In Episode 16, Toriono Davis, Professional Scout in US and Europe, Connector, and Entrepreneur, talks with Phil about the ins and outs of the DISC Model of Human Behavior, how he uses it to connect deeply and quickly with his players and clubs, and help them reach their potential, the power and importance of mentorship, and why you might want to give your recruits a DISC assessment before signing or hiring them. Specifically, Toriono discusses:

• His story, how he developed his passion for soccer and leadership, and how a guy who didn’t even like soccer as a kid ended up working as a professional scout (3:05)
• What the DISC Model of Human Behavior is, why it is important to you and your teams, and how he uses it to help the clubs and players with whom he works to reach their potential (9:46)
• Why and how we need to tailor our approaches to our different team members based on their personalities (17:33)
• How leaders of soccer team/club and all other organizations can use the DISC to maximize their results more efficiently (25:53)
• How the DISC can help players and their parents understand each other better, help families, and help disenfranchised people as well (31:14)
• Whether certain personality types fit certain positions in soccer, other implications of personality assessments in the context of the game, and why coaches and employers may want to give their recruits personality assessments (37:58)
• The importance of understanding a player’s/employee’s motivation, hunger, and passion in your leadership of him or her (52:45)
• The importance of mentorship (which is throughout the interview) and Toriono’s book recommendations (58:08)

Resources and Links from this Episode

• Uncut Video of the Episode –https://youtu.be/a5g9F3k7t5g
• HSEL Facebook Group – https://www.facebook.com/groups/howsoccerexplainsleadership
• Toriono’s LinkedIn Profile -- https://www.linkedin.com/in/fc-omega-disc/
• Toriono’s Website – FC-Omega.com
• Toriono’s Phone Number – 866-234-9864
• Questions about DISC and how you can learn more about it – email Phil at [email protected]
• “The Last Dance” documentary – ESPN+
• Mastering a Slight Edge, by Jeff Olson
• “Ted Lasso” – TV show on AppleTV+

In Episode 15, Michelle Lenard, Head Coach of Dallas Baptist University Women’s Soccer, talks with Phil about how to “steal like an artist,” DBU’s Leadership Council, how her team has used the Enneagram, what the game “Cutthroat” can teach us about leadership, setting and communicating clear expectations, the four H’s, implementing boundaries in our relationships, and servant leadership. Specifically, Michelle discusses:

• Her story, how she developed his passion for soccer, leadership, how she ended up at DBU (1:52)
• How we can “steal like an artist” – that is, some ideas that she has learned from others about coaching, life, and leadership, and how she has modified them for her program (4:35)
• The best leaders she has coached or played with, and what qualities set them apart from the rest (9:43)
• How the Leadership Council on her team develops, empowers, and delegates leadership to captains and other leaders in her program, and how it helps her coaching staff and has taken her program to another level (11:11)
• How she has used personality assessments to help her and her teams understand and work with each other better (16:19)
• The game, “Cutthroat,” how it has helped her develop leadership in her team, and how it translates to other areas of life and leadership (19:55)
• The importance of setting and communicating clear expectations (e.g., job descriptions) in your team members (e.g., coaches, players, employees), and how the 4 H’s have helped her team (24:53)
• How coaching and leadership are all about relationships, and that we simultaneously need to implement appropriate boundaries in those relationships (28:06)
• What she feels is critical for her players to internalize and “become” before they graduate from her program at DBU (30:53)
• How she uses the lessons she has learned through the beautiful game in her marriage, parenting, and other areas of her life, and vice-versa (33:42)
• Michelle’s book recommendations (39:45)

Resources and Links from this Episode

• Uncut Video of the Episode – https://youtu.be/2A5a3pHG7Ts
• HSEL Facebook Group – https://www.facebook.com/groups/howsoccerexplainsleadership
• DBU Women’s Soccer website: https://dbupatriots.com/sports/womens-soccer
• Michelle’s Twitter handle: @MichelleLenard1
• Acton School of Business website: https://www.actonnga.org
• Steal Like an Artist: 10 Things Nobody Told You About Being Creative, by Austin Kleon
• Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World, by Cal Newport
• Mindset: The New Psychology of Success, by Carol Dweck
• Coaching Athletes to Be Their Best: Motivational Interviewing in Sports, by Stephen Rollnick, Jonathan Fader, Jeff Breckon, and Theresa B. Moyers
• God’s Wisdom for Navigating Life: A Year of Daily Devotions in the Book of Proverbs, by Tim Keller
• Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance, by Angela Duckworth

