Performance Rising

In this deeply engaging interview, Matthew speaks with Rev. Michael Sgro on empathy as a core competency. Matthew and Michael go on to develop a blueprint for an Emotionally Intelligent athletic department--what it is and how to build it. This is a must listen for any Athletic Director, Coach, or player, who wants to make empathy the centerpiece of their program. While centered on athletics, this blueprint is applicable to any organization.

Sports coaching is a demanding profession that requires a high level of expertise and dedication. However, even the most experienced and successful coaches can benefit from working with a coach themselves. Here are a few reasons why coaches need coaches:

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"Communication is the most important thing. The need for communication is the same [post COVID], but we are doing it in different ways. I've had to adapt."

"COVID has challenged all administrators to be very patient and intentional in how they tackle a problem wish such chaos and complexity."

“Often times the things that define culture are the things you see hung on your walls, traditions you uphold, your inherent values that may or may not be written down.”

"This book is not designed to be a quick fix. Coaching is a process of continual learning and growth, and this book has been written to help you along that path. Having knowledge is great, but the magic lies in when, where, and how you use that knowledge."

"People first. That is what culture is to me."

"Culture is the sum of our behaviors."

"I learned some things about these players in these 1-on-1 conversations that I probably wouldn't have learned if we were on campus."

"I believe that every player deserves to feel love, especially now...that's my guiding principle."

"I think what we have to do is immediately look back and say ' ok, these are the facts at hand, here is the situation we have to deal with, and [ask] how can we best deal with the cards we were dealt?'"

". . . [student-athletes] are more worried about [social distancing] than coaches and admins give them credit for."

"Culture is the habits, beliefs, and customs that govern an organization."

"Culture is what happens every day, especially when no on is instructing you, and no one is watching you."

"Culture [can be described as] the dynamics and factors-both named and unnamed-that are influencing the behaviors and choices people make within a particular context."

"You have the culture you want when you know the process is there and you are always building to it. Just know that there never may be a total end result and that you've got to consistently have that buy-in and believe in the process every day."

"Whatever environment you're in or whatever team you're working with, the culture is that family feel . . . I think of culture as being [a family]. We have specific culture and that culture changes course. But it't what you are expecting of the people who you are living with, working with, learning with on a daily business."

"The first step in creating an intentional culture is to let your team know who you are outside of being just their coach."

"[Culture is] how the team acts with each other when no one is watching."

"I think culture should be something that [can be] taken outside of the game."

Matthew interviews Kris Doorey, Head Baseball Coach at SUNY Plattsburgh.

Matthew and Rick talk about the intersections between sport, identity, and culture.

Matt provides insight into how an Athletic Director thinks about, engineers, and develops culture in his/her department.

“Gold Dust: How To Become A More Effective Coach, Quickly” can be purchased on Amazon

Ian joins the podcast to talk about all things sports performance, culture, and Wagner College's response to social distancing.

Katharina was gracious enough to record this interview with me back in the summer. As is often the case, life got away from me and I am only now getting around to posting it. Katharina is an amazing professional and an even better human. I hope you enjoy listening to Kat's perspective on culture & life.

Chris returns to recap how his culture performed during their exceptional season and talk about the impact of COVID.

Sinead returns to talk about how social distancing is impacting her team and what she is doing in response.

Steve addresses Remote Teaming, Remote Recruiting, and Student-Athlete Mental Health.

In this episode, I speak with Dr. Edward Scott, Director of Athletics at Morgan State University. Ed brings a wealth of knowledge from all levels of higher education to this conversation and his insights are incredible. Ed is a true thought leader in the culture creation space and he has done amazing work rebuilding the Morgan State Athletics brand with a focus on G.R.I.T.

In this episode, I speak with Chris Taylor, Head Men's Soccer Coach at Plattsburgh State College. Born in Liverpool, England, Chris speaks about how Liverpool FC, one of the biggest soccer clubs in the world, shaped and was shaped by the culture of the Liverpool community. Coming to the US, Chris talks about the power of psychological safety and how feeling safer as a persona and player allowed him to flourish in his new country. Finally, Chris talks about inheriting a successful program run by a legendary coach, Chris Waterbury, and the pressures that come with finding his authentic voice apart from that of his predecessor.

In this episode, I speak with Dr. John D'Auria about the role culture creation plays in education. John has been a classroom teacher, a guidance counselor, a principal, and a superintendent. Needless to say, when it comes to education he has seen the institution, and the role of culture, from all sides.

In this very special bonus episode, I speak with three Cortland State men's soccer players about how they experience the culture of the team. Coach Steve Axtell explained his view of the team's culture in Episode 1, and here we hear from the player's point of view how that culture lives and is created in the minds of the players.

“You have the culture you want when you know the process is there and you are always building to it. Just know that there never may be a total end result and that you’ve got to consistently have that buy-in and believe in the process every day.”

“Whatever environment you’re in or whatever team you’re working with, the culture is that family feel…I think of culture as being [a family]. We have a specific culture and that culture changes of course. But it’s what you are expecting of the people who you are living with, working with, learning with on a daily basis.” -Jason Seward

In this episode, I speak with Sinead McSharry about how she creates culture.“The first step in creating an intentional culture is to let your team know who you are outside of being just their coach”

Entering his 9th season as Head Women’s Soccer Coach at SUNY Potsdam, Mark Misiak and his players have experienced a steady increase in wins each year. In this conversation, Mark discusses the culture change that has enabled his program to compete with the best in their conference. Quotable:“[Culture is] how the team acts with each other when no one is watching.”“I believe culture and identity are two different things. Our identity is what people see of us. Our culture is what happens between myself and the team. That’s our culture.”

Welcome to the inaugural episode of the Performance Rising podcast! In this Episode I speak with Steve Axtell about how he creates culture. “I think culture is something that [is] daily norms, daily behaviors, daily actions. What are the things that are non-negotiables that the players hold true to? . It’s almost like a series of family values. Culture can change the second one plater leaves or one player enters. Its’ now a different series of interactions and things, but I think you can maintain culture by having the same actions and behaviors; common threads that players know that they’re not going to mess around with. I think culture should be something that they take outside of the game.” *Note: as this is the first episode I ask for your patience as I figure out all the technical details of audio production. The audio can sound different in parts and I am working to sort that out for the second episode.

It all starts here!