A Coach's Diary

What makes a team successful? Is it talent? Leadership? Chemistry? Richard Hackman’s research suggests that great teams are less about finding a magic formula and more about creating the right conditions for people to succeed together. Hackman identified five conditions that increase the likelihood of team effectiveness: A Real Team — Team members know who is on the team, understand their roles, and depend on one another. A Compelling Direction — Everyone understands where the team is going and why the goal matters. An Enabling Structure — Roles, responsibilities, expectations, and team norms make it easier—not harder—for people to work together. A Supportive Environment — The team has the resources, information, support, and systems necessary to succeed. Expert Coaching — Teams need coaching that helps them solve problems, improve their teamwork, and take advantage of opportunities. The important lesson for coaches and leaders is this: Your job isn't simply to motivate your p...

Do you ever perform worse when the moment matters most? Dr. Sian Beilock’s research helps explain why. We often assume choking happens because an athlete suddenly “loses confidence.” But Beilock’s research suggests something more specific can happen: we can interfere with skills we have already learned automatically. Think about a skilled golfer standing over a short putt. In practice, the stroke happens naturally. Under pressure, however, the athlete may start thinking: Keep your head down. Keep your elbow straight. Don’t miss. This is called explicit monitoring — consciously focusing on the individual steps of a skill that normally runs automatically. Research by Beilock and colleagues found that pressure can disrupt well-learned motor skills when performers begin consciously monitoring their execution. The leadership lesson is powerful: More thinking isn't always better thinking. Coaches should help athletes build skills through repetition, then teach them to trust their prepa...

Susan Wheelan’s Integrated Model of Group Development (IMGD) explains how teams mature over time. The key idea is simple: great teams aren’t created overnight — they develop through predictable stages. Stage 1: Dependency & Inclusion. Team members are figuring out where they fit, what is expected, and who is leading. People often look to the leader for direction and may hesitate to disagree. Stage 2: Counterdependency & Fight. As people become more comfortable, differences emerge. Team members challenge ideas, roles, processes, and sometimes the leader. Conflict isn't necessarily a sign of a bad team — it can be a necessary step toward becoming a better one if managed effectively. Stage 3: Trust & Structure. The team learns how to disagree productively. Trust increases, communication becomes more open, and members clarify roles, responsibilities, goals, and expectations. Stage 4: Work & Productivity. The team is operating at a high level. Members have greater a...

David Goggins is known for pushing himself far beyond what he thought was possible. One idea he often talks about is the 40% Rule : when your mind tells you that you’re done, you may actually have much more left to give. Think about the last time you were running, practicing a sport, studying, or doing something difficult. Your brain might have said, “I can’t do this anymore.” But sometimes, your body still has more to give. The challenge is learning how to recognize the difference between being truly unable to continue and simply feeling uncomfortable. Goggins describes the Governor as the part of your mind that tries to protect you. When something becomes difficult, the Governor sends you signals to slow down, stop, or stay comfortable. It’s not necessarily trying to hurt you — it’s trying to keep you safe. The goal isn't to ignore pain or put yourself in danger. The goal is to learn that discomfort doesn't always mean you should quit . The next time your mind says, “I can...

Most teams spend a lot of time asking, “How can we make this plan succeed?” Dr. Gary Klein suggests asking a different question: “Imagine this plan has failed. What went wrong?” This is the premortem strategy . Before launching a project, making a major decision, or beginning an important initiative, the team imagines that it is several months or years in the future and the project has been a complete failure. Then, instead of defending the plan, everyone identifies the reasons they believe it failed. This approach is powerful because teams often become overly optimistic once they commit to an idea. People may hesitate to point out weaknesses because they don't want to be negative, challenge the leader, or slow things down. A premortem gives people permission to identify potential problems before they become real problems. For leaders, the goal isn't to create fear or convince everyone that the plan will fail. It's to uncover blind spots, risks, assumptions, and unintended...

