Finding Mastery with Dr. Michael Gervais - Pete Carroll on The Art of Coaching (Live)

Episode Date: October 9, 2019

This week’s conversation comes from the Finding Mastery Live that we recently hosted in Seattle with Seattle Seahawks head coach, Pete Carroll.In 2009, a mutual friend put Coach Carroll and I together for dinner and instantly, I knew it was right.We were talking about ancient principles, we were talking about modern science, we were talking about really collectively, how do you help people pursue their potential?It was stimulating and we knew much of the same research. We're interested in some of the ancient traditions the same way.We discussed giving back: How do we give to the next generation?At the end of the conversation he said, "Hey, why don't you come up and see what we're doing at the Seahawks?" And I thought, "Yeah, I'd love to see what you're doing."It's everything that I had hoped for.The environment was electric, people were switched on, and they were reporting on day one that it was just different than anywhere else they've ever been.Here we are, 10 years later.I've spent about eight years with the Seattle Seahawks now and I couldn't be more excited to introduce Coach Carroll as a friend, as the head coach of the Seattle Seahawks and a business partner in Compete to Create._________________Subscribe to our Youtube Channel for more powerful conversations at the intersection of high performance, leadership, and meaning: https://www.youtube.com/c/FindingMasteryGet exclusive discounts and support our amazing sponsors! Go to: https://findingmastery.com/sponsors/Subscribe to the Finding Mastery newsletter for weekly high performance insights: https://www.findingmastery.com/newsletter Download Dr. Mike's Morning Mindset Routine! https://www.findingmastery.com/morningmindsetFollow us on Instagram, LinkedIn, and X.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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like. Those are all choices that we make, but often, most often, people don't take the time to step back and put those thoughts together and say, oh, that's who I am. That's what I'm all about. You see it in glimpses, but I think through the process, you can come to a point where you can find real clarity. And it's such a powerful discovery process once you go through and do the work. It's not impossible work. It's just, you just got to do it, you know? And so I think it's so important to start there. All right, welcome back or welcome to the Finding Mastery podcast. My name is Michael Gervais and by trade in training, I'm a sport and performance psychologist, as well as the co-founder of Compete to Create.

And the whole idea behind these conversations is to learn from the extraordinaries. Those people that are thinking and doing at an extraordinary level and are able to do it on a consistent basis. And they've dedicated their life towards mastery, understanding the nuances of their craft. And what we're trying to do is understand what is it they're searching for, understand how they organize their inner life, and to also dig to understand the mental skills that they use to build and refine their craft. Finding Mastery is brought to you by LinkedIn Sales Solutions. In any high-performing environment that I've been part of, from elite teams to executive

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And it's from a live podcast that we recently hosted up in Seattle. It was the first one that we've ever done. It was a blast. And I gave Coach Carroll a formal introduction during the live event. So with that, let's jump right into it. Today, we've got a really special guest, Coach Pete Carroll. Yes. And before we bring Pete on, I just want to bring a bit of a narrative to this conversation. The first part is that I spent a long time in pro sports early in my career about 20 years ago.

And I fell out of love with it. I didn't enjoy what I thought I might enjoy. And certainly being around and being part of environments that are electric and are focused on high performance or mastery. There's something palpable in those environments that is dynamic and it is engaging. But I became a bit overwhelmed. Like I didn't like the way that psychology was part of that conversation 20 years ago.

It's changed now. There's only three things we can train as humans. We can train our craft, we can train our body, and we can train our mind. And right now is a very exciting time for training the mind. It's invisible, just like gravity is invisible, but we know it exists. Just like we know gravity exists, we know the thoughts in mind exist, but we can't see them. So it makes it tricky. Flash forward to just before, I think it was like 2009, 10, in that range, that a mutual friend put us together for dinner, Coach Carroll and myself. And I had left pro sport to get into this world of very high stakes environments where consequences

were consequential. And I met Coach Carroll over dinner and instantly I was like, oh God, this is what I had hoped conversations with extraordinary coaches would be like. We were talking about ancient principles. We were talking about modern science. We were talking about really collectively, how do you help people pursue their potential? And it was stimulating. And we knew much of the same research. We're interested in some of the ancient traditions the same way. And there was this other conversation about giving back. Like, how do you give to the next generation? At the end of the conversation, he says, hey, why don't you come up and see what we're doing at the Seahawks? And I thought, yeah, I'd love to see what you're doing. And it's everything that I had

hoped for. The environment was electric. People were switched on. They were reporting on day one that it was just different than anywhere else they've ever been. And so here we are now, you know, 11 years later, I guess it is 10 years later to that frame, I'd spent about eight years with the Seattle Seahawks now, and I couldn't be more excited to introduce him as a friend, as the head coach of the Seattle Seahawks, and a business partner in Compete to Create. And so with a really warm welcome, let's welcome Pete in a fashion that only the Finding Mastery tribe can do, and in a way that honors his incredible body of work of being one of the very few coaches that have won at the elite level

both in college and in the pros. Let's give him a really warm welcome. Yeah. Yeah. Wow. That was really warm. Thanks. That was nice. Thanks, Mike.

It's great to be here. Thanks so much for coming out. We're really excited about this. So let's start here, Coach. Is that... Wait, wait, wait. You're not going to ask about my nose? Yeah.

I didn't think anyone noticed. I had such a good story. I was going to tell them how in the locker room I head-butted Bobby Wagner getting him fired up to get him ready. But they caught it on film. I got bonked right in the frickin' nose right off the bat.

Anyway, I'm doing good. Thanks. I know you all are really concerned. I'm fine, okay? Appreciate it. Okay, so today's going to be about the art of coaching. And sometimes you've got to get your neck in there, your head in there, and kind of poke around a little bit. And you're in the mix, you know?

And so stitches are part of the game of coaching. Is that right? Yeah, yeah, whatever it takes. We've got to get the job done. All right, cool. All right, so tonight So, all right, so tonight is about the art of coaching. What goes into being a great coach? I mean, let's go right to the center of it. In your ideas, what makes a great coach? Well, it's a really good question

because there's a lot of ways to answer this. What I think is so inherent to being a great coach is it just starts with some of the elements that are pretty obvious to me but maybe not to you but it begins with passion I don't think you can do this if you don't have this deep love and and kind of commitment to it that is going to last throughout all of the issues and the concerns and the ups and downs and the obstacles and the challenges and the issues and the concerns and the ups and downs and the obstacles and the challenges and the questioning and the wins and the losses and all of that. It starts with a deep connection to it. And with that, and these are, I'm going to go right into, Mike, the elements that kind of talk about grit,

you know, that we've talked about so much. You have to have a makeup that you just can't get knocked down. You've got to persevere. You've got to hang through it. There's just been so many ups and downs. It may look like all of my coaching career has just been great and winning all these games and all this. It hasn't been.

It's been hard now. There has been a lot of times and a lot of losses and a lot of difficulties and firing and all that kind of stuff and questioning and all that. And if you didn't have that, and this is, is i know i'm on a major scale that you're coaching on but i think that coaches have to have that kind of just inherent thought that i'm going to be okay i'm going to get this done i'm going to keep and they also have the connection that they have to be the leader and stand to help others find passion, find the perseverance, find that mentality that it takes to go ahead and keep going and taking on the challenges

of it all. So it's really fundamental in that regard. But I think passion, perseverance are really crucial. I also think personally that caring is a huge aspect of this. Because you have to care about the cause. You have to care about to do it well. You have to care about the players. You have to care about their families

because that enters in. You have to care about the whole individual in a big way. What I'd like to say about this, whether it was coaching or whether it was managing or whether it was teaching or whether it was working in service, I don't think it's any different if you want to do really, really well. I mean, I think the passion needs to be

there, the belief to stick in there and keep hanging tough and keep coming back until you prove right, you know, and prove that you're doing the right stuff. And all encompassed with caring is really a big deal. And if you're going to have a chance to bring out the best in people and see them excel and do well and watch them celebrate, I think that's kind of the foundation of it. When I hear you talk, I don't hear coach. I hear an animated human that wants others to do well. Right? to do well, right? Like living with passion, dealing with the hard things, having an idea of what is possible, staying with it day in and day out, even when it's hard and having deep care for other people. So by profession, you're a coach, but it doesn't seem like there's a limitation

in, in the way that you're thinking about your life, right? So you're not bound by, I'm a manager, I'm a coach, I'm an entrepreneur, I'm a... There's something larger than that. Yeah, well, there's no way. Let's take another step here. I don't think there's any way that you can be really good at what you're doing unless you have a real clarity and kind of a clear vision of what you're trying to do.

