Kathy Delaney-Smith: Get Your Head Out Of Your Ass

Welcome to the Great Coaches: Leadership & Life newsletter.

Every month, we share new podcast episodes featuring interviews with Great Coaches from across the world of sports. Our interviews delve deep into the careers and leadership of our guests, seeking new insights to help us all lead our teams, communities and families better.

We also frequently share additional content and insight from our interviews across our social media platforms, including LinkedIn, Youtube, and TikTok. You can learn more about The Great Coaches, follow our channels and explore our website from our new Linktree page.

On Grit And Wit With Kathy Delaney-Smith

Frequent listeners of our podcast may remember that Kathy Delaney-Smith has joined us before, back in 2022. They’ll also remember how terrific that interview was; the winningest coach in the history of all Ivy League sport is like a walking oracle of leadership and coaching wisdom.

Now, thankfully, Kathy is sharing that wisdom in a book that we can all read and learn from. Co-authored with one of her players, Laura Barnard (now a sought-after leadership consultant), the book is called Grit and Wit: Empowering Lives and Leaders — a title that reflects the grit it took to coach for 51 years, and the thick-skin required for what is ultimately a highly-rewarding career.

For this week’s podcast episode, Kathy joined us to talk in detail about some of the insights and ideas that you'‘ll find in the book. She shares her mantra - “perfect is boring” - and tells us how hard she had to work with her Harvard players in order to get them to understand and embrace the idea, reframing mistakes to see them as learning opportunities.

She also talks about how aging has taught her to be less judgemental, and to accept that - if you are willing to be open to it - there will often be more than one way to achieve goals or get work done.

Finally, let me leave you with one last highlight I took from our conversation: Kathy’s steadfast view that leadership can never just come from one place; rather, you must have an array of leaders at any one time who share in your energy, passion, and priorities. Does your team, department, or organisation consist of those leaders?

Listen Now: Apple | Spotify

Read It For Yourself

This Week’s Guest

When American basketball coach Kathy Delaney-Smith retired, she did so after four decades leading the Harvard women’s basketball team and with the astounding achievement of being the winningest coach of any Ivy League sport in history.

Kathy’s tenure with Harvard saw her lead the team to over 600 career wins, 11 Ivy League championships, and 6 NCAA tournament berths. Between the years of 1986 and 2011, all but one senior class had won at least one conference championship.

Outside of basketball, Kathy has also received numerous awards and recognition for her services to the community and for the cause of improving gender equality.

On Triggered Emotions

In each issue of the Great Coaches newsletter we share a different short lesson on leadership, inspired by the insights and ideas shared by our podcast guests.

In this week’s podcast episode, Great Coach Kathy Delaney-Smith speaks about her new book and the grit, determination, and thick-skin that it took for her to achieve such a long and successful career in coaching.

No matter how you view it, facing public scrutiny is an unavoidable part of leadership (or simply achieving success, in general). At some point in your career, you will face critique (both deserved and underserved), doubt in your abilities, and potentially even attacks on your character or caliber. Sometimes these comments will come from people who have influence over your career; other times they’ll come from unrelated parties or even competitors. Regardless, in the face of such critique it’s not uncommon to start questioning your own suitability for your position, to feel disheartened, or to experience imposter syndrome.

Developing a ‘thick-skin’ isn’t always easy; some people are born with it, others have to really work on it. With that said, there are steps you can take and practices that you can employ to help you handle difficult moments. In the clip below, performance and mindset coach Mark Zimmerman speaks on not giving others ‘permission’ to trigger your emotions — a great little reflection taken from the presentations and seminars he gives to organisations and leaders.

If you’re looking to further develop your own leadership skills and ability, then make sure to head over to our website. For an annual cost of just $4.50 USD, Great Coaches members can access more than 1,800 clips, 30 special lessons, and more great content designed to help them become better, more effective leaders.

Behind The Scenes At The “Harvard” Of Coaching

For football (soccer) coaches hoping to coach at the highest, most elite level, there is no qualification more important or valuable than the UEFA Pro Licence.

This great article (and accompanying podcast) follows the Football Association of Wales’ 2025 cohort as they tackle the training required for their licence, delving into some of the more surprising elements of the course. Take, for example, the three days of sleep-deprivation candidates must push through during a trip with the army: a rather intensive lesson in how external factors impact decision-making.

A very insightful look behind the scenes at a truly in-depth leadership experience.

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