports Philosophy Series. My guest today is Joe Delagrave. Joe has an amazing story and we had a great conversation. Joe grew up as a 3 sport athlete and played Division II Football at Winona State. When he was 19 he suffered a tragic accident and was paralyzed. Through his struggle and rehabilitation he ended up finding wheelchair rugby. He has attained the highest level of excellence in the sport playing for the U.S. National Team for over a decade and has also been the Captain of the team for about 8 years. The big theme throughout our conversation today is Communication and Servant Leadership. We talk about how culture has always been one of the focuses for him as a Captain and how he uses communication on and especially off the court to bring about a better culture. Joe also shares the story of how he has evolved as an individual athlete and leader throughout his time on the team and being a Captain as well his invaluable advice for Captains out there today. Again, it was a really awesome conversation full of actionable steps and bits you can apply today and tomorrow as a leader so I’ll get out of the way here and please enjoy on another episode of the Captains Coach Podcast.
This is our third installment of our Sports Philosophy Series and my guest today is Matt Dixon. Matt is an administrator and former athletic director at Trinity Classical Academy in California. Matt has a strong background in sports at all levels and finds his framework for sport and life through Christian Values. Today we talk about how those values shape what he sees as the purpose of Sports. We also talk about some of things he sees wrong in the sports world especially at the youth level as well as how to create a strong coaching philosophy to keep you on track while not falling into a one track mind of winning. It is conversations like this one that really validate my decision to host this podcast and why I believe this sports philosophy series is already so valuable. I hope you enjoy the conversation as much as I did here on another episode of The Captains Coach Podcast.
Welcome back to episode 2 of our Sports Philosophy Series. My guest today is David Papineau. David is a Philosophy Professor at King’s College in London as well as a professional paid philosopher. He has more recently delved into philosophy of sport with his book Knowing the Score. It is an extremely fascinating book that uses Sports to find the answers to common philosophical questions and using philosophy to answer common questions of sport. He has an extremely interesting and refreshing perspective that I really enjoyed during the conversation. We mostly discuss some of the topics in Knowing the Score, such as his control-action theory, morality, teamwork, and even amateurism. Again, it was a blast to have David on the show and I cannot stress enough to go and purchase his book Knowing the Score. The cover has ancient philosophers pictured with different athletic balls. Anyways please enjoy my conversation with David Papineau on another episode of the Captains Coach Podcast.
Today I have the pleasure of speaking to my first guest in this series. Heather Reid. Heather is currently a Scholar in Residence Exedra Mediterranean Center in Sicily and is also a professor of philosophy at Morningside University in Iowa. She is an expert in everything to do with the philosophy of sport going back to ancient history as well as the Olympics and Greek Mythology. She has published numerous articles and scholarly works along with a handful of books. Her books include Olympic Philosophy (2020), Introduction to the Philosophy of Sport (2012), Athletics and Philosophy in the Ancient World: Contests of Virtue (2011), and The Philosophical Athlete (2002, 2nd ed. 2019). Today we discuss the purpose of sport and how it relates to moral education, some assumptions that we make as athletes and coaches but may always not necessarily act on, and some things Heather thinks the sports world gets wrong. It was an absolute pleasure talking to her today and has set the stage for the ensuing conversations during this Sports Philosophy Series. I hope you all enjoy on another episode of The Captains Coach Podcast.
Today my guest is Simon Smith: A longtime referee in the sport of Rugby. He is originally from Great Britain where he played Rugby through his college days and has been refereeing since 1994 and specifically in the Northern Virginia area for last 10 years. Rugby is a sport with a very unique Captain-Referee relationship that is more of building a coalition and dialogue than an us vs. them mentality that you see in other sports. With that being said I believe there is more than a handful of specific actions that Captains in any sport can take away from this conversation. We focus mainly on the interpersonal dynamics and self-expression and go from the initial greeting of referee teams all the way to how late game decisions can be influenced by your relationship throughout the game. I learned a lot from this conversation and thoroughly enjoyed it so I hope you do as well on another episode of the Captains Coach Podcast.
Coach Bachman is a long time college football coach most recently at Catholic University as an associate head coach and defensive coordinator. He is a well of wisdom when it comes to leadership and really breaking it down to the fundamental building blocks. In our conversation we distinguish between the internal and external focus of Leadership, the importance of accountability within that distinction, how to be a better teammate, and how to develop a culture of growth mindset versus fixed mindset.
Welcome back everyone to the captains coach podcast. I am excited to have another amazing guest on the show today. You are in for a treat. I came across Dr. Hollis’ work while researching character development and the individuation process on youtube. I was immediately impressed with some of the work he has done, heard in one of his videos that he had previously played sports and knew that I had to get him on the show and ask some questions that I thought were very relevant and new to the leadership development scene. Dr. James Hollis is from Springfield, Illinois and is currently a licensed Jungian Psychoanalyst in Washington, D.C. He has held multiple leadership roles in different Jung societies and has, to this date, published 16 books that have been translated into 20+ languages. Check him out on www.Jameshollis.net. Today I get to pick his brain on some of his expertise which include:
Rites of passages for transformation of the individual
A guide for for coaches on individuation process
The secrets that most men carry
Why we are summoned to play sports
The power of stories in our conscious and unconscious
And much more!!
Today my guest is Dr. Justin Ross. Dr. Ross is a clinical psychologist by trade and has his own practice, Mind Body Health Clinic in Denver Colorado. He works with everyday professionals working on anxiety, stress, you name it and also has a specific focus on performance and works with athletes and teams up to the professional level. He has a wealth of knowledge and we really dive into the first principles and framework behind a lot of the mechanics of leadership and performance. You’ll hear us talk about alignment and the importance of organizations and teams having a singular common goal to aim for, how coaches and captains can facilitate better communication on and off the field, why implementing or fabricating one big event, meeting, or experience and thinking that will fix your problems as team is problematic, how to bring conflict to the surface if it’s hiding, and what the three most important character traits are to work on if your leader. It was awesome chatting with Dr. Ross especially in these crazy stay at home times so please enjoy wherever you are on another episode of The Captains Coach Podcast.
Welcome back to another episode of the Captains Coach Podcast. I am the founder, Ben Smith, and we have another awesome episode in store for you. Today we have brought on one of the foremost experts in the information environment, Major Shawn Chenoweth, as we continue our military series and focus on behavioral change from thought leaders in the space. Major Chenoweth has almost 20 years of experience leading large initiatives related to information operations and behavior change for the US GOVT and Military. He has directly supported efforts in every Combatant Command AOR, Joint Task Forces, and the Department of State. He is also highly educated in deception and unconventional warfare. If you are one of our soldiers who listens in, it will be obvious to see the value that this will bring. For the sports community that we have, I think there are two primary takeaways. For athletes, I think this interview gives you a taste of the reality of the war raging around you. There is a war for your attention, engagement, and core beliefs. Information is paramount in behavior change and can have an impact on the way you perform and the kind of mindset that you bring to your every day life. For coaches, the takeaway is very similar. As you should always be on the look-out for competitive advantages, this will hopefully act as a catalyst to help you think differently about your approaches to leading your team. It is a great conversation full of a lot of wisdom. So, without further ado, here is Major Shawn Chenoweth.
Today my guest is Coach Steven Wright. He is the head football coach at Cardinal Gibbons High School. The same Cardinal Gibbons that one of our previous guests-Coach Morland-works at as well. Coach Wright also plays an active role in the administration of Cardinal Gibbons specifically in the physical education department. The thing that sticks out to me most during this conversation is how intentional Coach Wright is about everything in his program from why he chose his 6 values for his team, how he enacts and educates his team on those values, and how he develops them in his leaders. He does some awesome things in terms of routine, systematic development that really curates leadership from beginning to end of his athletes time with him and his program. I’ll say it again as it really is a theme today but just the intention that he puts into his program and everything they do is astounding and something well worth modeling. So without further ado here is my conversation with Coach Steven Wright on another episode of The Captains Coach Podcast.
