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The Great Coach: Leigh Nugent
Coach in the Present
The best leaders know when to stop talking about the outcome and start focusing on what they can control.
Across a lifetime in elite swimming, Leigh Nugent has coached athletes, led national teams and helped shape generations of Australian coaches.
His message is simple: keep learning, work together, communicate clearly and focus on the person and the process in front of you.
3 TAKEAWAYS
1. Don’t Lead From the Result
Before a major competition, it is tempting to make medals the centre of every conversation. Leigh believes that is a mistake.
The targets may already be set. Once the team comes together, the focus needs to shift to preparation, execution and removing barriers to performance.
You cannot control what another competitor will do. You can control how well you prepare.
Great leaders keep people connected to the process when pressure pulls their attention towards the outcome.
2. Collaboration Can Become a Competitive Advantage
Swimming coaches spend most of the year competing against each other. Then they join the Australian team and are expected to support each other.
Leigh has watched that transition become one of the strengths of Australian swimming.
Coaches share information, support athletes who may belong to another coach, celebrate one another’s success and share the disappointment when things do not go to plan.
The shift happens when individual agendas give way to a shared purpose.
3. You Will Rarely Feel Completely Ready
Early in his career, Don Talbot gave Leigh leadership opportunities. His reaction was often: I’m not ready for this.
Looking back, Leigh sees that discomfort differently. Growth often requires accepting an opportunity before you feel completely prepared for it.
Sometimes you discover what you can do only after accepting a responsibility you are not sure you can handle.
3 QUESTIONS TO TAKE WITH YOU
1. What outcome are you focusing on so heavily that it is distracting you from the process?
2. Where could greater cooperation turn a group of talented individuals into a stronger team?
3. What opportunity are you hesitating over because you do not feel ready yet?
ONE THOUGHT TO LEAVE YOU WITH
“Plan for the future, but be in the present.”
For a coach, that means recognising that every person in front of you has the capacity to improve. Your job is to help them discover how.
ALSO WORTH YOUR TIME
We have interviewed >250 Great Coaches and here are 6 keys ways they reframe the mindset of the people they are leading.
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