Greg Cannella: The Ability To Reach People

Welcome to the Great Coaches: Leadership and Life newsletter, filled with your weekly dose of insight and inspiration from across the world of sport.

From a behind-the-scenes look at our latest interview with Lacrosse’s Greg Cannella to a fantastic article covering the impact of coaching on mental health, there’s plenty here to keep you busy while you commute to work (or to inspire great conversations in the board room, locker room, or around the dining room table).

Intensity, Passion, and Leaving a Legacy

Before Greg Cannella became a Great Coach, he was a successful Lacrosse player who received All-American distinction at High School and while studying at Nassau Community College.

After graduating, Greg spent some time working as an Assistant at Stony Brook before taking on his first Head Coach position at his alma mater, the University of Massachusetts, in 1993.

Since then, Greg has gone on to achieve eight NCAA tournament berths, eight New England Championships, four ECAC Championships, and five New England Coach of the Year honours. In 2006 he was named National Coach of the Year in recognition of his achievement guiding the Minutemen to the program’s first NCAA Championship game appearance.

In 2019, Greg was inducted into the USA Lacrosse Hall of Fame.

Greg joined us for our latest podcast, sharing some fantastic insight into his successful coaching career and shining a light on a number of important leadership topics, such as the way that a coach’s response to challenges can impact the emotional state of their team and the importance of knowing when to turn up (or down) the intensity.

Our interview also covered an issue that many leaders, both new and experienced, commonly face: dealing with people who are over-eager to prove themselves. Make sure you take a listen to the full episode to hear Greg share how he tries to positively influence his enthusiastic players without impacting (or taking away) their passion.

Listen Now: Apple | Spotify

Visualising Positivity

Earlier this year, Harvard-educated neurologist Dr Niva Jerath and legendary tennis coach Rick Macci joined us to talk about their latest book, “Billion Dollar Mind”.

Just like the book, our interview with Dr Niva and Rick was one that combined science-backed techniques with personal anecdotes and lived experiences, giving listeners a great insight into the way that a positive, reshaped mindset can help to create (and sustain) success.

In this clip from the podcast, Dr Niva recalls witnessing the positive, open approach that Rick takes to coaching and discusses the way that a similar approach can be applied to other situations, such as her work with patients adjusting to life with impaired movement.

If you enjoyed this clip, then you should take a trip over to our website where you’ll find a wealth of insights taken from interviews with over 200 of the sporting world’s greatest coaches.

In Case You Missed It…

It’s Not Just The Athletes

Despite all of the optimism and excitement, taking part in a huge sporting event such as the Olympics or Paralympics naturally places a lot of stress on an athlete’s shoulders.

However, as this article from The Conversation reminds us, it’s not just the athletes feeling stressed - their coaches are, too.

This article also links to some fantastic research on the experiences of sports coaches, including some resources covering the impact that stress can have on their mental health based on studies and surveys done here in Australia.

A very insightful read that covers some very important topics.

Great Coaches, Your Team

If you are looking for an idea for your next team “Away Day” then let us help.

We have interviewed more than 200 of the world’s great coaches; they are men and women who have won multiple Olympic medals and championships on both national and world stages. We create bespoke presentations for you using video and audio from these interviews to address the challenges your team is facing.

Our material is authentic, inspiring and challenging and can be delivered virtually or live.

If you would like to know more drop us a note to discuss your needs.

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