Today my guest is Coach Michael Donnelly of Florida Southern University Men’s Basketball. Coach Donnelly and his team are coming off a tremendous year with a 29-2 record, a National DII Player of the year, and unfortunately a postseason cut short due to Coronavirus. Coach Donnelly is in his fifth year at the head of the program and we covered a lot of great things today including multiple practices I think Coaches can take and implement immediately in their own programs. Among other things, Coach Donnelly and I discuss some of the core principles of his program, his intentional locker room arrangements, the importance of buy-in and player leadership on his team, how he utilizes his Captains on a regular basis and how they are involved in decision making, and how he combats some of the struggles in today’s college sports environment. I really enjoyed the conversation and could’ve talked to Coach Donnelly for another hour probably but I’ll get out of the way here so you can enjoy it as well on another episode of The Captains Coach Podcast.
Today my guest is Coach Eric Clakely-Head Women’s Lacrosse Coach at Presbyterian College. Coach Clakely is in his first season as head coach there and unfortunately it was cut short due to the Coronavirus but he has a lot of great insight to share with us today. We talk about the importance of core fundamental values for a program, the impact of consistent messaging and how it helped him and his staff overcome some of the struggles of recent history and the skill of being flexible and adaptable as a coach and leader and how that trait contributes to your success as a leader. Presbyterian definitely has a bright future ahead with Coach Clakely at the helm, it was a great pleasure talking with him today so please enjoy our conversation on another episode of The Captains Coach Podcast.
The benefits of learning magic to understand deception
Ethics behind influence and manipulation
The top 5 social influence tactics
New behavioral change models
Scott Mann is my guest today and he was awesome. Scott spent 23 years in the Army and 18 of those as in Special Forces as a Green Beret. He is the founder of Rooftop Leadership and serves as a consultant to government organizations, companies, and local law enforcement. He is the best selling author of two books: Game Changers and Mission America and has given three TedX presentations, all three of which you can find easily on YouTube right after you listen to this episode-they are well worth the combined half hour of time. We cover a lot of ground today starting with narrative and narrative warfare—dissecting narrative from perception and messaging and how they call come together to create a story, his fundamental leadership values—most importantly the stress on individuals as “meaning-seeking, emotional, social animals.” We also dive into the first aspects of an organization he looks at when helping them improve their culture and he gives one awesome exercise that any team leader can do with their team tomorrow, next week, or next month. We talk about the importance of communication, relationships, and attitude, and specifically the importance of using relationships as our asset instead of revenue or our win/loss columns. Scott shares two of the best examples of leadership from his personal life and professional life and one of the best, most succinct definitions of leadership we have heard on this show. Two awesome book recommendations out of this episode are The War of Art and The Little Book of Talent. If you want to learn more about Scott Mann and his work check out those YoutTube videos I mentioned, grab a copy of his books, and head to his website RooftopLeadership.com. One alibi for me this episode is please forgive me for the sketchy audio quality on my end-in the market for a new laptop and will look into an upgraded microphone solution, luckily Scott’s content is unaffected so I’ll get out of the way here and let Scott bestow his wealth of knowledge, experience, and advice on another episode of The Captains Coach Podcast.
Scott Mann is my guest today and he was awesome. Scott spent 23 years in the Army and 18 of those as in Special Forces as a Green Beret. He is the founder of Rooftop Leadership and serves as a consultant to government organizations, companies, and local law enforcement. He is the best selling author of two books: Game Changers and Mission America and has given three TedX presentations, all three of which you can find easily on YouTube right after you listen to this episode-they are well worth the combined half hour of time. We cover a lot of ground today starting with narrative and narrative warfare—dissecting narrative from perception and messaging and how they call come together to create a story, his fundamental leadership values—most importantly the stress on individuals as “meaning-seeking, emotional, social animals.” We also dive into the first aspects of an organization he looks at when helping them improve their culture and he gives one awesome exercise that any team leader can do with their team tomorrow, next week, or next month. We talk about the importance of communication, relationships, and attitude, and specifically the importance of using relationships as our asset instead of revenue or our win/loss columns. Scott shares two of the best examples of leadership from his personal life and professional life and one of the best, most succinct definitions of leadership we have heard on this show. Two awesome book recommendations out of this episode are The War of Art and The Little Book of Talent. If you want to learn more about Scott Mann and his work check out those YoutTube videos I mentioned, grab a copy of his books, and head to his website RooftopLeadership.com. One alibi for me this episode is please forgive me for the sketchy audio quality on my end-in the market for a new laptop and will look into an upgraded microphone solution, luckily Scott’s content is unaffected so I’ll get out of the way here and let Scott bestow his wealth of knowledge, experience, and advice on another episode of The Captains Coach Podcast.
Today my guest is Allie Ware. Allie is a former Captain of the University of Richmond Women’s Lacrosse Team. She graduated in 2014 and recently returned to the Spiders as the Associate Director of Parent Giving for Athletic Department. She also plays a role directly with Richmond’s new Sports Leadership Development Program: Spiders Lead. We had a great conversation centered around the culture change that happened when the current coach took over Junior year. It really brought to light why leadership is so important to overall success and how success on the field comes after you stop only focusing on the field. We also discuss the importance of servant leadership, some ways that her coach really impacted her as an athlete and as a complete person, two examples of being a great Captain, and more. So now I’ll get out of the way and let you enjoy Allie Ware on another episode of The Captains Coach Podcast.
How to Lead When You're Not in Charge-Clay Scroggins
What I Know for Sure-Oprah
Today I had the privilege of talking to the head strength and conditioning coach at Hobart and William Smith Colleges: Chris Gray. For anyone unfamiliar with the combination of those two schools they are indeed two institutions but operating together. Coach Gray will explain that dynamic in the first couple minutes of the conversation so no need to go to Wikipedia. Coach Gray was great to talk to, a strength coach has such a unique perspective on athletics as he works with over 580 athletes, 23 programs and coaches, balancing all of that to have a cohesive program himself. He explains how his staff has simplified things as much as possible and the focus on coaching and caring for the individual first-something he pulls from President Roosevelt. A theme throughout the conversation is self-awareness and he does something pretty awesome with his team and a few of the teams he works with to help them see where they are actually at in terms of the little things and daily/weekly activities. It was a great conversation all around and great to hear a strength coach who is so passionate about developing leadership and all around character in athletes that are not first and foremost his athletes. So please enjoy the conversation with Chris Gray on another episode of the Captains Coach Podcast.
Hero of an Empire-Candice Millard
Today my guest is Coach Brigida Palatino, the head women’s soccer coach at Curry College. Brigida is in her second year at Curry and we talk about some of the challenges of being a new coach, especially in a situation that neither you nor your players expected. We also discuss the importance of having a family culture, some unique resources that she has found in terms of leadership development for her players-especially a fan of what she has done in this area-and the story of two captains who really illustrated to her the power of great leadership and who have influenced her focus on leadership development with her teams now. Brigida also mentions a book that you may remember from the last two interviews-The Energy Busby Jon Gordon-so please do yourself and pick up a copy. If you want to learn more about Coach Palatino’s Team and what they are doing throughout the offseason and beyond please go ahead and give them a follow @cc_wsoccer and of course give us a follow as well while your at it @CaptainsCoach on all social media. Without any more delay please welcome Coach Brigida Palatino on the Captains Coach Podcast.
Today my guest is Coach TJ Kostecky. TJ is currently the head men’s soccer coach at Bard College. He has been a college soccer coach and athletic director for over 30 years at the Division I, II, and III levels, most recently before Bard at LIU Brooklyn where he managed one of the top programs in the country. TJ also runs his own company, Vision Training for Life which is primarily focused on conducting workshops with teams, companies, and organizations to improve their leadership, communication, and general relationships across the board. TJ was awesome to talk to and I am almost positive we will have him on the show again because I believe he has so much to offer our listeners. Today we talk mostly about his coaching experience and how he implements leadership development into his programs. During the show he recommends two fantastic books that I think everyone should read at some point—A Man’s Search For Meaning by Victor Frankl and Culture Code by Daniel Coyle. He also discusses the three most important principles of his program-Integrity, Communication and Mentorship, and Professionalism; how TJ utilizes weekly meetings with his Captains, and daily ”shout outs.” Again awesome, awesome interview, can’t wait to have TJ back on the show and I’m sure we will collaborating with him in the near future on other projects as well. So please enjoy TJ Kostecky on another episode of the Captains Coach Podcast.
