The Creativity, Education, and Leadership Podcast with Ben Guest

We’re not going to practice, we’re going to play…

Chris Sullivan (@CoachSullyDU) is the head coach of men’s basketball at Denison University (@DenisonHoops). Chris played at Wittenberg University (@WittAthletics) and was named a D3hoops (@d3hoops) All-American in 2011.

In this conversation Chris and I talk:

-How Chris became an assistant coach while in his senior year of college

-How Chris starts practice (“We stole this from Bob Mckillop at Davidson (@DavidsonMBB)”)

-The details he emphasizes inbounding the ball

-How you land indicates if your shot was on-balance

-Letting the players come up with the team’s core values

-How coaching is like being in the crow’s nest of a battleship

-The process of hiring an assistant coach

-How they film and stat EVERYTHING

-Feedback should center relationships first

-How traditional coaching is centered in obedience

-How his college coach never stood during games

-I try to be cognizant of how often I’m stopping practice… Find your voice and find the right amount of it.

-Sending all five guys to the offensive glass!

-How the globalization of basketball speeds innovation

-Talking to players about playing time

Podcast Links: Apple/Spotify

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit benbo.substack.com

Coaches mistake motivation for control.

Greg Sullivan (@GSSphd) is the Director of the Mizzou Positive Coaching and Athletic Leadership Program (@CoachingMizzou). In today’s conversation we talk:

-Coaches are more caught than taught.

-How do we bridge the gap between theory and practice?

-Athletes (and everyone) need three things in place to have their psychological needs met:

* Autonomy

* Improvement

* Belonging

-Love is a verb.

-Coaches should write their own eulogies: What do you want your players to say about you?

-The way you practice is the way you play and the way you play is the way you live…

-There are certain things you can control and certain things you can’t. Coach during practice and then trust your players.

Podcast Links: Apple/Spotify

If you are interested in these topics you will likely enjoy my book Zen and the Art of Coaching Basketball: Memoir of a Namibian Odyssey.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit benbo.substack.com

Podcast Links: Apple/Spotify

Greg Graber (@GregGraber) is a mindfulness coach who has worked with a number of world-class athletes, coaches, and teams, including Josh Pastner (@GTJoshPastner) and the men’s basketball team at Georgia Tech (@GTMBB) and Shaka Smart (@CoachShakaSmart) and the men’s basketball team at Marquette University (@MarquetteMBB).

Greg is the author of Slow Your Roll: Mindfulness for Fast Times.

In this conversation, Greg and I talk:

-The first question coaches ask about mindfulness: Is it going to improve the team’s free throw performance?

-How not allowing kids to be bored kills creativity.

-“Coaches bring me in to work with players. Inevitably, I end up working with them.”

-A deep-dive into our love for the show Ted Lasso (with a s/o to @nerdnumbers).

-“All of us have been Nate.”

-Tips for being mindful on social media.

-“Don’t worry if most people can’t stand you, most people can’t stand themselves.”

-“Meditation is the ultimate portable device.”

-“I’m going to teach you to be the observer of your thoughts.”

-The great quote from Viktor Frankl: Between stimulus and response there is space. That space is where freedom lies.

-“Young people are more receptive to tools like mindfulness.”

-How will Ted Lasso end? Where is Coach Beard’s relationship with Jane going?

-Greg’s process when meeting with a team.

-“NBA scouts are looking for the athletic role-player.”

-“We have collective trauma from the pandemic.”

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit benbo.substack.com

Podcast Links: Apple/Spotify

The more real it is to you, the more real it will be to other people…

Alyssa McGillvery is an actor and stand-up comedian. We met in an improv class through Squirrel Comedy Theater (@TheSquirrelNYC).

In this conversation, Alyssa and I talk all things improv, including:

-How character starts with breath and then feeling and then posture.

-Object work (What color is the tablecloth?)

-How working with a scene partner is like playing hot potato.

-The cult of UCB and how Squirrel rose from the ashes of UCB. BTW, Squirrel just celebrated their one-year anniversary. If you’re in NYC and interested in improv, Squirrel is a great place to take classes.