In Episode 14, Don Williams, Head of Operations for the Americas for Sports Recruiting USA and former coach at all levels of soccer, talks with Phil about the #1 tool college coaches use to find recruits, how soccer players can find the “right fit,” the recruiting implications of the small world of college and pro soccer, “punching coaches in the nose” with player emails and videos, and real world lessons kids can learn through the recruiting process. Specifically, Don discusses:

• His story and how he developed his passion for soccer, leadership, and his long journey to SRUSA Soccer (1:31)
• How Don’s work with SRUSA is similar to his work as a coach of soccer teams at all levels (5:19)
• The need for players to have both raw athleticism and passion for the sport to play at the college level and beyond (11:06)
• The importance of soccer players finding the “right fit” and how they can do so (16:00)
• Why creating and knowing your budget is critical in the recruiting process (23:53)
• Selling yourself and not burying the lead in your videos, emails, and other recruiting communications with prospective colleges (and employers) (32:53)
• The importance of “punching someone in the nose” in the recruiting process (37:17)
• How to make videos on a tight budget (40:58)
• Making the kids put in the work with their videos, emails, and other areas of the recruiting process (43:33)
• The small world of college and pro soccer, and how it relates to the world outside the game (44:58)
• The #1 tool that college coaches use to find recruits (49:46)
• What most coaches are looking for when they recruit at tournaments and showcases (55:08)
• Showing the colleges (or employer) that you’ve done your homework on them and that you know why you think it’s the right fit for you (59:44)
• Real world lessons kids can learn during the recruiting process (1:03:50)
• How to grab a coach’s attention in a subject line and email (1:06:56)
• How Don is using lessons learned in soccer in his life outside the game (1:10:22)
• Don’s book recommendations

Resources and Links from this Episode

• Uncut Video of the Episode – https://youtu.be/B12pc9XvRTk
• HSEL Facebook Group – https://www.facebook.com/groups/howsoccerexplainsleadership
• Don’s Twitter handle -- @Don_K_Williams
• SRUSA Website -- https://www.sportsrecruitingusa.com
• How Soccer Explains the World, by Franklin Foer
• Inside Out Coaching, by Joe Ehrmann
• 10% Happier, by Dan Harris
• Inside College Soccer Podcast -- https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/inside-college-soccer/id1480369430

In Episode 13, Lee Baker, Owner of uScore Soccer and Director of Legacy Soccer Club, talks with Phil about overcoming hardships, knowing and sticking to your “why,” setting and pursuing goals, using soccer as a classroom for life and leadership, modeling ethics and integrity, perspective, mentoring, and sacrificial living. Specifically, Lee discusses:

• His story and how he developed his passion for soccer, leadership, and his journey to uScore and Legacy Soccer Club (1:48)
• What Lee has learned about leadership through hardships, and how he has grown through difficult experiences (5:56)
• The importance of mission, vision, and values to create clarity in your organization, goal-setting, and really knowing your “why” (12:35)
• How uScore Soccer and Legacy Soccer Club are doing things differently and teaching his players life and leadership lessons through the game in their practices and “classroom” time (17:02)
• How we can teach and model character, ethics, and integrity, and compete at the highest level in our soccer clubs and organizations (23:22)
• How you can address parents and/or players who don’t agree with your organization’s mission, vision, and/or values (28:07)
• The importance of perspective and learning from the best in class, other cultures, and other disciplines (33:22)
• The benefits of mentoring in our organizations (38:46)
• How Lee uses lessons he has learned from the beautiful game in his marriage, parenting, and other areas of life (40:44)
• A fun conversation about a show that has impacted Lee’s thinking on how soccer explains life and leadership (43:39)

Resources and Links from this Episode

• Uncut Video of the Episode –https://youtu.be/G2hp8-vAA6A
• HSEL Facebook Group – https://www.facebook.com/groups/howsoccerexplainsleadership
• uScore Soccer website -- https://www.uscore-soccer.com
• Legacy Soccer Club website -- https://www.legacysoccer.org
• Ted Lasso (Amazon Prime) -- https://apple.co/3sDe9py