Here are some quotes from the podcast:
“As soon as you start to identify with and sympathize with a character, without even knowing it, you start to adopt some of their values and viewpoints.”
“Motives are the primary way to determine if an audience will identify with a character or not. “
“Stories about those struggles, about facing that risk and danger are the greatest tool you have to exert influence over an audience.”
“So risk and danger are the consequences of failure, what would happen if something goes wrong?! The greater the risk, the greater the danger, the greater the excitement of the story”
“Don’t learn it in order to tell it! Tell it in order to learn it”
“When you are reading what is going down your optic nerve is not words and letters it is DOT patterns.”
“What reaches the conscious mind is much different than what reaches the sensory organs.”
“If your brain can’t make sense then your brain won’t pay attention.”
“Nothing happens until someone makes your story - their story.”
Hey hey everyone, and welcome to The Captains Coach Podcast. Today my guest is Clay VanderLaan. Clay is the baseball coach at St. Thomas University in Houston. This coming Spring will be the program’s first ever so Clay has a unique position that most coaches will never have to experience. In our conversation we discuss the challenges of starting a program from scratch and how to instill a strong culture of leadership, the importance of letting that culture develop organically, holding players accountable, and the two best captains he has ever experienced. Thanks for listening everyone, hope you enjoy on another episode of The Captains Coach Podcast.
The Energy Bus-Jon Gordon
Bless You Boys-Sparky Anderson
Brian and I discuss the following questions:
What is narrative warfare?
Narrative vs narrative frame?
How do we “get out in front of the issue?” with our messaging?
What is the narrative theory of identity
How receptive is Army leadership to this narrative warfare?
What are the best questions most high-level commanders have for you?
Would you agree that facts do not equal truth?
Narrative vs story vs messaging?
3D war and narrative topography
You can’t defeat narrative only create a more meaningful one - how do we do this?
Hello and welcome to the Captains Coach Podcast. I am your host, Luke Poulos and I apologize for the ever increasing gaps between episodes. But today I have an awesome guest with a unique perspective on leadership. Bill Dempsey is my guest today. Bill is a retired Navy SEAL who spent over 28 years on active duty serving our country and for the last 13 years has been an instructor at the Joint Special Operations University at Fort Bragg. He was also a Division I baseball player at and graduate of Duke University. During our conversation, Bill and I focus on the importance of narrative; how it differs from a simple story, its impact and influence on identity, how to shape the narrative an organization. Bill also lays out some of the most critical concepts and thought patterns all leaders should have and internalize as well as describing ways to develop your skills in thinking outside the box as a leader. I really enjoyed talking to Bill and I could have probably talked to him for hours. It was a true pleasure having him on the show so I hope you enjoy it as much as I did on another episode of the Captains Coach Podcast.
Hello and welcome to the Captain’s Coach Podcast. I’m your host Luke Poulos and today we have something new for ya with a special tri-captain conversation from Roger Williams University. Tara Tchatowsky, Ellie Fleming, and Sydney Provencal are the captains for the Softball team at RWU and came on the show for great episode. They have been working with our very own founder Ben Smith over the past year to kickstart their leadership development and that of their entire program. The three young women have a great perspective and are in the unique position of being the first captains in their program’s recent history. We discuss the importance of leading by example, always keeping in mind that leadership and being a captain is a service for your team first and foremost, and how to build better relationships on and off the field. I hope you all enjoy the conversation and keep on tuning in to the Captain’s Coach Podcast.
Hello everyone and welcome to the Captain’s Coach Podcast. I’m your host Luke Poulos and today my guest is Coach Joe White. Coach White is currently an assistant coach for both the Baseball and Football teams of Thunder Ridge High School in Colorado. He was actually one of the original planning committee members for the high school when it was founded and he started the baseball program where he was the head coach for over twenty years. He is a teacher in the school as well and is active member on multiple boards and committees. Coach White has years of wisdom and I can’t wait for you all to hear what he has to say. Today we talk about the leadership council at Thunder Ridge, the importance of focusing on the long term goals of athletics, the challenges of leading and coaching in today’s specialized and individualized sports environment, and some really great ways to empower team captains and leaders, especially at the high school level. And be on the lookout for his new book that should be hitting Amazon soon. He mentions at the end of the show and it will be called My Three Ps or something along those lines I believe. So without further delay please enjoy the conversation with Coach Joe White on the Captains Coach Podcast.
Leadership in Turbulent Times-Doris Kearns Goodwin
John Gordon
Can’t Hurt Me-David Goggins
Extreme Ownership-Jocco Willinck
Hello everyone and welcome to the Captain’s Coach Podcast. I’m your host Luke Poulos and today my guest is Coach Joe White. Coach White is currently an assistant coach for both the Baseball and Football teams of Thunder Ridge High School in Colorado. He was actually one of the original planning committee members for the high school when it was founded and he started the baseball program where he was the head coach for over twenty years. He is a teacher in the school as well and is active member on multiple boards and committees. Coach White has years of wisdom and I can’t wait for you all to hear what he has to say. Today we talk about the leadership council at Thunder Ridge, the importance of focusing on the long term goals of athletics, the challenges of leading and coaching in today’s specialized and individualized sports environment, and some really great ways to empower team captains and leaders, especially at the high school level. And be on the lookout for his new book that should be hitting Amazon soon. He mentions at the end of the show and it will be called My Three Ps or something along those lines I believe. So without further delay please enjoy the conversation with Coach Joe White on the Captains Coach Podcast.
Leadership in Turbulent Times-Doris Kearns Goodwin
John Gordon
Can’t Hurt Me-David Goggins
Extreme Ownership-Jocco Willinck
New book coming out in about 6-8 months about how you can better influence the behaviors on your team and improve your team culture!
Hello listeners, and welcome to The Captain’s Coach Podcast. I am your host, Luke Poulos. Today’s guest is another from the Rugby scene in Richmond, VA and is a friend of my previous guests Matt Robinette and Chris Porter so if you haven’t listened to that episode please go back after you finish this one with Ben Morgan. Ben has had an awesome career around all sports coaching Rugby most recently for VCU and the Richmond Lions Club. He says he’s on sabbatical due to a new-born but I am guessing he is still extremely involved. Ben has also coached all around and coached baseball as well and to add to all that experience, Ben is a proud Veteran of the Marine Corps and has an awesome example of one of his favorite sports leadership stories from his time in the Marines. In this episode you will hear how Ben approaches leadership on his team, some creative ways to divide your team and provide more leadership opportunities to those who may not be Captains, why saying and doing less is more, and my personal favorite definition of leadership so far on this podcast. Also if you have not picked up your copy of The Captain’s Playbook by our one and only founder and CEO, Ben Smith, please do so today-go to Amazon type in the title and Ben’s name and enjoy because that is an endless resource and amazing tool for athletes and coaches alike. But without further ado, here is Ben Morgan.
Any Given Team-Ray McLean
Radial Candor-Kim Scott
Dr. Kevin Leman
Hello Everyone, welcome to another episode of the Captain’s Coach Podcast. I am your host Luke Poulos coming at you with great conversation, our first two-guest conversation, with Matt Robinette and Chris Porter. Matt is the president of the Capital Rugby Union and Chris is a coach of the Norfolk Rugby Blues and the Capital Selects teams. They have known each other for a long time with over 50 years of combined experience between them coaching and running programs and can see why they enjoy working with each other. The conversation was awesome because Matt was able to give the big picture, program level, management point of view when it comes to leadership development inside the program and how they start their message and culture from the top, while Chris really dove into what he does on a day to day basis with his Captains and other leaders on the field to make that culture and leadership actionable. We spoke a lot about how crucial communication is between a Captain and a Coach, the importance of having mechanisms that bring about leadership, some ways each fell somewhat short either as a Captain or as a coach, and some advice for coaches and Captains looking to develop themselves and those around them. I really challenge every Captain and coach alike listening to this to take one thing they hear from Chris and Matt and implement tomorrow during practice or a meeting. Especially coaches, “be comfortable with silence.” And now I’ll get out of the way so you can listen to the real experts, Matt Robinette and Chris Porter, on another episode of The Captain’s Coach Podcast.
