I decided to become a coach after following the legendary college basketball coach Tara Vanderveer in action for one season. Vanderveer was already a household name by the time I
first entered Maples Pavilion to observe her Stanford University practices, but I confess I didn’t yet know of her greatness at the time.
Once I started watching though, it became very clear to me what made her such a great coach.
First, she knew her stuff. No one watched more film. No one studied the strategy of the game with more intensity.
Second, basketball was more than a game to her – it was a robust language, which she spoke fluently and used to connect with people from all over the world.
It didn’t take long to realize that VanDerveer’s superpower was being able to see what could be, not just for her team and their potential for victories and championships, but for her players’ lives and their futures beyond the court. She knew that the way she trained them to practice would carry over into the way that they practiced life.
She did on occasion focus on where her players were falling short, but the critiques were always pointed, always aimed at helping to create a future – better – version of the player and person.
I decided to call what VanDerveer had — “selfless vision”.
It was a sight to see, and I was fascinated by it.
So, I wrote a book about her and her team called Buying In, with the thesis being that we could all learn about growth and training and true success from a deeper study of their approach to their craft, and about the educational environment that they helped create.
Coach VanDerveer convinced her players to buy in to her basketball training regimen, to the Stanford University athletic program, and to the idea of being a student-athlete, but most of all, she got them to buy in to the belief that hard work would pay off.
So, as I say, I decided at that time that I wanted to one day be a coach myself, although not a sports coach per se. I enjoy every minute of coaching my children’s teams, but I am now on a journey to become a coach who helps people find their greater purpose in life, figure out what they enjoy most, what they do well, and how to get more of that in their lives.
I love coaching because it allows me to help people find clarity and purpose, and then amplify their voices and messages. Ever since I was young, I have been curious about what motivates people to pursue their ultimate purpose in life. I have also been extremely fortunate to have had superb teachers and coaches and to have lived in three foreign countries and see firsthand how different cultures produced different notions of what makes life meaningful. I have had the good fortune to become an anthropologist and, in a postdoc, study with a psychologist, William Damon, who had literally written the book on the path American youth take to achieve their purpose. On top of all of that, I have been fortunate to study at the Coactive Training Institute, where I learned a method of coaching that draws out of people that which they might not otherwise realize they need to draw out, in order to become their highest self, the best versions of themselves. I have used this method now countless times, and I can tell you that it absolutely works. It’s worked for me as a client, it’s worked for me as a coach, and I am eager to show you how it works, too.
If you’re interested, please sign up here for a free 30 min call to learn more.
