Tom Maher: 7 Themes Of Success

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.

Many Ways To Win With Tom Maher

When it comes to high-pressure, high-performance coaching, this week’s guest Tom Maher certainly knows his stuff. Having coached at six consecutive Olympic Games with the national teams of Australia, New Zealand, China and Great Britain, Tom has had his fair share of experience immersing himself into unfamiliar teams and helping to guide them to success.

All of this experience has led to him to establish what he calls the ‘7 themes of success’, which he describes to us during our interview:
1. Great physical space
2. Handle adversity
3. Be assertive
4. Relentless persistence
5. A great defensive team
6. Multi-skilled
7. A great ‘we’ team
While some of these themes (particularly number 5) may not seem relevant to those of you in corporate leadership, you may be surprised to discover just how applicable they actually are — make sure to give the episode a listen to learn more about how these themes build towards success.

While on the topic of success, Tom also shares some fantastic insight into the real definition ‘winning’ (and why it isn’t always related to the scoreboard). His career and experiences have taught him that there are many ways to win, and he views this realisation as an important developmental stage.

Finally, I’d like to bring attention to Tom’s thoughts on truth. Truth and honesty are traits that many of our guests stress as vital ingredients in successful team cultures, but Tom brings a slightly different perspective to his leadership: in fact, he urges his players to be careful about the questions they ask, as they may not always like the answers…

Listen Now: Apple | Spotify

This Week’s Guest

Tom Maher is an Australian basketball coach, whose career began with him leading the Nunawading Spectres to 5 championships in the Women’s National Basketball League. From there he has gone on to win titles with Perth, Canberra and Bulleen, making him the most successful coach in the league’s history.

Tom’s other achievements include leading the Australian national team to their very first Olympic medal - a bronze at the 1996 Olympics - and then a silver medal at the following games in 2000. He has also coached the national teams of New Zealand, China and Great Britain, ultimately coaching at 6 consecutive Olympic games.

Tom was the first ever foreign coach in the WNBA, and in 2021 he was inducted into the FIBA Hall of Fame.

On Brutal Honesty

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 Tom Maher shares that he advises his players not to ask questions that they don’t want the answers to. The implication, of course, is that they may not be ready for the brutally honest or frank response they might receive about their performance — but that doesn’t mean that difficult conversations should be avoided or that players shouldn’t receive (or seek) feedback.

As we’ve previously covered in this newsletter, honesty can be a difficult trait for some leaders to master. While some (such as Roy Masters in the clip below) will say that you cant be ‘too honest’, the delivery of feedback and critique ought to be appropriate, considered, and - importantly - constructive. Being too blunt or negative can lead to damaged relationships, confidence issues, and further hinderance to achieving performance success.

If you need to provide ‘brutally honest’ feedback or critique to a team member or athlete, here are some questions to consider before doing so:

1. Am I in the right headspace for this conversation, or am I currently experiencing heightened emotion (anger, frustration, disappointment)?
2. Is there any part of my feedback that could be viewed as a personal attack, or unnecessarily harsh?
3. Is this the right environment for delivering this conversation, or would a more private/quiet/familiar location be more suitable?
4. Is the person I’m speaking to in the right headspace for receiving this feedback? Will they be blindsided, or am I catching them at a time when they may already be experiencing negative self-talk or feelings of inadequacy?

Keeping these questions and points in mind can help difficult conversations to go more smoothly and ensure that you deliver honest feedback in the most constructive and suitable way.

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.

What Would Your Team Say?

To mark the beginning of the British and Irish Lions’ tour of Australia, I wanted to share this fascinating portrait of their coach, Andy Farrell, and his impressive career.

One interesting thing you may notice in this article is how others speak about him — others such as Johnny Sexton, who was Ireland captain under Farrell and now works as part of the Lions’ staff. Sexton speaks very highly of his coach, and appears to have a great grasp and understanding of Farrell’s approach, goals, and mindset.

If someone was to interview one of your team members or athletes, how well would they be able to describe your aims for your team, or the leadership methods that you employ in the pursuit of success?

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