Legacy-James Kerr
Know Your Why-Simon Sinek
“Deserves got’s nothing to do with it”-Clint Eastwood
Hello Everyone, welcome to another episode of the Captain’s Coach Podcast. I am your host Luke Poulos coming at you with great conversation, our first two-guest conversation, with Matt Robinette and Chris Porter. Matt is the president of the Capital Rugby Union and Chris is a coach of the Norfolk Rugby Blues and the Capital Selects teams. They have known each other for a long time with over 50 years of combined experience between them coaching and running programs and can see why they enjoy working with each other. The conversation was awesome because Matt was able to give the big picture, program level, management point of view when it comes to leadership development inside the program and how they start their message and culture from the top, while Chris really dove into what he does on a day to day basis with his Captains and other leaders on the field to make that culture and leadership actionable. We spoke a lot about how crucial communication is between a Captain and a Coach, the importance of having mechanisms that bring about leadership, some ways each fell somewhat short either as a Captain or as a coach, and some advice for coaches and Captains looking to develop themselves and those around them. I really challenge every Captain and coach alike listening to this to take one thing they hear from Chris and Matt and implement tomorrow during practice or a meeting. Especially coaches, “be comfortable with silence.” And now I’ll get out of the way so you can listen to the real experts, Matt Robinette and Chris Porter, on another episode of The Captain’s Coach Podcast.
Legacy-James Kerr
Know Your Why-Simon Sinek
“Deserves got’s nothing to do with it”-Clint Eastwood
10-80-10
Pareto’s Principle
Directly influence 6-8 people
Strategic about who you pour into
Smaller the group, the higher the impact
Team Captains Drive Culture
Social Influence
Bystander Effect
Reflects the real world
Experiences are the medium to develop Leadership
Adult Development is a theory by Robert Kegan which stated that, throughout the lifespan of an individual we can go through 5 different phases of maturation. These five are: Stage 1 — Impulsive mind (early childhood) Stage 2 — Imperial mind (adolescence, 6% of adult population) Stage 3 — Socialized mind (58% of the adult population) Stage 4 — Self-Authoring mind (35% of the adult population) Stage 5 — Self-Transforming mind (1% of the adult population) Kegan got this model from a mix of previous psychologists such as Maslow, Erikkson, and Carl Jung. The principle idea is that maturation occurs when we transform our view of the world from us being the center of the universe to others. It is not about our knowledge base but more about our perception. One of the biggest changes in maturation occurs between stages 2 and 3 when we begin to take ownership of our own thoughts, values, identity, and meaning instead of what we have assimilated from others. This is where the individual begins to gain CLARITY: who they are, what they want to accomplish and why …
Lewin’s equation is a heuristic formula created by the famous psychologist Kurt Lewin. It states that behavior is a function of a person in their environment. This is a critical equation for sports leaders to understand. More and more research is coming out that is reinforcing this idea that Lewin created in the 1930’s. (James Clear). Willpower is not enough. If we want to create real behavior change, we need to focus in on the environment that we are creating.
Our behavior matters because it directly influences our results. We are a big fan of the framework that Brett Ledbetter created that states that character drives the process which drives teh results. Our behavior, the actions we take in the present moment which we have direct control over, is interchangeable with the process.
So, the model I would like to dicuss with you today is known as the 6 sources of influence. It is a model that was created by Joseph Grenny and his team of psychologists that I think is a very useful model for coaches and captains to understand. Each of these 6 sources are influencing our behavior whether we like it or not, for good or for bad. It is vital that we be intentional with crafting these influences to initiate and drive the behavior in the programs we want to see for the benefit of the individual and team.
If you can envision a table, there are two columns and three rows. The two columns are Motivation and ability and the three rows are personal, social, and structural. I am going to provide a quick overview as to what these are and why they matter.
A great exercise would be for you to think critically about what the vital behaviors (process) are that you want to see changed. Then, analyze each one of the sources of influence and think about what can be done to influence change. Remember that these sources are there influencing regardless of your thougts or feelings on the matter. Leadership is influence and it is important that you understand the power of environment and the ability you have to change it for the betterment of your players and teammates.
What’s up listeners. I’m back with another episode of The Captain’s Coach Podcast and another episode with an Army Lacrosse Captain--Nate Jones. Nate was a freshman when I was senior so he is a really good friend and like a little brother to me so it was awesome getting to hear how far he has come and what an amazing leader he has become. This past year Nate graduated and commissioned into the Marine Corps after leading Army to one of it’s best seasons in program history with the most wins in a season, beating Navy in overtime, and winning the Patriot League Championship en route to an NCAA Tournament Birth. Today Nate and I talk about some of the specific things he and the other captains did from day one of being named captain all the way through the end of the season, his favorite part about being a captain, some of the things he loved about our coach and how he developed him as a leader, as well as some great advice for aspiring leaders. Hope you enjoy the conversation and another insight into Army Lacrosse with Nate Jones on another episode of The Captain’s Coach Podcast.
Joker 1-Donovan Campbell
Legacy-James Kerr
The Real McCaw-Richie McCaw
What’s up listeners. I’m back with another episode of The Captain’s Coach Podcast and another episode with an Army Lacrosse Captain--Nate Jones. Nate was a freshman when I was senior so he is a really good friend and like a little brother to me so it was awesome getting to hear how far he has come and what an amazing leader he has become. This past year Nate graduated and commissioned into the Marine Corps after leading Army to one of it’s best seasons in program history with the most wins in a season, beating Navy in overtime, and winning the Patriot League Championship en route to an NCAA Tournament Birth. Today Nate and I talk about some of the specific things he and the other captains did from day one of being named captain all the way through the end of the season, his favorite part about being a captain, some of the things he loved about our coach and how he developed him as a leader, as well as some great advice for aspiring leaders. Hope you enjoy the conversation and another insight into Army Lacrosse with Nate Jones on another episode of The Captain’s Coach Podcast.
Joker 1-Donovan Campbell
Legacy-James Kerr
The Real McCaw-Richie McCaw
Hey there everyone and welcome to another episode of The Captain’s Coach Podcast. It’s been a couple weeks since I’ve had a new guest so apologies for those wo have been anxiously awaiting for some new content. And I don’t think I could’ve picked a better guest to come back too. I sat down with Casey O’Neill earlier today and had an awesome conversation. Coach O’Neill is the head lacrosse coach and assistant athletic director at Gonzaga College High School in Washington, D.C. and one of my old high school rivals back in the day. Coach O’Neill took over the head coaching job there in 2008. The team won it’s first championship under coach O’Neill two years later in the 2010 season and the program hasn’t looked back since winning every Conference Championship since then except one. The program now has All-Americans every year, and most of the team goes on to play college lacrosse. He is someone I have always respected as a coach so it was an honor to talk to him today about a variety of things including the strategy and principles he used to really turn the program into what it is today, how he mentors and empowers his captains on the team, what he feels his biggest impact on his players is, and his definition of leadership. It was a great time talking to Coach O’Neill today and I’m glad he found some time on a Saturday to chat with me so here is our conversation on another episode of The Captain’s Coach Podcast.
The Hard Hat-Jon Gordon
“You can tell a sailor by the storm.”
“Do not wait to care.”
Hey there everyone and welcome to another episode of The Captain’s Coach Podcast. It’s been a couple weeks since I’ve had a new guest so apologies for those wo have been anxiously awaiting for some new content. And I don’t think I could’ve picked a better guest to come back too. I sat down with Casey O’Neill earlier today and had an awesome conversation. Coach O’Neill is the head lacrosse coach and assistant athletic director at Gonzaga College High School in Washington, D.C. and one of my old high school rivals back in the day. Coach O’Neill took over the head coaching job there in 2008. The team won it’s first championship under coach O’Neill two years later in the 2010 season and the program hasn’t looked back since winning every Conference Championship since then except one. The program now has All-Americans every year, and most of the team goes on to play college lacrosse. He is someone I have always respected as a coach so it was an honor to talk to him today about a variety of things including the strategy and principles he used to really turn the program into what it is today, how he mentors and empowers his captains on the team, what he feels his biggest impact on his players is, and his definition of leadership. It was a great time talking to Coach O’Neill today and I’m glad he found some time on a Saturday to chat with me so here is our conversation on another episode of The Captain’s Coach Podcast.