-And then Alyssa and I improv two scenes :-)

-Shoutout to the Jedi-level improv group Raaaatscraps (@RAAAATSCRAPS), who currently perform every Sunday evening at Caveat (@caveatnyc), led by Shannon O’Neil (@spotastic), who shares unintentionally hilarious texts from her mother after each show and Connor Ratliff (@connorratliff), whose support work in improv scenes Alyssa and I touch on and is an inspiration. And check out Season Three of Connor’s fantastic podcast, Dead Eyes (@DeadEyespodcast) where Connor “sets out to solve the mystery of why Tom Hanks fired him from a small speaking role in Band Of Brothers.”

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit benbo.substack.com

Podcast Links: Apple/Spotify

For today’s podcast I have three short-ish conversations.

The first is with Pam Borton (@borton_pam). Pam was the head coach for the women’s basketball team at the University of Minnesota, where, in 2004, she led the team to the Final Four. Pam now leads the On Point Next Level Leadership Group and is the author of two books, On Point: A Coach's Game Plan for Life, Leadership, and Performing with Grace Under Fire and The Crooked Rim: Master Your Mindset to Strengthen Your Resilience for Limitless Personal and Professional Excellence. In our conversation Pam and I talk leadership, coaching, and writing.

The second conversation is with Brian Mackay (@bmac1435). Brian is the Emmy nominated producer of the Nothing But Net podcast (@NBNwithDA) with Debbie Antonelli (@debbieantonelli). Brian and I talk Mississippi basketball, coaching, and best practices for a successful podcast.

The third conversation is with Linda Dunn (@dunn4authors). Linda helps authors with their social media presence and we do a deep-dive into using Twitter.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit benbo.substack.com

Podcast Links: Apple/Spotify

We’re all so quick to try to get the heart of something. Just listen…

Michael Arkush is the co-writer of Scottie Pippen’s autobiography Unguarded.

In this conversation we talk process and then Pippen’s amazing story of perseverance.

Process:

-Keys to establishing rapport.

-I often catch much more in the transcription than in the interview.

-Working with an editor.

-Identifying theme in non-fiction book.

-Working with a proof copy.

-Every paragraph has a purpose.

Pippen:

-Perseverance

-One decision.

-Teamwork. Pippen is the youngest of twelve and a basketball team is twelve people.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit benbo.substack.com

Podcast Links: Apple/Spotify

I wrote this book four times… This is my shot.

Kent Babb has written what I think is the best book of the year, Across the River: Life, Death, and Football in an American City. It sounds like vegetables, and the book examines the weightiest issues in America, but reading it is all dessert as Kent is a master storyteller.

In this conversation, Kent and I discuss:

-“You have to find your Alfred.”

-“If you’re going to tell this story, you have to tell it straight up.”

-“I owed them an honest accounting.”

-“You look like the people who locked me up.”

-First draft is a s**t draft. Second draft is the biggest leap. Third draft is micro-surgery.

-Word choice, or what Kent calls, “Writing Nerd Prom.”

-The difference between accuracy and precision. Accuracy is hitting the target. Precision is hitting the bullseye.

-Finding ways to read your manuscript fresh.

-Writing process and honesty.

-“There are so many Joe Thomas’ and so few Bryce Browns.”

-Coaching, trust, communication and investment in helping young people.

-Trent Dilfer and the “obedience model” of coaching.

-Book promotion is necessary but difficult.

-”It’s a social justice book that has some football s**t in it.”

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit benbo.substack.com

Podcast Links: Apple/Spotify

Can I react in the moment, just as it is?

My book, Zen and the Art of Coaching Basketball: Memoir of a Namibian Odyssey, is officially out in the world. You can buy it here.

Today’s interview is a reversal of roles. Andrés Alvarez (@nerdnumbers) is interviewing me for his podcast, Box Score Geeks, and I’m cross-posting the interview.

In this conversation, Dre and I talk:

* Phil Jackson and a different way of coaching.

* Why I stopped coaching.

* The University of Missouri and their Master’s Program in Positive Coaching (@CoachingMizzou).

* Michael Jordan: Why would I think about a shot that I’ve already taken?

* Chris Fox (@ScholarlyFox) and his idea of a writing sprint.

* All-in, the cost to publish my book was $1,500.

* Thoughts on self-publishing and how many books I need to sell to break even.

