The Great Coaches: Mike Dunlap

Mike Dunlap: Vulnerability Wins The Room

Our Great Coach in this week’s episode is Mike Dunlap, a basketball coach who has led teams in US colleges, the NBA, and Australia. He was also an Assistant with the Milwaukee Bucks when they defeated the Phoenix Suns to win their first NBA Championship in 2021.

Mike has been on our podcast a few times since our first interview in 2022, including episodes on building team cultures and leadership. In that time, Mike has shared some of his poetry with me, and recently we spent some time together discussing the coaching and leadership themes that run through his work.

This week’s interview is a very personal one, with Mike sharing some of the deeper stories from his life. As you listen, you’ll hear him speak on:

• Coaching as a relationship-centred act of service, helping young people build belief, self-esteem and purpose beyond wins and losses.

• The need to balance competition with joy, recognising “good” as a meaningful gateway to greatness rather than dismissing anything short of perfection.

• The practical teaching habits that build team connection, including journalling, simple plans, high-fives, physical encouragement, vulnerability and celebrating small moments of progress.

I hope you’ll find this episode and interview as fascinating and insightful as I did.

Listen Now: Apple | Spotify

Some key questions raised from today’s episode:

• Where am I currently measuring success too narrowly by outcomes, and what “victory beyond the scoreboard” might I be overlooking?

• How well do I balance high standards with joy, and do I pause long enough to recognise the “good” that may be the gateway to great?

• What does my inner voice sound like under pressure, and what practices help me to quiet the chatter, allowing me to respond with awareness, rather than reacting automatically?

Find all of our past interviews with some of sport’s most successful coaches and leaders on our website.

Exploring Learning Methods

In this section of our newsletter, we like to bring attention to the topics and areas of leadership and coaching that can pose the biggest challenges and problems, and to share a small lesson or interview clip that can help you to assess your own approach to them.

This week we’re looking at how coaches and leaders can learn and develop in order to stay ahead of their competition. In this video, Great Coaches host Paul Barnett explores the insights shared by more than 200 elite, world-class coaches who have secured Olympic gold medals and international championships. He then delves into what can be learned and taken from these insights, and how they can apply both in business and sports.

You can find the video here on our Youtube channel, alongside many other lessons, interviews, and insights designed to be shared and used by leaders and teams.

We combine videos of the Great Coaches that we have interviewed with our experience as corporate and sporting leaders in order to bring insight, energy, and ideas to your teams.

The Legacies We Leave

Something that we often ask our Great Coaches guests is what legacy they would like to leave on their sport, the people they’ve worked with, and the world at large.

This article from the BBC looks at the topic of legacies and the interesting research that shows that considering the legacies we leave behind can actually boost our current mental health and life fulfilment levels.

An interesting read for the weekend that prompts us all to wonder — what legacy would we like to leave behind?

Challenge Yourself with the Macquarie MBA

This newsletter is brought to you by Macquarie University Business School’s MBA program. Designed to empower, challenge and transform, the Macquarie MBA gives you the business skills and knowledge you need to succeed in an evolving global economy.

The program bridges the gap between theory and real-world application, bringing together world-leading professors, executives and industry partners to teach you how business can be used for good.

I have started working with the team at Macquarie on some projects and can attest to the quality of the people and material. To find out more, search for Macquarie University Business School’s MBA.

Find out more: https://www.mq.edu.au/macquarie-business-school/

Elevated Leadership

If you’re looking to improve your own leadership skills, get in touch with us at elevatedleadership.com.au 

Our team of executive coaches — including The Great Coaches host, Paul Barnett — bring a wealth of experience as international CEOs who have faced the challenge of stepping forward in uncertain moments.