The Hard Hat-Jon Gordon
“You can tell a sailor by the storm.”
“Do not wait to care.”
Hey everyone welcome to The Captain’s Coach Podcast. I am your host Luke Poulos and today I have a guest that is someone I have wanted to interview since I started this thing with Ben. His name is Phil Brown and he was in the same unit as Ben and me and actually took over Ben’s job when he left and then I took that job when Phil left. I spent a lot of time in his office probably annoying him more than anything but I know he appreciated it. Phil was a 3 year Captain for Claslin University Basketball after transferring from Delaware State. He comes with a wealth of knowledge and a lot of leadership experience in sports as well as the military where he is a Captain in the Army currently serving as a Logistics Officer at Fort Polk Louisiana. Today we dive into the challenges of being a transfer and a young captain in college, why mentoring the younger guys on his team was his favorite part of being a captain, the shift in mentality he had when taking over in a leadership role, the importance of tying into your assistance coaches as a leader on your team, and the most crucial characteristics of a great Captain. As always it was a lot of fun chatting with Phil today so I hope you enjoy the conversation on another episode of the Captain’s Coach Podcast.
“Do it right or do it twice”
Hello and welcome to The Captain’s Coach Podcast everyone. I am your host Luke Poulos and today we have an awesome guest who has spent most of his professional career around legendary icons and leaders in the professional sports world. Jon Torine was the head of strength and conditioning for the Indianapolis Colts for 14 years during which they won a Super Bowl under Tony Dungy and with Peyton Manning. Before that Jon was an assistant strength and conditioning coach with the legendary Buffalo Bills teams of the early 90’s. Today Jon is the founder of Lean In Coaching and works with Functional Movement Systems, both of which are ventures with the goal of changing the way, specifically youth and young adult sports are conducted on a fundamental level so athletes can grow into virtuous leaders and wholistic individuals. He has had some amazing relationships as I mentioned before and throughout the conversation you will hear Jon touch on those relationships and what he learned from those great examples. We also discuss at length the importance of authentic leadership and the pathway to finding what that is for each individual leader; how coaches can facilitate that and how to really start understanding yourself on a deeper level to discover your own leadership philosophy and act it out in every relationship and endeavor you have. He was awesome to have on the show and really fun to talk to with all his stories and deep understanding of leadership in sports so please enjoy the conversation with Jon Torine on The Captain’s Coach Podcast.
Hello and welcome to all you Captain’s Coach Podcast listeners. We have a really fun one lined up for you today, especially for those of you who like more conceptual into the weeds type of conversations. And there is no one I enjoy having those type of conversations with, except maybe Jonny Wolfgram, shouts to you Jonny, than our very own Founder and CEO of The Captain’s Coach Ben Smith. Unlike me, Ben is an actual leadership expert and just finished his first of many books The Captain’s Playbook, which you will hear more about at the end of this episode, but today Ben and I discuss the impact and importance of story on our lives and within the framework of leadership; specifically The Hero’s Journey or Monomyth and how that model or framework can be applied to sports on a program or team level and also on an individual leader level. Like I said at the onset, this will be a little more conceptual than we’re used to on here which I think is a good fun change up. So without further ado here is Ben Smith and our conversation on The Hero’s Journey.
https://www.amazon.com/Captains-Playbook-revolutionary-captains-effectively/dp/1094895830/ref=sr_1_1?crid=ZN2VXM5UOO6D&keywords=the+captains+playbook&qid=1557449089&s=gateway&sprefix=the+captains+playbook%2Caps%2C269&sr=8-1
Hello everyone and welcome to another episode of The Captain’s Coach Podcast. I am your host Luke Poulos and today was another fun one for me. There all fun but today especially because I had the chance to sit down and talk to a guy I went to high school with and randomly bumped into one weekend in D.C. His name is Marlon Beck and he was not only a Captain for the Binghamton University Basketball Team but he was the Captain for three years, as a Sophomore, Junior, and Senior which you rarely see at any level of collegiate sports but for a Division I basketball player that is incredible. Marlon and I talk about the challenges he had to overcome as a younger Captain and some of the lessons he carried forward as a Junior and Senior Captain, the relationship he had with his coach and how he empowered the players on the team to take ownership of the direction of the program not just in his words but also his behavior, and a defining moment Marlon had his Sophomore year and the impact it had on the team for the rest of that season and the rest of his Captaincy. As you’ll hear in a moment Marlon is extremely passionate on this subject and has a lot of knowledge, wisdom, and advice for all leaders out there. I hope you all enjoy the conversation on another episode of The Captain’s Coach Podcast.
Hey what’s going on everyone and welcome to another episode of The Captain’s Coach Podcast. Today I interviewed Nick Doktor who was the solo Captain of University of Pennsylvania Lacrosse in 2016. He is the good friend of recent guest, Gunnar Millar, so you might recognize the Rochester accent. Nick and I discuss a wide range of topics today from the leadership council that Penn Lacrosse has and how his coach truly let the players lead the team to the importance of empowering other leaders on your team even when you’re THE Leader of your team. We also discuss what being a leader is all about and he has some great advice for those of you out there aspiring to be Captains or Captains looking for some guidance. It was a pleasure having Nick on the show and I hope we get to do this again in the future. And now here is our conversation on The Captain’s Coach Podcast.
“An imperfect plan with total buy-in will always beat a perfect plan with partial buy-in”
Shoe Dog-Phil Knight
Hello and welcome to The Captain’s Coach Podcast everyone. We have a great one lined up for you today. If you are a regular listener you have probably heard me reference The Captain Class numerous times. It is one of the main inspirations for The Captain’s Coach and one of the books I most often recommend to friends and co workers. I was lucky enough to sit down with the author of The Captain Class, Sam Walker, earlier today and discuss his book and some of the surprising insights he has gained from it. As you will hear shortly, Sam spent years dedicated to researching and writing this book and had an extremely methodical way of coming to his conclusions. During the conversation we talk about the importance of team captains and why most people miss that importance, why the mainstream image of a great captain and leader is far from reality, the faulty obsession with the personalities of leaders and the lack of focus on behavior, the three most important behaviors of captains, and his advice for captains and coaches who are trying to make fundamental changes to their programs. If you want to learn more about Sam and his work his website is bysamwalker.com and you can follow him on Twitter @samwalkers and of course go get yourself a copy of The Captain Class. Now sit back and enjoy the conversation and insights on another episode The Captain’s Coach Podcast.
Hello and welcome to The Captain’s Coach Podcast everyone. We have a great one lined up for you today. If you are a regular listener you have probably heard me reference The Captain Class numerous times. It is one of the main inspirations for The Captain’s Coach and one of the books I most often recommend to friends and co workers. I was lucky enough to sit down with the author of The Captain Class, Sam Walker, earlier today and discuss his book and some of the surprising insights he has gained from it. As you will hear shortly, Sam spent years dedicated to researching and writing this book and had an extremely methodical way of coming to his conclusions. During the conversation we talk about the importance of team captains and why most people miss that importance, why the mainstream image of a great captain and leader is far from reality, the faulty obsession with the personalities of leaders and the lack of focus on behavior, the three most important behaviors of captains, and his advice for captains and coaches who are trying to make fundamental changes to their programs. If you want to learn more about Sam and his work his website is bysamwalker.com and you can follow him on Twitter @samwalkers and of course go get yourself a copy of The Captain Class. Now sit back and enjoy the conversation and insights on another episode The Captain’s Coach Podcast.
Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to The Captain’s Coach Podcast. I am your host, Luke Poulos, and today we have another episode with Army West Point Lacrosse as Gunnar Miller, one of my really good friends and class of 2017 joins me for a great conversation. Gunnar has a great take on leadership and actually spent most of his junior season recovering from an injury so that just shows what kind of leader he is to be recognized by his teammates and chosen to be a Captain the following year, despite not being on the field for the vast majority of the season. Today we discuss a lot about personal accountability and how it relates to leadership, how effective a light touch from a coach can be with Captains, the importance of trust when it comes to coaches empowering Captains and Captains leveraging other leaders on the team, and a bunch more. Hope you all enjoy. Here is Gunnar Miller.