* Shoutouts from Ben: Positive Coaching Alliance (@PositiveCoachUS), Mizzou (@GSSphd), Greg Graber (@GregGraber), and the Blue Devils.

* Shoutouts from Dre: Dave Zirin (@EdgeofSports) and Agony of Defeat (@defeat_of and @jonweile).

* Dre and I end by talking about our two previous Ted Lasso podcast episodes which you can listen to here and here.

You can buy my book, Zen and the Art of Coaching Basketball: Memoir of a Namibian Odyssey, here. The hardcover makes for a great gift :-)

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit benbo.substack.com

Podcast Links: Apple/Spotify

That was the culmination of my coaching career, just sitting and watching and letting what was going to happen, happen.

My book, Zen and the Art of Coaching Basketball: Memoir of a Namibian Odyssey, is officially out in the world. You can buy it here.

Today’s interview is a reversal of roles. Andrés Alvarez (@nerdnumbers) is interviewing me for his podcast, Box Score Geeks, and I’m cross-posting the interview here.

Part 2 will drop on Thursday.

In this conversation, Dre and I talk:

* How the thesis of my book is the way we think about coaching is wrong.

* How our traditional model of coaching is based on obedience.

* Dre likens the story to a modern day Hoosiers.

* Simmons High School, the Mississippi Delta, and the best player I ever coached, Jasper Johnson.

* Bob Knight and Coach K.

* A documentary I made in 2012 titled SHOWTIME.

* The phrase “Crack the whip.”

* The Brian Scalabrine Challenge: I’m closer to LeBron James than you are to me.

* Steve Jobs’ Stanford Commencement Speech: You only connect the dots after.

Part 2 will come out Thursday. Dre and I talk Phil Jackson, Michael Jordan, and Ted Lasso.

In the meantime, please consider buying, or gifting, my book, available here.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit benbo.substack.com

Podcast Links: Apple/Spotify

This story (Zen and the Art of Coaching Basketball) is unlike any I’ve ever read.

Glenn Stout (@GlennStout), series editor for The Best American Sports Writing, edited my new book, Zen and the Art of Coaching Basketball, which comes out November 1st (you can read the first three chapters here).

On Monday I wrote about the lessons I learned working with Glenn. Today’s podcast is a companion to that piece.

In this conversation, Glenn and I cover:

-How Glenn approaches the editing process.

-“I edit the way I wish it had been done for me.”

-“You don’t want the reader to stop reading.”

-“We will solve more problems talking than in two days of email.”

-“The text is trying to tell you something.”

-“The really perfect poem has an infinitely small vocabulary.”

-Character Introductions: Give the reader a hanger.

-Why did Bill Simmons (@BillSimmons) never make The Best American Sports Writing?

-Calling Florence Shinkle, of The St. Louis Post-Dispatch, to tell her '“Fly Away Home” was selected for the inaugural edition of BASW. Glenn goes into more detail here.

-In the new iteration of BASW, The Year’s Best Sports Writing, Glenn and I talk Kim Cross’s (@KimhCross) story What Happens When Two Strangers Trust the Rides of Their Lives to the Magic of the Universe which is told in the structure of a palindrome.

-Glenn shouts out The Year’s Best Sports Writing Advisory Board: Ben Baby (@Ben_Baby), Alex Belth (@AlexBelth), Howard Bryant (@hbryant42), Kim Cross (@KimhCross), Roberto José Andrade Franco, Latria Graham (@LatriaGraham), Michael Mooney (@MooneyMichaelJ), and Linda Robertson (@lrobertsonmiami).

-We end talking Glenn’s latest book, Tiger Girl and The Candy Kid.

If you are interested in my book that Glenn edited, Zen and the Art of Coaching Basketball: Memoir of a Namibian Odyssey, it drops November 1st, as both print and e-book, on Amazon.

The “big idea” is the way we think about coaching sports is all wrong, coaching doesn’t have to be rooted in anger and intimidation and fear, and tools like meditation can super-charge learning and performance.

Here’s a photo of me coaching the team by not coaching the team.

You can read the first three chapters of Zen and the Art of Coaching Basketball here.

If you haven’t yet, please hit the “Subscribe now” button to stay up-to-date.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit benbo.substack.com