In Episode 12, Phil and our new co-host, Paul Jobson, Head Coach of Baylor Soccer, husband, and father when he’s not co-hosting this show, talk about the highlights in the second half of Season 1, DISC, Enneagram, and other personality tools, self-awareness, playing out of position, servant leadership and the importance of a humble, learning posture. Specifically, our hosts discuss:

• Paul’s excitement to start his newest role (1:23)
• The shaping of culture in an organization (5:23)
• The similarities, differences, and uses of DISC, Enneagram, StrengthsFinder, Myers-Briggs, Berkman, and other personality/human behavior tools (11:40)
• The importance of knowing yourself and your team, and the recruits for your team or organization (18:48)
• Covering for each other when we need to play out of position (24:00)
• Dealing with egotistical or other unhealthy characteristics of players and employees (25:10)
• Characteristics of servant leaders (33:11)
• The importance of a learning posture, discerning which new ideas you should implement into your team, and how to implement those new ideas (37:26)
• Tips from our first season guests that we are working to implement in our lives (45:35)

Resources and Links from this Episode

• Video of the Episode -- https://youtu.be/p7m27fw8cbQ
• The Warrior Way information – jobsonsoccer.com
• Take Us Home: Leeds United (Amazon Prime)
• Legacy: What the All Blacks Can Teach Us About the Business of Life, James Kerr

In Episode 11, Mark Pease, Pastor of Hope Church in Bradford, England, and lifelong supporter of Leeds United, talks with Phil about the leadership lessons that we can all learn from Marco Bielsa, Leeds United’s Manager, as he leads a team, shapes the culture of a club, and impacts an entire city. Specifically, Mark discusses:

• His story and how football, Leeds United, and leadership have always been a big part of his life (2:20)
• The history of Leeds United, and the contrast of Leeds United over the past few decades and the club under the leadership of Marco Bielsa (6:28)
• The importance of humility in leadership and how Bielsa models it (11:55)
• How Bielsa has shown at Leeds that a leader can completely transform an organization (16:11)
• How Bielsa has shaped the culture and identity of Leeds United (and has created a freedom within structure) during his short tenure (20:37)
• How Mark has incorporated what he is learning from Bielsa into his own leadership of various organizations (25:55)
• How to get your team and supporters to buy into your culture, mission, and vision, and how Bielsa has done this at Leeds (32:13)
• The importance of hiring the right people to surround you on your leadership team, and what that looks like at Leeds (39:19)
• Why it is critical for leaders to build trust, how leaders can build the trust of their team members, and the amazing things that happen when that trust is built (43:01)
• How Bielsa inspires his team and club, and what we can learn from his style (46:10)
• The importance of a leader preparing the organization for his or her departure (54:16)
• How great leaders can incorporate the good from their predecessor leader and still make the organization their own (1:01:20)
• How Mark incorporates what he has learned from soccer in his marriage, parenting, and other areas of life (1:03:50)
• What Mark has been reading and watching to help his leadership (1:09:03)

Resources and Links from this Episode

• Video of the Episode --https://youtu.be/Ydo8Az2xF_w
• Hope Church website -- https://myhopechurch.online
• Take Us Home: Leeds United (Amazon Prime)
• The Damned United (film about Brian Clough)

This week we are bringing part two of our exclusive sneak preview of our sister podcast, Coaching Character, launching January 5, which "coaches coaches to coach character." This episode features an interview with Harrison Phillips, Buffalo Bills Defensive Lineman. For more information about Coaching Character, visit the Coaching Character Apple Podcasts page. 

New HSEL episodes will return next week with an interview with a lifelong Leeds United supporter talking about "The Bielsa Way." 

Over the next two weeks surrounding Christmas, we are introducing to you our sister podcast, Coaching Character, which is officially launching on January 5. We expect that fans of HSEL will love Coaching Character because it helps coaches of youth sports (and all other levels) to incorporate leadership and character development principles into their practices and other areas of their coaching. As they say on the show, the podcast "coaches coaches to coach character." For more information about Coaching Character, visit the Coaching Character Apple Podcasts page. 

