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Barry Dancer
Motivated by a Sense of Belonging
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Our Great Coach this week is Barry Dancer, former Australian field hockey player and coach of the Australian men’s national field hockey team.
Between 1973 and 1979 Barry competed for Australia in 48 international matches, taking the silver medal at the 1976 Summer Olympics as a member of the men’s hockey team.
Barry began coaching towards the end of his playing career, and in 1997 took a coaching position with the English men’s hockey team. Three years later he took the Great Britain team to the 2000 Summer Olympics, where they finished in sixth position.
In 2001 Barry was appointed as the Head Coach of the Australian men’s team, leading them to 2 golds at the Commonwealth Games, 2 Champions Trophies, an Olympic gold in 2004 and a bronze medal in 2008.
Barry is a coach with a deep well of wisdom, earned through many years of successes and failures. He shared several of his experiences and some well-considered leadership insights during our interview, including:
The way he challenges himself each day using specific questions, such as “what have I done today to improve the way that I or my people do things”?
The lessons he has learned about managing workload and obsession, and the importance of finding a balance that allows you to maintain your energy.
His thought on the idea of ‘belonging', and how he uses it to remind people of the privilege of being a part of something that has both a long history and a bright future.
This was a really fantastic interview, and the way that Barry approaches turning the pressure of legacy into a source of motivation will no doubt resonate with a few of you who are facing great expectations based on your team’s past successes.
Managing Your Inner Critic
Brendan Joyce is the kind of person that makes you feel very comfortable very quickly, which no doubt has contributed to the great success he has experienced as both an elite player and coach in the world of basketball.
Another thing to know about Brendan is that he’s not afraid of being vulnerable. In this clip from our interview, he shares how he has learned to better manage his own inner critic and how he uses this knowledge to help the people that he coaches.
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Mindset Is Your Superpower
For Wednesday’s podcast we were joined by Allistair McCaw to discuss his new book, “Mindset Is Your Superpower”.
Frequent listeners of the Great Coaches podcast will be familiar with Allistair. A best-selling author and speaker, Allistair’s podcast ranks in the top 1% of the world and he has spent the last 25 years consulting and working with a number of big names and organisations, including fortune 500 companies, NCAA colleges, and professional sports teams.
This was a really engaging discussion on a fantastic topic - make sure to take a listen, and check out Allistair’s new book when you get a chance.
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