And I don't think you can do that unless you have a really good understanding of what you're all about and where you come from and what you stand for. What are your uncompromising principles? What are your beliefs? Because you're in a coaching aspect or in a leadership aspect, you're exposed. People are looking at you. They're hearing you. They're watching you. You're challenged by the issues and the concerns and the decisions that you make,

and if you can't find a consistency and the clarity that you can exhibit of what you stand for and what's important to you, I don't know how you make it. If you're trying to be somebody else, you're going to falter. You're not going to be able to be that somebody else consistently. So there's an understanding and a depth that's really important and i think it's really goes back to the individual again i would say whether you're coaching whether you're leading whether you're managing whether you know you're running a business whatever it is there's people around you that are responding to you and they will respond best when they can clearly understand what you're all about and so that

takes work okay so walk us through some of that work. And then I want to also put a pin in this because I want to go back to one of the things you talk about with passion. So where do you want to start? Do you want to go back up to passion for a minute or do you want to walk through like how you develop your philosophy? Let's go there. I think it's really important to understand what we represent and what we stand for in our beliefs and really the work that we do together and the partnership that we have it begins with caring for the people around us

and if we're going to care for the people around us how far are we going to go when will we stop and start I care but not that much how are we going to do that the way that we think we are really committed you know our our formula is being committed to the individual so that no matter where we have to go or what we have to do we

will compete to figure out what it takes to help that individual person figure out who they are what they're all about how we can communicate best with them, how we can generate a connection with them so that we can eventually take them where they potentially could go. And so to me, that goes all the way back to philosophy. And where we start is in helping people discover who they are and what they're all about. I've been kind of trapped in this thought forever that everybody has a philosophy but they might not know what it is you know and and they have a philosophy because you have things that you believe in you have things that govern your life you have the decisions that you make exhibit who you

are and what you're all about but you might not have taken the time to step back and take a look at that collection of all the things that represent who you what you do on a regular basis and what you stand for, the car you drive, the toothpaste you choose, what radio station do you listen to, what music do you listen to, what colors do you like. Those are all choices that we make, but often, most often, people don't take the time to step back and put those thoughts together and say, oh, that's who I am, That's what I'm all about. You see it in

glimpses, but I think through the process, you can come to a point where you can find real clarity. And it's such a powerful discovery process once you go through and do the work. It's not impossible work. It's just, you just got to do it, you know? And so I think it's so important to start there. That's one of the thoughts is that once you have clarity, then you give yourself a chance to live with consistency against those principles. So clarity is really about what are the core uncompromising, as you like to say, principles that you're going to line up your thoughts, words, and actions by. And then it gives you a chance to be consistent across what across scary conditions hostile condition conditions rugged environments boring environments so the consistency and then i love this idea from clarity to conviction is that you really stand for something

and so if if i were to put you on the spot like what is it that you stand for above all else? Yeah, I'm a competitor now. I figured that out and it made sense to me. I spent my whole life competing. And competing to you at this point might sound like you're trying to win. I'm out there to try to beat everybody. That's not even close to what the principle is.

The competition to me, competing to me is striving. It's striving to find what you need to find. It's striving to become what you want to become. It's striving to find what you need to find. It's striving to become what you want to become. It's striving to understand what you need to understand. And kind of relentlessly in pursuit is really how the competitor in me comes out. And it takes me to places that maybe other people don't want to go, but I'm driven to try to understand better how I can do things better, how I can serve people better, how I can be caring more, how I can love more, how, you know, all of that.

What did you mean by it'll take you to places that other people won't go? What does that mean? Well, there, you know, it's, I mean, think about it. You wake up every morning trying to figure out how you can do something better that's ever been done before. Yeah. It's a little scary. And it's... Do you do that with like brushing your teeth? When I realize that I'm really blowing it, yeah. If I'm brushing the wrong way and somebody finally makes sense to me,

then it's on. You know, the switch has been turned. But anyway, that's just kind of where it comes from. So it's a competitor's mentality for me, but it is most importantly a caring mentality. I think the number one thing that I would like to represent in all of the work I do and all of the friendships that I have is that I can demonstrate how much I care about the people that I'm dealing with. And it's enormously important to me to do that. and and how far will i go well you're either

competing or you're not so if you're competing to care then you got to work your tail off to show and understand and be thoughtful and empathetic and understanding and caring and and uh willing to accept whatever have you ever read the book i don't know if you have because we never talked about this the five love languages or the five or the Five Languages of Love. Yeah. And so it's a book that says, okay, these are the five ways to demonstrate love. And there's acts of service. There's doing good, nice deeds for people.

And I'm blanking on the other three. Help him. Gifts, touch. Oh, look. That's so good. It's a lot of good. Yeah, it's good. So, okay. So we know, we know the languages of love. Nice job. I don't, but, but so love and caring sound a bit alike to me. So how do you demonstrate caring? Let's say, let's go like in, I don't know, to coaches, to your coaches. How do you demonstrate deep care? Or maybe I'm adding the word deep.

How do you demonstrate care? By listening first and accepting, you know, whatever they represent, who they are, without questioning. I noticed that from you. I mean, I want to listen and care and show that what they think, what they stand for, what's important to them is really important to me to understand it. And the idea is, the basic idea that goes way back, with my coaches or the people we work with, it's learning the learner. I need to learn the person that I'm dealing with my coaches or the people we work with, it's learning

the learner. I need to learn the person that I'm dealing with so that I can understand who they are so that I can best serve them. And so being a great teammate is being someone that serves others. And so I'm just trying to be a good teammate and make sure that I'm doing my part. And that comes from caring so much that you are willing to listen, even when they're telling you stuff you don't want to hear, or even when they're representing something that you don't understand. And then caring enough to try to figure out why would they think that? Where are they coming from there? As opposed to, no, that's not right. I don't agree with that. Do you get frustrated? Sure. Okay. So then when you're frustrated, it was clear, wasn't it? When you get frustrated,

how do you stay? Now we're getting into the art of coaching, right? Because there's, there's something going on inside. All of this is about the art of coaching. Everything we're talking about from my perspective, that's what we're talking about. So when you got something going on inside, your triggers, so to speak, and somebody comes to you with a new idea or something they're frustrated with, and you're already activated. And I can think about this scenario where it's like with a kid or, you know, your child or it's a peer or it's somebody you're reporting up to, not in your case, but like, but when you got stuff going on, how do you regulate so that you can do that thing to

listen as a demonstration of care? Really well. Okay, good. I'm sorry. Try to do it really, really well. It comes back, as we know, it comes back to being willing to be connected in the moment, to care enough that you'll, whatever else is going on, you're going to be there. Now, my mind races quite a bit. You know, I can get distracted. So I have to really practice. I have to really focus.