What’s up everyone, I am the host of The Captain’s Coach Podcast, Luke Poulos, and on today’s episode I had the opportunity to chat with former collegiate athlete and Captain, Becca Varney. Becca was a two time Captain for Bryant University’s Track and Field Team. She also did her undergraduate capstone on the transferable skills developed in athletics, primarily leadership skills, and how they apply to the rest of life after and outside of athletics. Becca has obviously done a lot of research on this topic and has a really fresh perspective on leadership and has some great tips for coaches and athletes looking to increase their own leadership capabilities or the leadership capabilities of their entire program. So have a listen, enjoy, and have a great day with us on another episode of The Captain’s Coach Podcast.
Hey hey listeners! Welcome to another episode of the Captain’s Coach Podcast. I had a lot of fun with today’s guest, Todd Sanders. Todd is one of our first guests coming from a primarily executive/business leadership perspective. He currently serves as a Principle at the McCrystal Group. He is a graduate of the Naval Academy where he commissioned out of into the Marine Corps as an infantry officer and later served as an operational and strategic planner as well as an international military advisor. After retiring from the military, Todd started a private consulting firm and then served as the Senior Manager of Leadership Development at a high-growth, nationally recognized media and insurance firm. We talk about a lot of different aspects of leadership during our conversation ranging from the importance of being true to your values and principles, the applicability of leadership skills across sports, military, and business, some of the most effective ways leadership in organizations have made changes, and how he can quickly determine what kind of culture an organization. Like I said we had a lot of fun doing this conversation so I hope you enjoy the conversation as much as we did on another episode of The Captain’s Coach Podcast. Here is a link to his full bio:
https://www.mcchrystalgroup.com/team_member/todd-sanders/
Team of Teams: New Rules of Engagement for a Complex World-Stan McCrystal
Leaders: Myth and Reality-Stan McCrystal
The Coaching Habit-Michael Bungay Stanier
Hey hey listeners! Welcome to another episode of the Captain’s Coach Podcast. I had a lot of fun with today’s guest, Todd Sanders. Todd is one of our first guests coming from a primarily executive/business leadership perspective. He currently serves as a Principle at the McCrystal Group. He is a graduate of the Naval Academy where he commissioned out of into the Marine Corps as an infantry officer and later served as an operational and strategic planner as well as an international military advisor. After retiring from the military, Todd started a private consulting firm and then served as the Senior Manager of Leadership Development at a high-growth, nationally recognized media and insurance firm. We talk about a lot of different aspects of leadership during our conversation ranging from the importance of being true to your values and principles, the applicability of leadership skills across sports, military, and business, some of the most effective ways leadership in organizations have made changes, and how he can quickly determine what kind of culture an organization. Like I said we had a lot of fun doing this conversation so I hope you enjoy the conversation as much as we did on another episode of The Captain’s Coach Podcast. Here is a link to his full bio:
https://www.mcchrystalgroup.com/team_member/todd-sanders/
Team of Teams: New Rules of Engagement for a Complex World-Stan McCrystal
Leaders: Myth and Reality-Stan McCrystal
The Coaching Habit-Michael Bungay Stanier
What is up listeners! Welcome to The Captain’s Coach Podcast with me, Luke Poulos, your humble host as always. We have another good one for you today with JMU Volleyball Captain, M’Kaela White. M’Kaela, who was a Captain during her Junior season, is now the second volleyball Captain from JMU and fourth JMU athlete to come on the show and once again these athletes did not disappoint. M’Kaela and I discuss among other things, the effectiveness of empowering young players to volunteer and step up for leadership opportunities, how her coach has impacted her on a personal level as a leader, the power of culture, and the importance of being vulnerable and adaptive as a Captain. She has a lot of good ideas and a great perspective on leadership and being a Captain so please enjoy our conversation on this edition of The Captain’s Coach Podcast.
Welcome to today’s show everyone. I am the host of The Captain’s Coach Podcast, Luke Poulos, bringing you a fantastic conversation today with Coach Chris Morland. Coach Morland is the founder of Morland Strength and Forming Life and Movement Skills. He is a health and physical education teacher as well as the strength and conditioning coach at Cardinal Gibbons High School in Raleigh, NC. He was a Captain on the University of Tennessee, Knoxville Track and Field Team. He has over 15+ years of experience in coaching multiple sports and athletes and is extremely passionate about educating and training young athletes. Our conversation ranges from the formation of Morland Strength and Forming Life and Movement Skills to transferrable skills in athletics and life and what makes great leaders and Captains. I definitely learned more than a few new concepts today and really enjoyed the conversation in general. If you want to learn more about Coach Morland and his mission (which I am a big fan of after learning about it) please visit MorlandStrength.com. Thanks again for listening everyone on another episode of The Captain’s Coach Podcast. Enjoy.
What’s up everyone, I am your host Luke Poulos and you’re listening to The Captain’s Coach Podcast. Today we have JMU round 3 with Volleyball Captain Sarah Martin. Sarah just finished up her first season as a Captain in the Fall as a Junior and will look to continue her leadership as a Senior Captain as well. She has been a member of the Volleyball Team’s Leadership Group since her Freshman year which she lends a good deal to her success as Captain to. Sarah and I discuss the leadership group as well other ways her coach intentionally develops leaders on the team, what her biggest challenges have been as a Captain and what steps she is most looking forward to taking as a Captain next year, and much more. I really enjoyed the conversation today and I continue to be impressed by the JMU athletes. Thanks again for listening on another episode of The Captain’s Coach Podcast.
Alright Captain’s Coach Podcasters, we have a cool episode today, a sort of second leg to a double feature if you will, as we bring you the teammate of our previous guest (Rachel Yaeger), with Cassie Hunter. Like Rachel, Cassie is a member of the JMU Field Hockey Team. Cassie is a Junior and is also part of the leadership committee the program has. Today, I get her perspective on the JMU program and we will discuss the unique way they select Captains throughout the year, the importance of coaches developing complete individuals, creating experiences outside of athletics for teams to bond, and what qualities make great Captains. I hope you enjoy the conversation and thanks again for listening to us here on The Captain’s Coach Podcast.
Hello and welcome to everyone out there listening to The Captain’s Coach Podcast. Today’s guest is Rachel Yaeger. Rachel is a Sophomore member of the James Madison University Field Hockey Team. Although she is not a Captain on the team, she is a member of the program’s leadership committee which is compromised of players from each class. Today Rachel and I go into some of the details of what that committee is all about, we discuss the ways her coach has intentionally created an environment that emphasizes leadership development from the moment you step on campus, and the most important qualities of a successful Captain. Thanks for listening on another episode of The Captain’s Coach Podcast.
What’s going on Captain’s Coach listeners. My guest today is Lindsey Oremus from St. Joe’s University in Philadelphia. Lindsey is a Senior Captain for both the Women’s Cross Country and Track Teams. She will be graduating in May with a degree in Interdisciplinary Health Services and 2 minors in psychology and animal studies. Lindsey also serves as the assistant coach for The Academy of Notre Dame de Amur High School for both track and cross country teams. She is a certified EMT and does work for two different EMT services as well. Today we will discuss the unique way St. Joe’s develops leaders on their athletic teams, the biggest challenges Lindsey has overcome as a Captain, and the importance of leading by example. It was a pleasure to have her on the show so I hope you enjoy on another episode of The Captain’s Coach Podcast.
Hello and welcome everyone to another edition of The Captain’s Coach Podcast. I am your host Luke Poulos and today I had the awesome opportunity to sit down and chat with Dr. Gregory Dale. Dr. Dale is the Director of The Sport Psychology and Leadership Program for Duke Athletics. He is also a professor of sport psychology and sport ethics in the Department of Health, Wellness and Physical Education. He has written four books on leadership, coaching, parenting and performance and serves as a consultant to numerous athletic and corporate organizations around the world including The World Bank, Habitat for Humanity International, IBM, and Pfizer. Dr. Dale has been featured on Good Morning America, MSNBC and numerous national radio programs as well. He has a wealth of knowledge and experience as we cover topics ranging from the changing environment that children grow up learning sports skills in today, how to balance accountability and empathy, and the importance of coaches intentionally developing leaders. If you want to check out more of Dr. Dale please visit http://www.goduke.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=4200&ATCLID=208336760 or http://www.excellenceinperformance.com/about/ . I hope you enjoy the conversation today and thanks for listening to The Captain’s Coach Podcast.