Dr. Jim Loehr, a performance psychologist who worked with elite athletes, noticed something important: the best performers don’t just manage their time — they manage their energy. His “Corporate Athlete” concept applies the principles of athletic training to leadership and everyday life. Think about an athlete. They don’t sprint for three hours straight — they work hard, recover, and then go again. Loehr argues that high performers need the same rhythm: stress and recovery, effort and renewal. Constantly pushing without recovering eventually drains your physical, emotional, and mental energy. Loehr describes energy in four dimensions: physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual. Physical energy comes from things like sleep, nutrition, exercise, and hydration. Emotional energy comes from resilience and how we respond to pressure. Mental energy comes from focus. Spiritual energy comes from purpose—knowing what matters and where you want to invest yourself. The lesson is simple: You can...

Malcolm Gladwell popularized the idea that it takes roughly 10,000 hours of deliberate practice to reach an extraordinary level of performance. The bigger lesson, however, isn’t simply “work harder.” It’s that mastery requires intentional practice, opportunity, and the right environment. Think about two athletes with equal talent. One has access to great coaching, quality facilities, supportive teammates, and countless opportunities to compete. The other has talent but limited resources and fewer opportunities. Their outcomes may be very different — not necessarily because one worked harder, but because context matters. Gladwell’s work reminds us that success is rarely just about individual ability. Our development is shaped by the people around us, the opportunities we receive, the environment we're placed in, and the habits we build. But there’s an important distinction: 10,000 hours is not a magic number. Simply repeating something for thousands of hours doesn’t guarantee exc...

Great teams don’t become great overnight. They develop through stages, and understanding those stages can help leaders know what their team needs at each point. Psychologist Bruce Tuckman described four key stages of team development: forming, storming, norming, and performing. Forming is when a team first comes together. People are learning about one another, figuring out expectations, and looking to the leader for direction. The leader’s job is to provide clarity and create a strong foundation. Storming is when differences begin to surface. People challenge ideas, roles, and sometimes each other. Conflict can feel uncomfortable, but healthy disagreement is often necessary for a team to grow. Leaders should help the team navigate conflict rather than avoid it. Norming occurs when the team begins developing shared expectations, trust, and accountability. People understand their roles and begin taking greater ownership. Finally, performing is when the team operates with trust, clari...

In the season 2 episode 5 of Lioness , there’s a line that says roughly 5% of people are saints, 5% are evil, and the other 90% are sheep who follow whoever has the upper hand. Whether those numbers are literally true isn’t the point. The leadership lesson is. Most people are influenced by their environment. Think about your team. There are athletes who will work hard no matter what. There may also be athletes who resist doing the right thing no matter who is coaching them. But most athletes are watching. They’re asking: What matters here? What gets rewarded? Who gets respected? What behavior gives me status? That is where coaching becomes leadership. Every team has an upper hand. Sometimes it belongs to the coach. Sometimes it belongs to the best player. Sometimes it belongs to the loudest voice, the negative attitude, or the fear of failure. Your job as a coach is to decide what gets the upper hand. If preparation has the upper hand, athletes prepare. If accountability has the upper ...

We talk a lot about physical recovery in sports: stretching, hydration, nutrition, and sleep. But resting your body doesn't always mean your mind is resting. Researcher Yannick Balk has studied how athletes recover from the physical, mental, and emotional demands of sport. One of his key takeaways is that athletes need opportunities to detach from sport . That means more than leaving practice. It means giving your mind a break from thinking about the last mistake, worrying about the next game, replaying what happened, or constantly thinking about how to get better. Balk's research found that mental detachment is associated with better recovery and greater mental energy. His work also suggests that recovery should match the demand. If you are physically exhausted, physical rest matters. If you are mentally overloaded, you may need activities that reduce thinking and mental effort. If you are emotionally frustrated, you may need something that helps you release those emotions. So...