I have to be really good at it because I don't want to miss the moment. I don't want to miss the opportunity to hear somebody say something to me that's going to make a difference in the rest of our relationship. You know, it might be coming. So that's as we try to stand for how valuable it is to have the discipline to be mindful. You know, it's so important. And that's being in the moment, being present, being open to whatever is going on around you, no matter what else you might be wanting to do, you know,

in that moment, that exchange, you got me, and I'm there. That's the challenge. That's frustrating for me. You guys are being frustrated. Yeah. Because, you know, you have to work at it. That's frustrating for me. You guys are being frustrated because, you know, you have to work at it. You have to really care. And there's a discipline to that. Finding Mastery is brought to you by Momentous. When it comes to high performance, whether you're leading a team, raising a family, pushing physical limits, or simply trying to be better today than you were yesterday, What you put in your body matters.

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Felix Gray is offering all Finding Mastery listeners 20% off. Just head to FelixGray.com and use the code FindingMastery20 at checkout. Again, that's Felix Gray. You spell it F-E-L-I-X-G-R-A-Y.com and use the code FindingMastery20 at FelixGray.com for 20% off. So when we first met, I noticed two things about your attention to detail, right? It's like in your office, you had a lot going on, right? So you had lots of computers.

I don't know how many screens you have, but there's a lot going on. And then when you stop and you pay attention, at first blush, I was like, oh, am I being inspected like are you listening to every word because your focus is so intense and every word I'm like and so I got this other dialogue like so in my mind am I making any sense because now I'm thinking about what he's saying or like can you relate to that like that inner that inner thing so you know self-talk right so so my point is and and then almost immediately in that

conversation, it was a way that you held yourself that, oh, this is not inspection. This is intensity. This is deep focus and a commitment to the words that I was trying to put together. And do you hear that from other people? Do you know that it's different the way that you do that? Seems to me that I hear more, hey, hey, could you pay attention over here? More than you're saying. But the intent is to really be there. And I'd like to just cross over so that we expand what we're talking about here. I don't think this is just coaching.

I think this is living. Because I go right to children and our kids, and I'm fortunate to have seven wonderful grandchildren and be able to see them come along and participate in their lives and all. Well, I want to give them everything that I have also. As the guy who's managing the store and the guy that's working the equipment for us and the people that do all of the work

that help support us, I would like to be there as much as possible in every moment that I can. You can't get it all done, but you certainly can aspire to that. And I think that's what caring is. And I do it because I know how valuable it is to be that connected. And I know how I can serve those people if I do a really good job.

So that's competing to me. Okay, so let's create a scenario and see if we can crystallize this a little more. Let's imagine that there's a 12-year-old, and you're talking to her dad. And the dad says that, hey, I want to talk to you. The coach says to me that my 12-year-old has all the skills to be one of the best on the team and maybe even one of the best in the league, but she lacks confidence. She's struggling with confidence. So game day, it's not the same person.

And if you were to try to help the dad, the family, and the daughter, how would you go about that? That's a good question. I would really want to pay attention to who's driving the bus here. Is it the parent that wants the kid to be a great shortstop more than the kid wants to be a great shortstop? The kid may want to play the trumpet or something. I would really want to listen and pay attention to as much as I could to try to figure out where I could best fit into that equation. Because I know as a parent and as a grandparent and all,

we care so much about our kids. We want so much for them. But what I really want is I want them to be them. I want them to be the best version of who they are and what they're all about, the potential, as they want it to come to life. And it's hard as a parent. You want so much for your kids. You have the listening and being curious about figuring them out to understand them so that we can help them go where they want to go and be what they want to be. And, yeah, there's always nurturing along the way. So in that instance, to come back to it, you know, I would listen to the kid a lot and try to figure out what's important to the kid and then see where they want to go and then see why maybe the concentration isn't there.

You know, maybe it's not that important to them. Or maybe they're scared. Or maybe they're trying to live up to what the parents' expectations are. Maybe they're fearing that ride home after the game. It's a miserable time for some kids. And so I want information. I need input to figure out where to go with it. Okay, so the ride home, as you recognize, is one of the main reasons kids drop out of sport.

And I don't want to get away from this confidence thing. And I get what you're saying, that you listen, you try to understand. And then I want to go back up the passion eventually, but I also want to hit this confidence thing one more time. So you're listening, and she says, I really do want to play. This is my thing. And it feels like the games are just too big. And I start to doubt myself. Okay. So, but I want to see if I could help better understand how, what you would say, because the art of coaching is about listening and adding. So listening is a big part of it to you, but then what, what, what would you say? Let's talk about confidence and building confidence.

It's an extraordinary endeavor when, like, you coach a big team with a lot of players and all that. Because the effort is what is most important is that you figure out how good somebody could be. And then you help them uncover the fact that they are. Some people have a false sense of confidence. We work our way through that. But the confidence level is so... The confidence level that we're trying to find has to happen through experience. And we have to help them understand what they're worthy of believing in themselves.

Because if you're in the model of performing, and performing really well, you have to have a level of confidence that you can believe in and trust. So we have to put them in situations to be successful. That's hugely important. And give them an opportunity to start to feel their value and their connection and what they're capable of so that we can then begin to ask them to repeat that level of performance. And in essence, my job is to prove to somebody how good they are. That's how I look at it. I got to prove to them how good they are. So how many ways can I go about

doing that? What do I have to do to get that done? We'll show film, we'll put them in situations, we'll show highlights, we'll compare them, we'll talk their way through it, we'll walk their way through it in every way to get them to understand what they're capable of. And as we start to build on that and build on the successes, then now they have a reason to be confident. So this shortstop, she is, she needs some ground balls. She needs making some plays and she needs it in a lot of situations. She needs reps and she needs to be shown. See, your glove is on the ground now. You have good bending ankles, knees and hips. You're down there, you know, and you're seeing the ball. You have to show them why they're worthy. And then as you build that, you give them a chance to trust

themselves. That's what we know. Trust is so, so valuable in performance. And trust in yourself is what's most crucial. Let's use this. Jump the example. Let's be Michael Jordan. Did you think Michael Jordan ever worried about a game-winning shot? Well, yeah, he did. He worried about, give me another chance so I can make another one. He was so confident. Well, not everybody's like that, but that's what you're shooting for. You're trying to take people to the level of confidence where they have so much belief in themselves and so much reason to trust that they're going to come through when the time comes because they have a clearer mentality. Confidence leads to the ability to trust, leads to focus so that now when you can focus

at your best, you've ridden yourself from all the discursive thoughts and issues and concerns and expectations that you can perform like you're capable whether you're an individual whether you're a team you know a whole group it's the same thing so you would you you would give the kid a chance to feel it right to get some momentum but then you show the would you show the parents how you do what you do which is you are organized you're orchestrating behind the scenes all of the ways that you can possibly demonstrate that she has earned the right to say to herself, I got it, I can do it, let's go. Like, let me see how this is, you know.

And then our language becomes so valuable and so crucial in how we speak to them and in helping them establish a mentality because we know that our own words are so valuable and so strong and so powerful. We like to sculpt the words that they would say that would add to their mentality. So that they would not question and not second guess and not listen to that. That's why the parents are so extremely important here.

Because their words are so powerful. Are you saying the things? Why didn't you do this? How come? You know, they feel that. It's not even the words. It's maybe just the emotional expression. You know, the angst. So there's a lot that goes into this and this is all part of it but mike you know let's not just leave it with short stops you know and baseball and basketball and all

i mean this is your kids in school too you know i mean it's to me it's the same thing right not everybody can be a students you know not everybody can get all the but but they can be terrific artists or they can be terrific partners in in classes classwork that there's a million things that they do well that's what we need to figure out what do they do well and then back it up it's the same with athletes it's the same with kids i think so let's say let's what do i know what the heck no i think what what i'm hearing is your body of work, right? This is your body of work. You've got the X's and O's and strategy and creative ways to create deception and, you know, create the plays for success. But when I look at your body of work, it's that and. And the and is helping people understand that they have what it takes to meet the challenge ahead. And the orchestration is the big part of

it. So let's go back to the car ride home. Let's say that that 12-year-old is stressed, okay? So, and no, you know what? Let's do it this way. Let's say that she doesn't show you anything. She misses something that happened that cost the game, okay? It was her fault, let's say, which it never comes down to one play, but let's just say that was the way it played out in the last inning. And she kind of packs her bags and puts it, you know, and gets and kind of walks over to the car and gets in the car and there's no conversation. And as the parent, I would imagine you would try to sort out, does she care? Like what's happening? And obviously you're rooting for her and you're frustrated. Maybe, I don't know. I see a lot of parents frustrated. What would you do?