Hello and welcome everyone to another edition of The Captain’s Coach Podcast. I am your host Luke Poulos and today I had the awesome opportunity to sit down and chat with Dr. Gregory Dale. Dr. Dale is the Director of The Sport Psychology and Leadership Program for Duke Athletics. He is also a professor of sport psychology and sport ethics in the Department of Health, Wellness and Physical Education. He has written four books on leadership, coaching, parenting and performance and serves as a consultant to numerous athletic and corporate organizations around the world including The World Bank, Habitat for Humanity International, IBM, and Pfizer. Dr. Dale has been featured on Good Morning America, MSNBC and numerous national radio programs as well. He has a wealth of knowledge and experience as we cover topics ranging from the changing environment that children grow up learning sports skills in today, how to balance accountability and empathy, and the importance of coaches intentionally developing leaders. If you want to check out more of Dr. Dale please visit http://www.goduke.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=4200&ATCLID=208336760 or http://www.excellenceinperformance.com/about/ . I hope you enjoy the conversation today and thanks for listening to The Captain’s Coach Podcast.
Hello and welcome to another edition of the Captain’s Coach Podcast. I’m your host Luke Poulos and today I am bringing you a great conversation with Fred Stuvek. Fred is the author of the book It Starts With You: Turn Your Goals Into Success. I am about half way through it myself and I highly recommend it to anyone who is looking to kickstart a business, a team, a program, and just their personal life in general. Fred has been highly successful in the business world where he has held senior leadership positions in private and public companies, both domestically and internationally. Key successes include an international medical imaging start-up that led to a successful IPO, and forming a private medical services company, which he subsequently sold. Fred is a graduate of the United States Naval Academy and was a Quarterback on the Football Team. He is also a member of the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame for achievements in football, basketball, baseball, and track where he was a Captain for three out of those four sports. Today we jump around from his time in high school to his business ventures and everything in between. A continual theme is the importance of personal accountability and self-awareness and how it pertains to leadership on and off the field. To learn more about Fred and his book please visit ItStartsWithYou.net. Hope you enjoy our conversation today on The Captain’s Coach Podcast.
Hello and welcome to another edition of the Captain’s Coach Podcast. I’m your host Luke Poulos and today I am bringing you a great conversation with Fred Stuvek. Fred is the author of the book It Starts With You: Turn Your Goals Into Success. I am about half way through it myself and I highly recommend it to anyone who is looking to kickstart a business, a team, a program, and just their personal life in general. Fred has been highly successful in the business world where he has held senior leadership positions in private and public companies, both domestically and internationally. Key successes include an international medical imaging start-up that led to a successful IPO, and forming a private medical services company, which he subsequently sold. Fred is a graduate of the United States Naval Academy and was a Quarterback on the Football Team. He is also a member of the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame for achievements in football, basketball, baseball, and track where he was a Captain for three out of those four sports. Today we jump around from his time in high school to his business ventures and everything in between. A continual theme is the importance of personal accountability and self-awareness and how it pertains to leadership on and off the field. To learn more about Fred and his book please visit ItStartsWithYou.net. Hope you enjoy our conversation today on The Captain’s Coach Podcast.
What’s going on Captain’s Coach Listeners. I am super excited about today’s guest on an extra special episode. It is not every day that I have the opportunity to sit down and talk to a legendary figure in the sports world. Today’s conversation is with Coach Morgan Wootten, who among other things has the second most all time wins in basketball period. John Wooden when speaking about Coach Wootten said "I know of no finer coach at any level – high school, college or pro. I stand in awe of him." He coached at DeMatha Catholic High School Maryland which is actually one of my high school alma mater’s rivals so I grew up hearing a lot about the extraordinary success Coach Wootten had there. Just a couple of stats for you all to put things in perspective. Coach Wootten’s all time record as a head coach is 1274-192; he won 5 High School National Championships, 22 Washington D.C. City Titles and 33 Washington Catholic Athletic Conference Championships. He is one of only three high school basketball coaches in the Basketball Hall of Fame. The list of accolades goes on and you can find them all with a quick search of his name. I am just finishing up one of his books, A Coach for All Seasons, and I highly recommend it for anyone out there not just for athletes. It was such an honor to talk to Coach Wootten today with his wealth of knowledge and really it was just a fun conversation to have. I really hope you enjoy it so here it is on another episode of the Captain’s Coach Podcast.
What’s going on Captain’s Coach Listeners. I am super excited about today’s guest on an extra special episode. It is not every day that I have the opportunity to sit down and talk to a legendary figure in the sports world. Today’s conversation is with Coach Morgan Wootten, who among other things has the second most all time wins in basketball period. John Wooden when speaking about Coach Wootten said "I know of no finer coach at any level – high school, college or pro. I stand in awe of him." He coached at DeMatha Catholic High School Maryland which is actually one of my high school alma mater’s rivals so I grew up hearing a lot about the extraordinary success Coach Wootten had there. Just a couple of stats for you all to put things in perspective. Coach Wootten’s all time record as a head coach is 1274-192; he won 5 High School National Championships, 22 Washington D.C. City Titles and 33 Washington Catholic Athletic Conference Championships. He is one of only three high school basketball coaches in the Basketball Hall of Fame. The list of accolades goes on and you can find them all with a quick search of his name. I am just finishing up one of his books, A Coach for All Seasons, and I highly recommend it for anyone out there not just for athletes. It was such an honor to talk to Coach Wootten today with his wealth of knowledge and really it was just a fun conversation to have. I really hope you enjoy it so here it is on another episode of the Captain’s Coach Podcast.
Hello everyone and welcome to another episode of The Captain’s Coach Podcast. I am your host Luke Poulos. Today I had the opportunity to interview Jim Gibbons. Jim is the Assistant Athletic Director, Head Baseball Coach, and Assistant Football Coach at Ravenscroft School in Raleigh, North Carolina. He has been there since 2008 and helped develop a very unique program in the high school sports world called the Student Athlete Leadership Training program. He serves as one of the mentors for the student athletes in the program to this day. We will talk much more about the program during today’s conversation. Prior to Ravenscroft, Jim worked at the Westminster Schools in Atlanta. Prior to that he coached at the collegiate level at a number of colleges to include Wingate University, University of Buffalo, Buffalo State, Cornell, and his alma mater, Ithaca College. At Ithaca, Jim played for hall of fame coach Jim Butterfield and was a member of their 1988 Division III National Championship team. You will here about his experiences there along with his great work with Leadership Training more during our conversation so I hope you enjoy it on another great episode of the Captain’s Coach Podcast.
Happy New Year Everyone. Glad to have you back if you’re a return listener and glad to have you here if you are a first time listener as we kick off 2019 with Lee Wilson. Lee was a high school tennis captain from Charlottesville, VA. He has been playing tennis his entire life and continued coaching and managing during high school and college as well. He is a graduate from VCU and received his masters from the Center for Leadership Science there. On today’s show Lee shares his unique perspective as the captain of an individual sport team, how his coach had an immense impact on him and his teammates that they still feel today, and how his leadership development helped Lee make a tough decision as Captain his Senior Year. Let us know what you think of today’s and all of our shows and check out our website at CaptainsCoach.com to learn more. Thanks for listening on another great episode of the Captain’s Coach Podcast.
Today I interview another great guest in Steven Mays. He is the author of a phenomenal leadership book, The Power of 3: Lessons in Leadership. It is a super short read but packed with great lessons and Steven’s Power of 3 paradigm. I highly recommend it to all leaders out there, not just in sports but in any industry his lessons apply. Steven draws from his experiences as a Naval Officer following graduating from the Naval Academy as wells as his time as a federal employee and being the father of multiple college athletes. In today’s episode Steven breaks down the 3 levels of leadership for any organization or team: Foundational Principles, Facing Challenges, and Achievement. Steven breaks these down even further in sets of 3 as we explore how captains can apply these ideas and practices in their everyday development to better lead their teams. If you like what you hear please check out Steven’s website at ThePowerof3Leadership.com. Hope you enjoy it as much as I did on another episode of The Captain’s Coach Podcast.
