Sports Business Leadership with Zach Maurides, CEO and Founder TEAMWORKS - a podcast by Brian Clapp - Work in Sports

Hey everybody, I am Brian Clapp, VP of Content and Engaged Learning at WorkInSports.com and this is the Work in Sports podcast... 







In the sports world we are all accustomed to being led by a coach. From early tee-ball or youth soccer to more intense high school competitions or club teams and then for some of us college – we are all accustomed to the coach archetype. 







As I say that, your first thoughts may go to a vision of a stern-faced sideline warrior, fussing and cussing at their horde of athletes. This is the common perception. Bob Knight. Lou Piniella. Mike Ditka. Bear Bryant. 







Notice something in that list – they are all bygones.  







Think for a second about the most important coaches of our era – Nick Saban, Bill Belichick, Gregg Popovich, Joe Maddon, Cheryl Reeve -- they are not the fire and brimstone types, sure they get upset and have human emotions, but they are teachers and leaders first.  







Today’s successful coaches are quite different than traditional bosses you may see in the workplace. This is one place where sports are ahead of other industries. 















 Traditional workplace bosses master a particular skill, then up level to controlling others who are utilizing the skill. For example, a great salesperson will eventually be promoted to Sales manager. A wonderful software engineer gets promoted to managing other programmers.  







But successfully completing tasks, as they did as an individual contributor themselves, is different than leading. Which is why many traditional bosses can tend to be transactional vs. Transformational. 







In business your boss may want you to give orders, a list of transactional items to complete, to work harder, to dedicate more time and effort.  







Successful coaches on the other hand, teach the craft, empower, show how to work smarter not harder, focus on technique and approach to benefit the performance, and lean heavily on the broader team mission of success.  







Coaches teach. Bosses tell. 







The Atlantic Magazine highlighted the extrovert bias in corporate culture, concluding that aggressive outspoken business leaders are more highly compensated and promoted.  







But the science is quite clear on this – empowering your direct reports, in sports or in business, is motivating, builds confidence and enhances performance.  







Authoritarian demands, being aggressive and loud, may garner attention, but they don’t work. These techniques don’t develop cooperative and competitive teams.  







I lean towards Gregg Popovich’s view on this.  







“Competitive character people don’t want to be manipulated. That is what the leader that hoots and hollers is doing – manipulating, not coaching. Empowering athletes provides a psychological boost and a mental edge at the most important moments.” 







When today’s guest Zach Maurides was playing college ball at Duke as a 6’6” 290 lbs. Offensive Lineman he played for four offensive coordinators, three position coaches and two head coaches. 







He was exposed to different leaders and leadership styles, and from that,

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