What would be the way that you would engage at your very best approach to that type of scenario? Probably go get a milkshake. You know? And just try to let it come out as it comes out. And let the conversation go as it goes. And try not to overdo anything at the time. And listen and watch and see what's there.

That may be a tremendous performer. They could settle, let it go, and move on. Because they don't doubt themselves. That's one aspect of it. It could be total separation from the experience. Don't want to be part of it. Don't bring it up. Don't want to hear about it.

There's so many dynamics here that are so important. But it's listening and watching and making here that they're so important but it's you know it's really it's listening and watching and making sure that you're really clued in and you hopefully pick up in the the triggers that are there for you to understand what's happening if we take that scenario of the individual and then try to we're talking about like this relationship based approach which is an important word for your important phrase phrase. If we were to take that, that's about an individual. How do you help a bunch of me's turn into the we? Yeah, well, you know, we've had in our history, we've had a lot of colorful players. Let's call them colorful players. And they've been extraordinary, extraordinary competitors and

contributors and champions and all of that, world class. And I've always been asked, you know, how do you blend the big egos that some people would see it as, you know? Well, the challenge is to keep them connected to the common bond, which is team, which is the overall collective effort that we're all about. The most colorful players are sometimes the greatest contributors. They're also going to be the greatest detractors as well if allowed to hang too long. If they don't fit, you got to go. They have to go on and do something else. But as long as they're willing and it's crucially important to them that they are part of it, then the colorful

side of it, the attitude, the approach, the outwards, you know, the gregarious nature that they may bring, that only adds to the whole, you know, the whole complexion of the whole thing. So that's an openness and also it's a willingness to accept unique, extraordinary,

special, you know, people in their own way. I like to think that everybody is unique and people in their own way. I like to think that everybody is unique and special in their own way. And we just need to figure out what it is and uncover and bring that to the surface so that they can truly be everything that they can possibly be. So we have always encouraged the uniqueness and encouraged the spontaneity and the individuality that makes them them. And not discouraged it.

But they've got to be part of it now. They've got to be part of the team now. That's the common bond. So before I go to this next question, how do they demonstrate they're not part of it? What does that look like? It's simple. It's when they put themselves in front of the others. know when they can no longer serve

serve the common goal and find their way to contribute not everybody does to the same degree but they have to be willing of all of the attributes it's it's of team it's willing give to the others and to help others be great I don't know if you guys know who Bill Russell is. He's an all-time winningest basketball player in the history of anything. He's the greatest champion of all time, greatest team player of all time, arguably.

And he would tell you that great teammates wake up in the morning thinking of, what can I do to help my teammate succeed? And then the second one is, what can I do to help my team be better? I mean, think about that. Did you guys ever think of doing that? Did you ever wake up in the morning thinking of your teammates and what could you do? Not very many people do that.

I continue to challenge my guys to let me know when that morning happens, you know, when you actually wake up and you're thinking about what can I do to help that guy be better? Because that is the ultimate in being a teammate. And so I think it's the same thing, ultimate in being a family member. You wake up in the morning, what can I do to help my brother have a great day? Or my little sister or something like that. It would be pretty awesome. Do you consider yourself, your art of coaching?

So you've got a lot of science behind what we've just talked about. There's a lot of science in here. Self-determination theory. That's why we're good friends, because you know the science and I don't. It's in there. Self-determination theory, self-actualization from Maslow. You've got self-efficacy theory from Bandora. Like, you've got real stuff that you're putting into application.

And let alone Angela Duckworth stuff around grit Martin Seligman around optimism like it's all embedded in there you're the animation of it like you live it and so one of the greatest examples or testaments to great coaching is the consistency so that's one of the things I watch with you is that how consistent you are across conditions, which is about self-mastery. My question here is, are you more of a, let's say you have to say the hard thing to somebody and you know that they might really struggle with that conversation. How do you do it? Like, is it matter of fact?

Is it, okay, and you butter them up a little bit with a couple half little pleasantries? Like, how do you say the hard thing? Because intimacy, for me, is about saying the things that are difficult to say and then seeing how far you can take the depth of that relationship. Yeah, well, just for for instance with our players you know we have there this is a tough business and guys have to come and go sometimes you know and that happens fairly often and uh you know i can remember when i got cut for the my last time and i can remember exactly what was said the whole thing

and so i would like to be there in that moment for the player so that they'll have a memory that was of some value to them in some way. They're going to be mad at you and hate you for a moment or whatever, but I do want to be there for them. So I know that's part of the job. That's what you've got to do to do it well and do it right. And so when I can, it's is pretty much straight to the truth of it and right to the essence of what's going on.

Always, I find myself always with leaving them with the hope of there's an opportunity here. What could happen next? And so there is kind of a bright side to the finish of it all. And, you know, it happens. You know, we've had a couple of players just in the last few days had to go. And then we told them we were hoping we'd get a chance to bring you back. And we did. And so it's a terrible thing they go through. It's a nice kind of, okay, that makes me feel better. But there's still the hardship of it. And there's the, you know, when you're separated, you know, from us, you know, that's difficult and challenging.

So I'd like to do it straight up, straightforward with all the love and all the care that you can generate in the moment so that they know that you really do care and try to do that. And it hurts. You know this is going to hurt them more than you, but it's going to hurt. You just go for it and you do it. Finding Mastery is brought to you by Cozy Earth. Over the years, I've learned that recovery doesn't just happen when we sleep. It starts with how we transition and wind down. And that's why I've built intentional routines into the way that I close my day. And Cozy Earth has become a new part of that.

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I'd love for you to check them out. Head to calderalab.com slash finding mastery and use the code finding mastery at checkout for 20% off your first order. That's calderalab, C-A-L-D-E-R-L-A-B.com slash finding mastery. Okay. Let's, let's pivot quickly to transitions in life. Okay. So what you're just talking about is a transition where you're walking somebody through a transition from being part of something that they wanted to be part of assuming and into the next phase. We're talking about you and the art and science of coaching is what was your transition from sport to coaching? What was that for you? What was that like for you? Yeah, it was pretty, pretty chaotic. You know, it was, it was chaotic because I was, my brain was, you know, I was somewhere I didn't want to be. I

wanted to play and I wasn't able to play. And so I went right into graduate coaching, you know, and I was a mess, pretty much. I was friendly to everybody. I wasn't a bad mess. I just was disappointed and destroyed. That part of my life looked like it was over, and I wasn't going to be able to play. So it took me a while, and I wasn't real efficient. I wasn't real, you know, accountable, and I was pretty sloppy at. I wasn't real accountable. And I was pretty sloppy at what I was doing.