Today I interview another great guest in Steven Mays. He is the author of a phenomenal leadership book, The Power of 3: Lessons in Leadership. It is a super short read but packed with great lessons and Steven’s Power of 3 paradigm. I highly recommend it to all leaders out there, not just in sports but in any industry his lessons apply. Steven draws from his experiences as a Naval Officer following graduating from the Naval Academy as wells as his time as a federal employee and being the father of multiple college athletes. In today’s episode Steven breaks down the 3 levels of leadership for any organization or team: Foundational Principles, Facing Challenges, and Achievement. Steven breaks these down even further in sets of 3 as we explore how captains can apply these ideas and practices in their everyday development to better lead their teams. If you like what you hear please check out Steven’s website at ThePowerof3Leadership.com. Hope you enjoy it as much as I did on another episode of The Captain’s Coach Podcast.
Today’s guest on the Captain’s Coach Podcast is Shea Mullins. Shea was a classmate of mine
at West Point and was one of the captains for our Army West Point Lacrosse team in 2016.
Today we dive into some of the things the Army Lacrosse team did well to promote leadership,
the lessons Shea learned as a Captain and what he would have done differently, how his coach
personally developed his captains, and Shea’s own views on what makes a great captain and
how to become a better leader. Shea is a native of Long Island, New York and is currently
stationed at Fort Stewart as a Field Artillery Officer.
Highlights:
1:00-Taking care of the little things off the field
3:00-Building cohesive teams in the weight room
6:50-Charecteristics of a great college coach
10:15-Using Captains to gauge your team’s current state
17:45-Never squander your time as a Captain/Hard Work is underrated
22:20-How your best player can be an even better Captain
28:00-The most important characteristics of a Captain
33:20-Shea’s definition of leadership
34:30-Making a sacrifice and Leading by example
37:15-Extreme Ownership-Jacko Willinck;
38:20-Good To Great-Jim Collins
39:30-“Nobody cares”
Today’s guest on the Captain’s Coach Podcast is Shea Mullins. Shea was a classmate of mine at West Point and was one of the captains for our Army West Point Lacrosse team in 2016. Today we dive into some of the things the Army Lacrosse team did well to promote leadership, the lessons Shea learned as a Captain and what he would have done differently, how his coach personally developed his captains, and Shea’s own views on what makes a great captain and how to become a better leader. Shea is a native of Long Island, New York and is currently stationed at Fort Stewart as a Field Artillery Officer.
Highlights:
1:00-Taking care of the little things off the field
3:00-Building cohesive teams in the weight room
6:50-Charecteristics of a great college coach
10:15-Using Captains to gauge your team’s current state
17:45-Never squander your time as a Captain/Hard Work is underrated
Today we interview sports psychologist Dr. Tiffanye Vargas who has done some of the only research and studies into pre-game speeches in sports.
Highlights:
1:40—How coaches can identify and empower leaders across all aspects of their team’s performance-discipline, relaxed atmosphere, logistics, and emotions
6:10—Two examples of the best Captains Doc Z has experienced first hand and the different roles they played in their teams’ success.
12:20—An example of how a Captain can successfully lead their teams and players through a time of adversity
16:00—Doc Z’s definition of leadership and the importance of identifying your players’ motivations and how to leverage that for success
18:10—Doc Z’s advice on how to become a better Captain and leader-“Be the person your dog thinks you are.”
Highlights:
4:30—The five baseline questions Doc Z asks every player and team in his programs
8:00—The importance of confidence as a Captain and Leader
12:35—How the Army West Point Wrestling team empowers their team captains-specifically leaders who are not star performers
3:15—The importance of communication between players, Captains, and Coaches and the importance of stressing wholistic well being of all individuals and the effect that can have on the success of the program
On this epsidoe of the The Captains’ Coach Podcast Luke interviews Coach Joe Alberici. Coach Alberici is entering his 14th season as the head coach for the Army West Point Men’s Lacrosse Program. Before becoming the head coach, Coach Alberici was an assistant coach at West Point and Duke University under Mike Pressler. He was a three year Captain at Alfred University and hold six different scoring records for the Saxons. In today’s episode Coach Alberici discusses his experiences as a Captain at Alfred, his time at West Point and lessons he has learned over the years there, and his conceptual ideas and theories on leadership and team cohesion.
Link to Coach A full bio- https://goarmywestpoint.com/mobile/staff.aspx?staff=187
Favorite Book: Lincoln on Leadership-Donald T. Phillips/The Genius-David Harris/Leading With the Heart-Mike Krzyzewski
Favorite Quote: “Love each other so much that you can be tough on each other.”
On this epsidoe of the The Captains’ Coach Podcast Luke interviews Coach Joe Alberici. Coach Alberici is entering his 14th season as the head coach for the Army West Point Men’s Lacrosse Program. Before becoming the head coach, Coach Alberici was an assistant coach at West Point and Duke University under Mike Pressler. He was a three year Captain at Alfred University and hold six different scoring records for the Saxons. In today’s episode Coach Alberici discusses his experiences as a Captain at Alfred, his time at West Point and lessons he has learned over the years there, and his conceptual ideas and theories on leadership and team cohesion.
Link to Coach A full bio- https://goarmywestpoint.com/mobile/staff.aspx?staff=187
Favorite Book: Lincoln on Leadership-Donald T. Phillips/The Genius-David Harris/Leading With the Heart-Mike Krzyzewski
Favorite Quote: “Love each other so much that you can be tough on each other.”
On this epsidoe of the The Captains’ Coach Podcast Luke interviews Coach Joe Alberici. Coach Alberici is entering his 14th season as the head coach for the Army West Point Men’s Lacrosse Program. Before becoming the head coach, Coach Alberici was an assistant coach at West Point and Duke University under Mike Pressler. He was a three year Captain at Alfred University and hold six different scoring records for the Saxons. In today’s episode Coach Alberici discusses his experiences as a Captain at Alfred, his time at West Point and lessons he has learned over the years there, and his conceptual ideas and theories on leadership and team cohesion.
Link to Coach A full bio- https://goarmywestpoint.com/mobile/staff.aspx?staff=187
Favorite Book: Lincoln on Leadership-Donald T. Phillips/The Genius-David Harris/Leading With the Heart-Mike Krzyzewski
Favorite Quote: “Love each other so much that you can be tough on each other.”
Today we interview a current active duty officer, Luke Poulos who graduated from West Point and played on the D1 Lacrosse team there. He will be a new co-host for the podcast and brings a lot of insight into leadership in sports and how we can do a better job at systemically building leaders in our organization.
In this episode we break down what it means to play in the moment, and how to differentiate yourself through competitive advantage and process warring.
There are 6 core needs that we all have as humans. Understanding and implementing these can give the athletes on our teams true fulfillment in the program and make sure that we retain all of our talent.
The three-step framework to driving growth and bringing in better talent within your organization
Bruce Tuckman found that there are 5 stages of group development and if you want to reach high performance as a group, you have to go through conflict. Here are some notes on this stage of his theory:
The team captain is a driving force behind team culture so it is important to know what it is and why it's important. This episode aims to do both.
This is the culminating episode for our series on the 6 tenets of leadership as we discuss how important it is to add your own uniqueness and style to the situations that arise under your leadership.
Many captains think that leadership is about being out front, directing and controlling everything. Its important that we change this narrative and spread the work that leadership is all about serving other people.
We choose to lead. Every single day we are making decisions that make us more or less influential. This episode breaks down the philosophical nature of this and brings to our awareness the two types of decision making processes that we are hardwired with.
The third tenet is that self-expression is the essence of leadership. We break down the two major components of self-expression and how you can become the best version of you
In this episode we break down what leadership really is in influence and how we can develop influence within our team.
Today we discuss the first tenet that touches on ownership and the importance of taking the opposite approach to passivity as a team captain
In this Episode we touch on the 6 tenets of leadership that all team captains should be aware of as they will help set you on the path towards being a great team captain.