Quentin High Standards without Psychological Safety Don't Build Champions, They Break Them. Issue 136- Jason Payne CMPC. At the start of my career, I believed that holding high standards meant being a hardline, no-nonsense coach. I thought my job was to be intense, the voice that didn't let things slide, catching the half-effort rep, and the voice that reminded everyone the bar didn't move, because there were consequences. I played for coaches who modelled it that way, and I learned their...
11 days ago • 6 min read
Quentin The Steps I Took To Stop Burning Out Every Season. Issue #135- Jason Payne C.M.P.C For the first decade of my coaching career, I hit the wall in February. Usually not lightly, but more like a young Wil E. Coyote, full speed every time. Appearing like the annual holiday you hate. And like Wile E., it looked the same every year. By late January, the season I’d been excited about in October had quietly become something I was surviving. I arrived early. I stayed late. I broke down film...
18 days ago • 7 min read
Quentin Why Finding Your Why isn't Enough. Issue 134- by Jason Payne C.M.P.C. Why "Find Your Why" Isn't Enough For the last decade, "find your why" has been a widely forwarded piece of advice in coaching and leadership development. You've heard it in clinics, on podcasts, from the assistant who read the book on a plane. It's on a sticky note on somebody's office wall right now. It is held as the northstar of leading from a place of meaning. It's good advice. It's also not enough. Here's the...
25 days ago • 4 min read
Quentin And people say AI is a problem. The Signing Post Is The Beginning, Not The End. Issue 133- by Jason Payne C.M.P.C. “I’m excited and blessed to announce my commitment to the Northwestern Eastern College of Technology and Taxidermy… home of the Fighting AI Engineers.” It is that time of year. When I scroll through social media, I see them everywhere, athletes excitedly announcing the school or team they will be joining next year. For young athletes, these posts represent something real....
about 1 month ago • 5 min read
Quentin Before we get into this week's story, I want to say something directly. Registration for Inner Alignment, the five-week live masterclass I've been building toward all month, closes Monday, April 7. I've sent a lot of emails about it. I've told you about the framework, the five weeks, the community, the cost. So instead of saying all of that again, I want to tell you just one thing. Here's what you walk away with. You walk away with a coaching philosophy that actually reflects who you...
about 1 month ago • 8 min read
Quentin Unlock Peak Performance by Understanding Your Athletes "Why". Most coaches assume they know why their athletes compete. We see the effort, the commitment, the sacrifices, the early mornings, the extra reps, the willingness to do the hard and unglamorous work. It is easy to make the assumption that it is all for the love of the game. Especially if that is what drove you as an athlete. That their motivation is the same as what ours was years ago. It's a reasonable assumption. It's also...
about 2 months ago • 4 min read
Quentin The Season that Broke Me and What I Found on the Other Side My sixteenth season as a varsity boys basketball coach had just ended. And I wasn't sure there was going to be a seventeenth season. It should have been a season to celebrate. We won our league. We'd made it to provincials. Lost a close semi-final to the eventual champs. The next day we lost the bronze medal game to a team we could have beaten. For a rural school, that's no small achievement. The kids were talented, tough,...
2 months ago • 5 min read
Quentin The Hidden Performance Edge: Energy Management for Coaches This was Ben Johnson 49 days after he accepted the Bears head coaching job. They didn't play for 4.5 more months My energy has followed a predictable pattern through most of my coaching career. Early in the season, I am energetic, filled with excitement and optimism about the season ahead. Practices are well planned, my to-do list is manageable, and I hit the gym, eat well and sleep well most nights. The first chunk of the...
3 months ago • 6 min read
Quentin The Paradox of Pressure: When Chasing Wins Undermines Performance There is one thing that every team, coach and athlete I have worked with wants. To win. Winning is seen as a wonderful validation that what you are doing is working. But is it the best way to measure performance? For many coaches, winning becomes the only measurement of success. If the scoreboard is in their favour than the game went well. When winning games becomes the focal point of every conversation, correction, and...
3 months ago • 3 min read