Fortunately, my coursework and the stuff that I just got put on fire by the graduate work I was doing at my school really connected me back with purpose. And I started to get going again. And so I just recovered. It was a recovery period is what it was. And then I was a graduate assistant for four years. I couldn't get anybody to call me back or hire me. I couldn't get anything done. And so there was a long haul. It's four years of

rejection and not going anywhere. And you're at a school that's not really going anyplace. And it was difficult at the time. But it was a good period. It was a hard period. But it was a good period of growth and all that. And fortunately it kind of took a big jump once I got going. Did you know it was going to... No, that's not even a good question I'm editing as I'm saying like did you know that you were going to one day be in the NFL and you know win Super Bowls and you know

no so what did you know what what like what did you think was going to happen with your life when you're in that tough time but you're still committing to the work like what were you working yeah really but at the time it was I knew that I had purpose and that I was going to happen with your life when you're in that tough time but you're still committing to the work like what were you working yeah really but at the time it was i knew that i had purpose and then i was going to school so i get credentialed so i could be a secondary credential you know teacher in high school in california and then i worked my graduate work that would allow me to be a junior college coach is kind of what i was thinking that's all i could really picture and uh i was having fun and glenn and I were having a you know we were growing again doing our stuff and figuring the world out and all that but it wasn't until I really was not sparked until we went to Arkansas with the

University of Arkansas back in nineteen you don't know and really it was we went to the first this is the way I remember it. She would tell the story a little differently. But we went to the first rally the night before the first game at the University of Arkansas. And it was so electric. And it was so pumped and pumped and crazy and fun and energetic that it just like, I was just like captured. I had never seen big-time college football. And, you know, other than to to play against we played against UW and

we got killed and we you know that kind of stuff but that was the moment when it just kind of like this is really something I had no idea what we were getting connected to so I never thought about being head coach I never thought about being you know any of that stuff I just the job I turned down to go to be a graduate assistant in Arkansas was a, was a,

you know, coach at Moreau High School in the East Bay and it was $10,500 and I was going to get, you know, be assistant coach, $10,500

and I went for $172 a month at Arkansas, you know, so I was pretty screwed up at the time and Glenn, she was crazy, what are we doing,

you know, but, so we left the world of high school coaching and jumped into college and then, then just stuff just went and we we caught fire Let's go way back to passion because now we're talking about transitions and passion go way back to the beginning of the conversation

you said passion was one of those core ingredients and the easy question is passion for What is it for you passion for how do you fill in that it was for doing special stuff wanted to do special stuff it didn't really matter what it was when I was growing up I didn't care what sport I played I just wanted to be really good I didn't care what it was you know and I did everything and I didn't didn't matter it just to do special stuff and into I think I think

will a real strong Williams to be recognized that you were good at what you were doing. And I didn't know what that meant, but I knew that that was part of it. I wanted to do something special. And so I kept kind of just bouncing around waiting for something, for the opportunity to arise. And so I think that's what it was. So one of the talents that I think is underrated that you're able to do is somehow you're able to get a glimpse or a flash of something special. And we just talked about this the other day and it hit me like, yeah, because this, this art of helping somebody explore their potential. One, the word potential can have a bite to it because the

internal message for somebody could be I hope I live up to my potential for him or for her or I don't know if I can live up to my potential. But you have a special ability to get a glimpse of somebody's best. That really

charges me. It would be like Chris Carson in our program. Chris was a guy that played at Oklahoma State and was a backup. And there was something about the way he carried the ball 80 times his senior year, which is like he was a backup to a backup kind of thing. But there was something about him, and I couldn't wait to get a hold of him and get him in our program and see what we you know what we could do and how we could how we could grow with him it's it is

it is I'm looking always for some special trait or quality that separates somebody that I think we can once we latch on to that and make them understand that we see who they are and what they are that we we can take them places they wouldn't go otherwise. And Tyler Lockett was one of those kids too. Little teeny guy. You know, he was a terrific college player and all, but he had a knack about him. He could do things that looked like nobody else. And he's a phenomenal player. He's so good.

He can do so much so naturally in such gifted fashion that a lot of, I don't know that other people saw it. I don't know at the time, but those are the kinds of things. Russell Wilson is a story like that that I really give John Schneider a lot of credit. He saw the special stuff in Russell and showed it to me, and we latched onto it. Oh, my gosh, this guy could be crazy. Yeah, he's totally under the profile. Nobody's going to think that you could do this with him. Why would you ever?

Well, let's go for it. You know, that was kind of our deal. And catching on to that special little something that somebody has, and it can be added that Doug Baldwin was this extraordinary competitor, and it kind of didn't matter that he looked a little different and he wasn't quite big enough. Just give him a chance to get out there and go and see what happens, and oh, boy, what a competitor he was.

What a great player he was, you know. So, yeah yeah i'm kind of a sucker for you know for those special qualities in somebody so that's a skill that you have right it's not like you're born uniquely different to just find brilliance in other people how do you do it like what is your mechanism to spot it and i i think i have an answer but i don't want to cloud it yet no i i don't know that it's a mechanism I think it's just a gut feeling really I go what it makes me feel like

and we'll take shots we'll be pretty bold John and I through our program here we've been pretty bold about the things that we've done and questioned often about what are they thinking and all that kind of stuff but it's because we see we share in seeing this potential

that we think we can tap into and we kind of think we have some answers and we can figure it out, maybe sometime, obviously sometimes to a fault, but it's taken us to some pretty good places and we've accomplished some stuff. Because often we may see something that that person doesn't have. It may be a coach or an administrator or somebody working in the training department, strength and conditioning. They have special aspects to them that once we see that and feel that, man, we've become their greatest advocate and try to make them something. Can I add what I think you're doing? I'm just making this up as I go along. Okay, good. Because we haven't had these conversations, so this is fun. I didn't want

to ask you any questions I already knew. And so I think what you do is you spend more time in the present moment than many. And because of that, you're stringing together more, quote, unquote, glimpses. And because of that, because of your unique ability or, and this is available to everybody, we all have the ability to spend more time in the present moment by training, mindfulness, a set of entire other mental skills, calm, confidence, focus, trust, all that good stuff. And you spend more time in the present moment, you get more frames per second of attunement, you know, like, and then you can stitch those together. And then that thing like, oh, you've just seen it 25 more times than the other coach maybe because you've been paying attention at a deeper level and so we've never talked about that but i think that that holds true

with all craft i think mastery is about playing in the spaces it's about playing in the nuances and so i think that that's one of the ways that i think about it for you well there's there's no question that our appreciation that we share, the power and the value in being in the moment and being present and being mindful, it applies to everything. I mean, this isn't just like an Eastern philosophical thought. It's way more than that. And some people are just way better at it than others,

and we can develop the skill and we can help people come along and improve. But it's so valuable to live. It's one of the great assets in life to be there in the moment with the person that you love and the person that you care for in the moment of the ball's in the flight and is he going to catch it or isn't he? And he made the play and you go crazy and all that kind of stuff. Let's go to the next one.

It's going to happen again. You know? Yeah, I think that's, it's a skill and we can develop it. And we certainly, I know we, you know, we really share that thought. If we can enhance people's ability to be mindful, they're going to live stronger and more powerful in the moments and stuff. It's worth it. Yeah. And it's not easy. that's the hard work that's the that's the hard work you know understanding the hard work that let's set you set you free to be there as we know okay so we've talked about last question and then let's open it up um to um folks at home and also in the room. I can't wait to hear what you guys got to ask.

Yeah, here we go. Okay, so we've talked about coaching a young girl. We've talked about coaching older adults, men in particular, like the coaches and the athletes you're working with. And so if you were to coach, and we've talked about like coaching a team, so a group of individuals.

If you were to go way upstream and have a thought that you could, well, let me back up. There's two ways I want to ask this. In football, I've heard the phrase a bunch, like this is the install phase. Like you're going to install information into the person. And then in some of the ancient traditions, they talk about seeds. Like we all, like this non-conscious, this gets a little weird, right? But we all have these seeds, the seed of love, the seed of greed, the seed of jealousy, the seed of hope. And how much time we spend watering those seeds, thinking about those seeds, those grow. Some are weeds, some are flowers, okay? So the question is like, if we were to go way upstream to coaching the planet, coaching humanity, okay, whether it's watering seeds, you take this whatever way you want, what seeds would you water or what would you install?