What do you do when something isn't working? Most of us immediately ask, “How can we fix it?” Chris Argyris believed there is a deeper question we should sometimes ask: “Are we solving the right problem?” Argyris called this double-loop learning . Single-loop learning focuses on correcting an action while keeping the same goal or assumptions. Double-loop learning goes one step further—it questions the assumptions, beliefs, strategies, or goals that created the problem in the first place. Think about an athlete who keeps missing free throws. Single-loop learning might mean practicing more free throws. Double-loop learning asks: Why am I missing? Am I rushing? Is my routine inconsistent? Am I focusing on the outcome instead of the process? Is the way I'm practicing actually preparing me for pressure? The same principle applies to teams. A team that loses might ask, “What should we do differently next game?” A learning team also asks, “What assumptions did we have about our prep...

What makes someone clutch? We often describe clutch athletes as if they were born with something other athletes don't have—the ability to become better when the pressure is highest. But the psychology of clutch performance suggests something more useful: clutch performance is a state an athlete can learn to enter. Keith Henschen's work in sport psychology emphasizes the mental side of performing when the stakes are high. Clutch performers don't necessarily feel less pressure. Instead, they are able to manage their attention, trust their preparation, and stay focused on the task in front of them. Research on clutch states has identified characteristics such as deliberate concentration, intense effort, heightened awareness, and a sense of control. Think about a basketball player shooting a free throw with two seconds left. A non-clutch mindset thinks, “Don't miss.” A clutch mindset thinks, “Same shot. Same routine.” That's the difference. You don't become clutch...

Drama is a fire, and coaches and leaders add oxygen to the fire every time they react to it emotionally. Business leader and consultant Mark Murphy says these four words can put out the fire and put you in problem-solving mode: Just the facts, please. These four words — or your own variation of them — can help you bring everything back to what you directly see, hear, or receive instead of the stories that we make up about it. Drama needs an audience — it isn’t a solo act. It’s a performance. If you take away the reaction, the fire has nothing to burn with or on.  Instead of fueling the fire by reacting, learn to respond strategically and intentionally. Start with yourself. Ask yourself, “What are the facts? What’s real, and what is not?” Then, find a way to say it to the room. We are wired to react emotionally, and the drama counts on this to live, breathe, and grow. Don’t. Here is the 4-step protocol I use to slow myself down: 1 - What happened — facts only? I start by asking mys...

Ever notice how you sit when you're stressed? Probably hunched over, protecting your core, making yourself small. Social psychologist Amy Cuddy proved that our body language doesn't just reflect our mindset — it shapes it. In her groundbreaking research on Presence , Cuddy revealed that expansion equals power — when we take up space, our biology changes. Standing in a "Power Pose" with our hands on our hips, feet wide, chest out — for just two minutes before a stressful event can optimize your brain chemistry: Testosterone (the dominance hormone) goes up. Cortisol (the stress hormone) goes down. This simple biohack tricks your brain into feeling genuinely confident, allowing you to bring your truest, most authentic self to high-pressure moments like interviews, presentations, or tough conversations. But Cuddy’s ultimate takeaway isn't about tricking others; it's about convincing yourself. Don't just fake it until you make it. Fake it until you become it...

We often think great teamwork is built on chemistry, communication, or shared goals. But organizational psychologist Tasha Eurich discovered a deeper, hidden foundation: self-awareness . According to Eurich’s research, while 95% of people think they are self-aware, only about 10% to 15% actually are. When a team lacks this trait, project success rates cut in half, stress skyrockets, and collaboration plummets. Eurich breaks self-awareness into two critical types: Internal Self-Awareness: Understanding your own values, passions, and reactions. External Self-Awareness: Understanding how other people see you. Great teams require both. If team members only have internal awareness, they remain blind to how their communication style impacts others. If they only have external awareness, they become people-pleasers who sacrifice their true potential to fit in. The breakthrough happens when teams build a "collective self-awareness" culture.  This means swapping defensive reaction...