In Episode 10, Matt Parker, CEO of Teamwork City of Hope, talks with Phil about getting your team on the same page and maximizing performance through clarity, communication, culture, minimizing “noise,” developing leadership from within, and covering for your teammates when they’re “out of position.” Specifically, he discusses:

• His story and how his soccer and leadership have always been a big part of his life (1:17)
• The critical importance of soccer clubs and organizations being on the same page with their mission, vision, and values (3:44)
• The role of leaders in getting the teams on the same page (7:42)
• Developing culture on our teams to cultivate an environment for flourishing (10:04)
• How can leaders get everyone, including the superstars, on the same page (13:21)
• The importance of the leader of an organization and how he or she can be the start of a healthy organization (18:32)
• Things you can do as a coach/leader to be able to minimize the distractions and outside “noise,” and maximize your team performance (22:57)
• Matt’s thoughts on praising in public and criticizing in private (24:07)
• The importance of developing leadership from within your organization and succession planning (28:37)
• The primacy of clarity and communication in an organization (32:27)
• The need to cover for people who “play out of position” from time to time (37:00)
• How he has used the lessons he has learned from soccer in his marriage, parenting, and other areas of life (41:10)
• What Matt has been reading and watching to help his leadership (44:43)

Resources and Links from this Episode

• Video of the Episode -- https://youtu.be/GC1ROO8AxJQ
• The Advantage, by Patrick Lencioni
• Ted Lasso (Apple TV)
• Leading, by Alex Ferguson
• The Challenge Culture: Why the Most Successful Organizations Run on Pushback, by Nigel Travis
• Teamwork City of Hope website -- https://www.teamworkcityofhope.com/
• Matt Parker Think Orphan Episode -- https://thinkorphan.com/2019/03/26/episode-137/

In Episode 9, Graham Roxburgh, Head Coach of Trinity Western University and Executive Director/Founder of TeamUp, talks with Phil about the importance of a humble and learning posture, servant leadership, how he studies himself and his players, dealing with viruses on your team, key cultural and leadership principles from the book, Legacy, and how he uses the lessons he has learned in soccer in his life outside the game. Specifically, he discusses:

• How he went from growing up in England, to college in the US, to coaching at Trinity Western University and leading a non-profit organization in Canada (2:02)
• The work that his organization, TeamUp, is doing around the world to build bridges, cultivate relationships, and help others to flourish (6:36)
• What he has learned from the game of soccer that he has used in his organization (9:58)
• The importance of a learning and humble posture when working with people from other countries and cultures (14:51)
• How studying his own and his players’ personalities and behaviors has helped him in his coaching and organizational leadership, and why it is so important to incorporate similar analysis into your teams (18:10)
• The mentality and culture that he has developed in his program and why it is the core of all he does (29:56)
• Principles from the book, Legacy, which discusses the culture and leadership of the New Zealand All Blacks, and how Trinity Western’s program exemplifies those principles (e.g., “Sweep the Sheds” and “No Viruses”) (39:20)
• How he addresses viruses or potential viruses in his teams and why it is so difficult (50:13)
• The importance of strong leaders protecting the culture of a team (54:36)
• How he lives out the principles from Legacy in his organization (59:43)
• How he uses the lessons he has learned in soccer in his marriage and parenting, and other relationships (1:04:56)
• His book recommendations (1:08:45)

Resources and Links from this Episode

• Video of the Episode -- https://youtu.be/JNFMqGVuB84
• Legacy: What the All Blacks Can Teach Us About the Business of Life, by James Kerr
• Leaders Eat Last: Why Some Teams Pull Together and Others Don't, by Simon Sinek
• The Ideal Team Player: How to Recognize and Cultivate the Three Essential Virtues, by Patrick Lencioni
• The Tangible Kingdom: Creating Incarnational Community, by Hugh Halter
• Uplifting Leadership: How Organizations, Teams, and Communities Raise Performance, by Alan Boyle, Alma Harris, and Andy Hargreaves
• “The Trouble with Winning,” Stanford Social Innovation Review -- https://ssir.org/articles/entry/the_trouble_with_winning
• "Invictus" (movie)
• TeamUp Website – teamup.world
• Trinity Western Women's Soccer Website -- https://gospartans.ca/sports/wsoc/index
• TWU Women's Soccer Facebook --https://www.facebook.com/twuwsoc
• TWU Instagram and Twitter -- @twuwsoc