Yeah, that's really fun. Can I throw a couple lightning bolts down to you while we're thinking about this? You know, I'm pretty stuck on this thought. It's pretty hard for me to come away from finding the willingness to care so much that you can help other people be extraordinarily themselves. I mean, how could we share that care that we would accept people and love people for where they are, who they are, and celebrate that, regardless of whether you understand it or you get it

or you recognize the color or the shape or whatever they are. You know, that would be the coaching I would want to share. How can we reach out and help people be so open-hearted and so open-minded and so loving that they would receive those that are around us and help them become everything that they dream of being? That's a big thought. Yeah. Yeah.

Cool. You know, that's a big thought. Yeah. And it doesn't matter to me where you go or what you do. That's kind of what I wish we could do, you know. I hate when we see other stuff and people working against that thought and not acceptance and not openness and not caring and not loving. We're just missing life, you know, when I think we're not doing that. You know, I mean, it sounds like you're speaking to the choir, but I also just want to affirm, like when I hear that, I go, of course.

I didn't know you were going to go there, but of course. I didn't either. Yeah, right. It's a really good thought. It's a powerful thought. It's one of the core principles, love, care for other people. I think when you have some basic needs met, if we go back to Maslow, you've got some basic needs met, the need to belong is satisfied,

then it's kind of love and esteem, and then you can get into that flourishing self-action. See, I think that's winning. To me, that's winning. You can't always win all the games. You can't win every challenge that we face. You just can't. It just the games. You can't win every challenge that we face. You just can't. It just doesn't happen that way. But if you're working towards being your best and giving your best shot and bringing your

best, to me, that's winning. And that's what Winning Forever was a long time ago when we first shared that thought in the title of a book and all. It was about striving to live fully to be the best you can be. I think that's a pretty cool thing. Okay. Let's go some questions. You ready for this?

Let's see what we got in the room. So we've got a mic set up for you. You can ask anything you want now, okay? There's no restrictions. You don't have to stay with all this crazy stuff that Micah was talking about right there. You can go anywhere you want to go. If you want to know about hamstrings and ankles, you've got to come to my Wednesday press conference. I'm not talking about hamstrings and ankles.

But other than that, we can go for it. Okay, so while you're getting your questions rolling, you're just going to need to say them to them all repeated, and then Pete will give a shot at it. So we've got a live stream question first, though. Somebody that's across the planet somewhere. And the question is when leading someone how do you not get disappointed in failing as someone who is pursuing my passion of football

and becoming a head coach collegiately and hopefully professionally how many hours do you put in per week during the fall season do these hours impact your health in a negative way let's go to the first part of that question. How do you not get disappointed in failing? When leading someone, how do you not get disappointed with failing? Well, there's some work to be done here. I've been fired quite a few times now.

And there's a point in there where are you going to go with it and accept the fact that they told you that you're not good enough or you're not? And I've been pretty good. Glenn has been a great help. We haven't accepted that. When somebody cuts us or fires us, we've been pretty stubborn about it, you know, in accepting and sanctioning that decision.

And so to me, that's been a skill that's helped. It's a skill to not accept the fact that you just got your butt kicked. And that's who you are and that's what you are, you know. And it's what happened. It's what occurred and it's what looked like you were. But so there's an undying and there's an optimism and there's a something good just about to happen mentality that really helps us get through that. And I do think that there's, like in all skills, you have to develop a confidence there that I'm going to be okay. It's no different than shooting your jumper.

It's the same, you know, I can make this shot. I always make this shot. Yeah, I missed it at a game point, but next time I'm going to make it, you know, just give me another chance and I'll work hard to make sure. You know, that's the kind of thinking that gets me through whatever the problems are and no matter how dark a day it is or how bad a situation you guys have lived through some darkness and some bad stuff that we've we've encountered over the years but it's always what's next what's next boom let's go something good's gonna happen

right now cool okay so let's ask some questions here. Like, what's in the room? Yeah, go ahead. Let's start here. So you talked about learning the learner. And I think about you, you had about over 15 years in between NFL and going to USC. And I'm just curious, who was that person that took the time to learn about you and impacted you in your development? Go ahead. Yeah, okay, so the question was, yeah, you talk about learn the learner,

and then as you're translating or going from one job to the next, like who invested in you? Yeah, well, I did have some people. My high school coach was one in particular that saw in me somebody that could be a coach someday. I never even thought about it. But he had a Pop Warner camp, and he used to take me to his Pop Warner camp. And I would earn my way to go to his high school camp. I did that eight straight years when I was growing up, from the time I was like 14 until I finished college. He believed in me.

I had no belief in myself about that. I had nothing. I didn't realize it until after finished college. He believed in me. I had no belief in myself about that. I had nothing. I didn't realize it until after the fact. There was a coaching, my coaches in college felt in a similar fashion. When they invited me to come back, I had been cut for my last time and they said, you want to come back and go to school and be a graduate student? I had no clue. So it was other people along the way and they were basically they were coaches and that that's kind of those were the ones in terms of occupation and work and all that kind of stuff they really you know had a factor my wife had a huge factor in keeping me squared away and believing that I'm okay and that it's gonna work out and we're gonna be together and we're gonna make it we're gonna you

know we'll we'll handle these issues no matter what they were that helped me keep going. Because as much as I'm optimistic and as confident as I know that I am in a lot of stuff that I'm doing, there's still times. And you're right. I needed people to lean on to keep me going. And fortunately, they were there for me. So, I mean, I'll give you a couple names. Monty Kiffin was the guy that was one of my favorite guys that I ever worked with.

He believed in me before I even had a clue what I could do. You know, and Bobby Cope was the guy who passed away. One of the coaches, you know, that I had in college. He just saw it, you know, and I didn't know nothing. You know, they were the ones that really held me together when I needed it. Cope, what's your name? Johnny. Johnny.

Thanks, Johnny. Okay, so part B of that really quickly is how many people in your life, you're the head coach. How many people in your life tell you when you're flat out wrong? Like, no. My sons. Yeah. I'm so lucky that they're coaching with me because they, you know, to me, loyalty having the the strength to tell somebody something they don't want to hear but they got to hear it they're great at it they wear me out you know they're telling me all the time and it's it's that's the ultimate in loyalty most people are loyal by supporting you and helping you and being there for you and all that but the real loyalty is when they will go the distance for you to tell you that hey

This is really messed up and you need to help this or fix this or whatever and they're there They're really they're a great strength for me. Awesome. Okay, another question in the room. Yes caring. And one of the things as I coach myself today, the challenge is scaling caring to a team of 60 to 100 athletes. As someone starting out, I would like to know your story of what does it take to be successful scaling caring to that many people? Cool. So the question for the audience at home is, how do you scale caring? How do you do it across many? Yeah. It is hard. Like in college you have 110 players, and how do you possibly connect with every guy? It felt really important to me to connect with the guys who are the lowest guys on the depth chart, and make a point of knowing who they were, knowing what was

going on with them, having an interaction with them so that they would know that you would care. In that, I thought it demonstrated to the guys who were the hot shots and the big shots and were doing all the playing that, okay, he's caring about those guys. It's obvious to care about the guys that are going to score the touchdowns and all that. So that was a point of emphasis that I don't know where that came from, but that was something that was important to me. And so that's one aspect, okay? But collectively showing them how much you care

by the stands that you take and the statements that you make and your willingness, this is I think the most important part is your willingness to show how much you really care from your heart not just words but you show them and you live it and you're there for them and where they understand that this guy is willing to

whatever it takes he's going to make the point so I look for the opportunities that allow me to emotionally connect. I've always said it's not the words that I say because I say a bunch of garbage. It's how I say them. It's where they come from. So I look for the opportunities to be that for them. And in essence, it's going back to Brene Brown about being vulnerable. Allowing yourself to be vulnerable in front of them shows them that you care. When you can't connect with every person, you can't really have

the connected relationship that you would like to, you do the best you can by giving everything you have of yourself. That's really what I'm saying. And then I'd add to it, I think one of the things from a scale perspective is that he pays deep attention to working with his coaches and then those those coaches work with the room of seven people or 12 people so there is a cascade but the coaches have to be demonstrate some they're the messengers you know and they they have more direct connections so it's you're right mike it's always constantly coaching the coaches and trying to help remind them, hey, give this guy a chance, let him move up and play with the second team this week,

give him a shot so that he knows that you care and you're looking and you're watching him. Those decisions need to be made in smaller rooms and smaller aspects of it, so if you're in a corporation, it would be that way. The people that manage, you'd really want to coach the managers like crazy to make sure they're demonstrating the theme, the philosophy, the people that manage you'd really want to coach the managers like crazy to make sure they're demonstrating

