Credibility is crucial for coaches—so, how can coaches make sure they are walking it like they talk it? Longtime S&C Coach, speaker, and author Missy Mitchell-McBeth joins Episode #7 of the podcast to talk about ways to narrow down core values…and more importantly, promote values that you can model and execute.

Coach Mitchell-McBeth discusses how consistency and transparency are her foundational principles, which then support countless other important qualities: hard work, integrity, honesty, and more. With an extensive professional background to pull from, she explains how she learned from her mistakes as a young high school coach, how expertise and deep knowledge can be sources of credibility in place of surface factors, and how she emphasizes the concept of “embracing discomfort” as a key part of the growth and development process. For Mitchell-McBeth, that growth process has taken her from the D1 coaching ranks to now balancing a professional day job and her own entrepreneurial career, all while still training competitive club volleyball athletes.

Those values of consistency of transparency also come into play as Coach Mitchell-McBeth discusses some of the routine professional challenges facing entrepreneurial coaches: managing their content on social media platforms, setting professional boundaries for when to say yes and when to say no, and recognizing how to draw the line between answering questions for an inquisitive younger coach or peer and when that time/expertise needs to be invoiced as a paid professional consult.

Chapter List

00:00 Introduction to Coach Missy Mitchell-McBeth

01:42 Intrinsic Motivation in Coaching

04:11 Modeling Values as a Coach

10:28 Balancing Professional and Personal Life

15:55 Getting Comfortable with Discomfort

20:52 Setting Boundaries as a Coach

33:13 Effective Communication for Coaches

Erik Becker, Head Football Coach and Sports Nutrition teacher at his alma mater, Daniel Hand High School in Madison Connecticut, joins Episode 6 to reflect on 25 years in the coaching field and how he views his “why” as a mission to develop capable, positive, healthy, and well-rounded young men.

Coach Becker quotes John Dewey in believing that the role of schools are to equip and prepare students to participate in a democracy, and he sees athletics and sports as a crucial vehicle in that effort. Speaking from the heart, Becker discusses how his job involves teaching athletes to bravely face risk, to be willing to grow at the edge of their comfort zones, and to rise to the demands of being leaders on and off the field.

Becker also emphasizes the importance of embracing those same values in the social and political sphere. He shares his faith in the noble ideas America aspires to, believing in Ronald Reagan’s ideal of the shining city on the hill and the words on the Statue of Liberty, “give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.” And in striving for the ideals of a “more perfect union,” he expresses that we as a nation must never lose touch with our better angels.

Chapter List

00:00 Introduction to Coaching Philosophy

01:41 The Importance of having a 'Why' in Coaching

04:11 Education and Democracy: A Coach's Role

07:05 Risk and Bravery in Sports

12:10 Modeling Leadership and Accountability

15:48 Patriotism and Shared Values in Coaching

In team environments, we consistently teach our athletes they need to be willing to be THE ONE: whether it’s winning a 50-50 challenge, coming through with a clutch hit, or stepping up to take a charge, effective players bypass the “maybe someone else will do it” instinct.

In Episode 5 of the Truth In The Arena podcast, Coach Ken Vick discusses the need for coaches to be willing to step up and be the ones to offer leadership beyond the team setting and to enforce norms of acceptable behavior at the community-state-national levels. We bring up the widely-accepted coaching truism, “your team culture is set by the worst behavior you are willing to tolerate” and expand that to broader applications where our social and political cultures are set by the most toxic, corrupt, or divisive behaviors that WE are willing to tolerate.

In addition, we cover the need to have a foundation of “first principles” to guide important decision-making and the dangers of black/white absolutist thinking, whether in terms of online debates over exercises and methods or in arguments on hot-button culture war issues. Those first principles are also crucial for the notion of America as a meritocracy, as the country’s prominence as a “land of opportunity” is based on guiding principles of hard work, know-how, courage, expertise, honesty, and ability being the tools to open doors to those opportunities. Coach Vick also emphasizes the importance of curiosity, a willingness to learn from failure, and resilience—these qualities are crucial for growth and progress in any environment. Finally, Vick advocates for a non-partisan version of patriotism that is based on the respect for shared values that fellow citizens are willing to stand up and fight to protect.

CHAPTER LIST

00:00 Introduction to Coaching Philosophy

03:51 The Role of Sport in Personal Development

08:47 Leadership and Values in Sports and Society

12:47 Navigating Absolutism in Coaching and Life

16:50 The Importance of First Principles

20:55 Patriotism and Meritocracy in Coaching

24:55 Engaging in Political and Social Issues

“What if I don’t speak up? What’s going to happen?”