The theme the philosophy the approach that represents who you are Cool, so we got a question from livestream is can you share some of your personal tools that you use to continue to sharpen your saw? Wow, that's a good question The world is is the test is the laboratory, you know everything around the the the world is is is the test is the laboratory you know everything around the the um the the want to to be all of it and everything to everybody that you connect with is is what keeps me going i mean like i want to connect with our fans i want to connect with the people that come to watch this practice or whether it's the officials or whether whatever it is that comes the the administration people that come through the you know to our whether it's the officials, or whatever it is, the administration people that come to our practices, or whenever I can,

it's just the constant willingness, which takes patience and time and all that, but it's worth it, you know? It's worth it. And so, I don't know if that's really what they're asking for, but it's the willingness to show on a regular basis what you're all about, who you are, and all that. Cool. So it's regular practice of caring. Yeah, yeah. It's the constant.

Now, there's a lot of other stuff, though, too. There's, you know, it's really important to me, and I have Ben Malcolmson as my guy that helps me stay abreast of what's going on in the world, and he's bringing me new books and new stuff on a constant basis to keep me apprised of what's going on, and we find so many connections through other people that we study and read and that keep us going. And the fortunate thing we have is we can kind of call them up

and they'll take the call. So we get to talk to the people that write the books and stuff like that and get to really, they want to come in. And Angela Duckworth, the name drop, you guys know her. She was with us yesterday in the office.

We had a great session yesterday and she was passing through talking to Microsoft or whatever. And, and, uh, she came by, you know, so, so that it's those kinds of interactions that, that keep me fueled and keep me challenged. And, you know, I need to keep competing. I have to keep going. I don't have a choice. I don't have a choice. I gotta go. So I need all that help. What else do we have in the room? Yes. Is that the Michael Bennett guy right there? Awesome. Awesome.

I saw a country jersey. Yeah. You both talk a lot about mindfulness. So my question to you is how do you stay present and be mindful, like in the middle of a game, in the heat of a game? That's really good. Or in a negotiation or business deal, especially when everything's going sideways? Yeah, that's a really good question. Mike, you can talk about the skill of it and all of that. I'll just give you my two cents on that one.

It's crucial to me that I can find the presence of mind when challenged. I have this thought, the epitome of poise. The epitome of poise is my little phrase that I remind myself when it looks epitome of poise. The epitome of poise is my little phrase that I remind myself when it looks like all hell's breaking loose and everything's going crazy. And that plus the willingness to enjoy the moment, that's really important. And so I want to have fun in the moments no matter how crazy it gets.

And so I want to remember that. But the epitome of poise is the little phrase that is my catchphrase. It could be anything. It could bephrase. It could be anything. It could be asparagus. It could be anything. It doesn't matter. But it's what re-centers you and refocuses you and brings you back to base. And that's a discipline.

That's a real discipline, and I'm better at it at times than others. I think what he's talking about is, for me, what I hear is the environment when you're in electric challenging, take it to the extreme, dangerous environments, right? The most hostile environment you can imagine that if you don't have the ability to be present, then something could happen, right? So, danger actually forces presence and risk does the same. So now you can apply risk to lots of different environments. So that's one, the environment can do it. And coaches practices are upbeat, high tempo on. So that's one way to help people be more present is to create an electric environment.

So go from danger to risk, to challenge, to electric, right? Somewhere in that kind of order. The second way is the ancient practice of practicing mindfulness, right? And there's two basic types of mindfulness. Single point focus, which is following one thing over and over and over again, relentlessly so. When your mind wanders, you bring it back. And then contemplative mindfulness, which is simply the art of watching your thoughts and emotions without judgment. So those are the two kind of basic practices. And then what Pete is adding to this is creating an environment that is so compelling that it almost forces it.

And then if I add one more texture to it, what you're doing is you've got a clear approach about how you're going to come back to be present, which is a mantra, a phrase, the epitome of poise, epitome of poise. So when it gets wild, oh, that's right. My intent is the epitome of poise. So that's a mechanism to come back. It's a huge skill for us. And that I always am preaching about coming back to the very next step you take. Learn how to be present in the very next step that you got to take, no matter what just happened. You just scored, you didn't score, you did something great, you did something terrible. It doesn't matter. Once it's already happened, it's already gone. We'll learn from it later, but now

we got to go right to the very next thing, right on. And we practice that. My guys hear that all the time. It's the next step in the drill that you're taking. It's the next punch that you throw. It's the next leap you take to go catch the ball. And to understand how valuable it is to develop that skill. Because where we need it most is when you play terrible. It's a skill that you have to

practice because it's a discipline you're developing to let go of what's happening. Let me say one of the two things. We've got to talk about culture a little bit. I have really high value in regard for quieted mind. The ability to quiet your mind. And that is the skill of mindfulness. That is the skill of meditation. That is the skill of focus and presence and all of that. That is so valuable. If you can clear your mind of distractive and discursive thoughts

in the midst of all the chaos, that's an unbelievable power that you hold over your world. And so that quieted mind, you would think of it as a person just thinking clearly, but I think of it as an entire group, an entire team as one mind being able to do that so that we can focus no matter how bad things just look, no matter how terrible it was, that the next step you take could be the positive step that takes you exactly where you want to go. If you ever listen to Russell Wilson talk, Russell and I are absolutely in a thousand

percent sync about how we think in the moments that we face when we're in the midst of the furor of the games and the challenges that occur. And that it's a happy moment of, we're going to get this done. And it's going to be, boom, that next step we take is going to be the turn and all of it. And it doesn't matter what happens. And then the next step may have screwed up too.

And then, nope, it's that next step you take. And there's great value in relating in that way and mastering that skill of being able to quiet so that you can be there that's a practice it's a discipline it's a practice and so that practice is being fully present to capture the next moment and mastery of self really is stringing together moments mike happens to be an extraordinary teacher of this he has great understanding of it. Keep going. He's taking... Okay.

I didn't get that. That's enough. It is the truth, though, that there is a great skill here, and Mike has been able to demonstrate it with performers in all different walks. Some of the craziest things you've ever heard. They didn't talk about it, because he didn't talk about the people he represents.

But it all comes back to the same skill, whether you're jumping out of a capsule or you're jumping out of an airplane with no parachute or whether you're riding the biggest waves in the world. I mean, there's a real commonality to that ability to quiet and center and focus that we value very highly. Yeah, right on. Thank you. In the back. Yes, you. So from the outside, the Seahawks have an awesome culture, and I know you have like three principles or rules that you've established with them,

and when you came in, it wasn't like that. So for us, going into culture is that or not what we envision or what aligns with us. Like, how did you create that culture from the beginning? Yeah, thanks for bringing that up. I'm really glad you brought it up because I love talking about culture. And it's because in the last, really, the last 10 years since I've been here, I've come to understand it because I watched it happen. I watched, I wouldn't even have called it culture when we were at SC.

It was one, but I didn't know it. I didn't know what I was talking, I wouldn't have been able to express it. But coming here and seeing us bring a mentality and a whole approach and wondering what was going to happen, I didn't have a clue. You know, I really didn't know. But I was really excited to just see if we came to a program and cared for people and tried to help them be the best they could possibly be, what would happen in the NFL?

That's what you've watched. That's exactly what the thought was way back then, and I didn't know if it was going to be received, accepted, if we were going to get kicked out. I mean, two years, three years, they run coaches in and out of this league like crazy. I didn't know. But what I do know now is that we all operate in cultures. And like in we all have philosophies, but we might not know, there's a culture in your workplace.

There's a culture in the people you hang with. There's a culture in the family that you grew up in and the one that you live in right now. You may not know what it is, though. You may not have recognized and realized that there's stuff to it. There's fabric, there's real, there's language, there's emotion, there's love, there's all kinds of stuff going on. And it is so important to engage in the culture if you want to be in a good one. You've got to take part and work to make it like if you want to be in a good one, you know. You've got to take

part and work to make it like you want it to be. What you've watched us do is come in and care for people and with an undying commitment to figure out a way to make sense that you care so much that once our guys realize it, I kind of think that after a while, they'll give us everything they got because they know that I prove it to them in every think that after a while, they'll give us everything they got. Because they know that I prove it to them in every way that we can, that we're going to look after them in every single way to help them be what they want to be and be all they can possibly be. In that, there's an environment that surrounds the culture. And in the environment that we can create, I want it to be a freaking blast. I want it to be so much fun to come to work. I want every part of it to be challenging,

upbeat, alive, thriving, heartbeat, pumping. And so the music is always playing. And so the competition is always on. Competition has become an extraordinary, it's the central theme in our program.

It has become such a great vehicle for having fun and staying engaged and putting people in situations where they find out whether they win or they lose or they don't and they do well or they don't do well or they get nervous or they don't. And then our guys get to watch the other guys compete.

We shoot hoops all the time in our room just to get guys out in front of everybody. Guys are cheering or they're watching them succeed or not succeed. There's so much life to that and so much. That's part of football to me. That's part of us growing together and creating the environment that eventually becomes something that we refer to. You can help on this one.

We refer to it as long body. It's a connection that is a tribal connection that people get when they stay and they operate and they live together and they work together. They sleep together, they eat together, they tell stories together, they hunt together, you know, whatever, they play together. That allows for a

connection that's energetic, that can be so powerful that you can feel the people around you. You can operate in connection with them. You can sense them, feel them, feel their pain, feel their joy. And that's what we're trying to do. And that's what we're working to get. And I like to think of it like when you guys went to school, did you have a class in high school where you went to? And there was that one teacher that when you came walking down the hall, something was going on in there.

There was music or there was something happening or drums were beating or the kids were laughing. And you walked in every meeting and what was going to happen? You weren't sure what it was going to be like, but you couldn't wait to get in and see what was going on. That's what I want our building to be like. And so you've got to work at it. And it's a commitment. And I think that's what people feel when they come to us and when they get around us and it's what players talk about you know when

they come to us and they leave and they get a chance to come back somebody asked Luke Wilson you guys didn't know our Luke Wilson fans like I'm like I'm like I'm like the all-time Luke Wilson fan but he's my all-time favorite but but he has stories to tell about culture. That's what you're seeing. Doesn't that seem like we just got to feel a living masterpiece? Come on. Yeah, come on.

Football. Football. No, this is the eloquence of you being able to articulate deep thoughts consistently for the last hour plus that we've been in this. That's what, to me, this is what it looks like. And I want to make a note, is that right before this we had an eight hour training that... Yeah, I heard there was... Can you raise your hand?

How many people we got? Oh, okay, look at that. Sitting in front too. That's good. So who came from Germany? Again, what is your name marika from germany to fluent where'd you come from i forgot belgium god new york terry you came from new york um california you know so i just wanted i just want to say you know like we're honored like deeply

honored to be able to share these thoughts, to convey the stuff we think about all the time. And yeah, we're kind of stupid about it. It hits a bit much sometimes. What does Glenda say? Like Lisa looks at me sometimes. My wife looks at me sometimes. She's like, again, like we're going to talk about this again. She's kind of heard it. She's kind of a master at it, so. Yeah. She's heard enough, too. Thanks for coming. We really appreciate it for all that stuff that you

get in to put, you know, go through that, just to get here and all that. That's honored. Honored to have shared stuff with you guys today. Great. Okay, so one last question, and we're running short on time, so thank you for being here. Yeah. Here we go. This has got to be really good now. This better be good. Pressure's on. Always compete. The last question, and we're running short on time, so thank you for being here. Yeah. Here we go.

This has got to be really good now. This better be good. The pressure's on. Always compete. Last question in the whole thing. Yep, right now. Yeah. Shake it out.

Come on. So, obviously, it's going to be all right. I'm your girl. I'm there. We're in it. You've got the team. Everybody's in it. You've created the culture.

It's a rock. It's a place to come. Season ends. Who's better? Ugly. It's the season ends. How do you sustain it's become. Season X, good, bad, or ugly, it's Season X. How do you sustain that? What do you do, you know, large first?

How do you get them back? Oh, yeah. Yeah, that's good. That's really good. So repeat the question for folks at home. Yeah, the question is when the season's over and there's all this energy and all this, you know, this connection and all that, how do you come back, you come back and return to it? There's cycles to it, and there's timeframes that allow for the quiet time.

It would be like bears going in hibernation. It's kind of like, you know, there's a time when it's okay to kind of get away from it. And the time together is so intense. It is so intense, and it's so extraordinarily gripping and enthralling, and enthralling because we're just so into it that it's a great time when we break. And I guess we'll break for about six weeks.

Coaches will kind of fall apart for about a month or so. And then it just starts again. And then there's a flow to it. There's a reconnecting and there's time frames and things like this. And then there's free agency and then there's drafts and then there's camps and then summertime comes and so it's got its cycle to it and so we have um become part of the cycle so um we i'd like to think that we have in flow and we do it really well and that we try to get away and try to quiet it down but honestly it goes back to the very first thing I said to you. If you have

this passion for it, you just can't get away from it. It's just that... However, I would say this. It's really important that we develop the skill to go quiet and to shut down and to get away. My phrase isn't...

Glenna hates this one, but it's maximizing the spaces between the spaces. It's finding the skill to quiet down when you have the opportunities so that you can just crank back up again and go. And so, 68, who cares? Who cares? I ain't counting. So why should you count? Is the next year the, no, it ain't.

I'm rolling. And I can't get more fired up than I am right now. So I know that's sick, but that's what it is. Okay, so last question. How do you think about, define, or articulate mastery? And you and I, we've talked about it. No way I'm answering that after all this. You can't give me a go there.

We've asked this a few times, but just give it one riff, because I ask everyone at the end of the podcast, how do you think about mastery? Okay, how do I think about it? I think about it in terms of wanting to do something really, really special. And that which it takes to accomplish that is everything you have. And no matter where you've got to go, no matter what you have to do, no matter how deep you have to go or how much it's got to hurt, how much love it's going to take, it's worth it.

And it's really kind of a dumb thing, you know, because he's just a ball coach, you know what I mean? He's just a ball coach. But, man, I want to kick ass at it, you know? You know? And so... There we go, yeah. Head coach, Pete Carroll, thank you. Thank you, everybody.

Hey, hey. Thank you. Thank you everybody. All right. Thank you so much for diving into another episode of Finding Mastery with us. Our team loves creating this podcast and sharing these conversations with you. We really appreciate you being part of this community. And if you're enjoying the show, the easiest no-cost way to support is to hit the subscribe or follow button wherever you're listening. Also, if you haven't already, please consider dropping us a review on Apple or Spotify. We are incredibly grateful for the support and feedback. If you're looking for even

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