⏳ Read Time: 3 min

We’ve seen some of the fastest growth this newsletter has ever had in the past two months. Thanks for being here and being a part of our mission to raise the level of leadership in athletics.

Want to know more? Read about the BETTER Team and Mission here.

A Quick Word

About this time last year, we decided to be as clear as we could in our marketing, so we “stopped” marketing any product other than the Culture Playbook and our Coach Community. That being said, we’ve had a couple of dozen asks about our Team Talks.

For the new folks, we developed a series of Team Talks, 18 in-season and 18 out-of-season talks, designed to help coaches meet their team where they are, regardless of what challenges they face during a season. The coach can put the talk up on the screen and hit play. Or use the video to prepare themselves to give the same talk to their team.

We still have them! We don’t market them nearly as much anymore. If you’d be interested in purchasing for your Department (ADs) or your program (Coaches), just DM Seth or Kevin on Twitter or reply to this email.

Back to our regularly scheduled programming!

📌 What’s inside:

• 🎻 The research: What world-class violinists teach us about growth

• 🎾 The metaphor: Why playing more isn’t the same as getting better

• 🛠 Five practical ways to train your leadership deliberately

🎾 Anecdote: Weekend Warriors

Most leaders approach their growth the way weekend athletes approach tennis:
“I’ll play more and I’ll get better.”

You set broad goals — read more leadership books, listen to more podcasts, take a course or two. There’s some repetition, but little precision. But most leaders are left feeling frustrated that the same patterns keep showing up in their team.

But here’s the problem: you don’t reach your potential that way.
Imagine training for tennis by just playing casual matches once every week. You’ll get some exercise, but you’ll never really get better without deliberate practice on the things most holding your game back.

Remember the Inchworm? The model we use to build PGA Tour golfers’ confidence?

There are many takeaways from this model of your development. But, the one to highlight here is that the simplest and fastest way to improve is to evaluate your “worst” performances first. When you target those, you “pull the backside of the inchworm in” so that you can extend the front, your best, forward.

We use this for elite athletes, but it works just as well with coaches evaluating your performance and leadership too.

Now imagine hiring a coach, focusing on your weaknesses, getting instant feedback, and tracking your progress over time. That’s deliberate practice.

The same principle applies to your leadership. It’s not about doing “more,” it’s about doing the right things, on purpose, with feedback.

Don’t settle for being a weekend warrior as a coach.

📊 Research Insight: The Science of Expertise

Dr. K. Anders Ericsson is a Professor of Cognitive Psychology at Florida State and he studies how people become very good at things.

His groundbreaking study at the Berlin Academy of Music revealed that the best violinists weren’t practicing more hours than everyone else — they were practicing smarter.

Their sessions were structured, targeted at weaknesses, and included immediate feedback loops. This is the foundation of what Ericsson coined deliberate practice, the approach that separates good from great in every field — including coaching.

Yet most leaders approach their growth like those casual tennis players: broad, unfocused, and without feedback. The truth is, your leadership can grow just as intentionally as your athletes’ skills — if you train it the same way.

P.S. This is exactly how we built the Culture Playbook. It provides coaches with structured tools and feedback loops that enable deliberate practice for leadership and culture, all without adding to their workload.

🛠️ Putting It All Together:

🛠 Five Practical Steps to Deliberate Practice in Leadership

1. Set Specific Goals

   • Swap vague aims (“be more approachable”) for measurable actions (“host one open Q&A with athletes each month”).

2. Build Feedback Loops

   • Ask a trusted assistant, peer, or hire someone to observe your leadership and provide feedback. Even one honest check-in can sharpen blind spots.

3. Seek Immediate Feedback

   • After team talks or meetings, ask: “What landed? What didn’t?” The quicker the input, the faster the improvement.

4. Prioritize Quality Over Quantity

   • One focused 20-minute reflection beats three distracted hours of half-hearted “development work.”

5. Review & Adjust Regularly

   • Put leadership check-ins on your calendar — quarterly or biannually — to revisit goals and recalibrate.

💡 Pro Tip: Keep a simple journal. Score yourself daily on 3–5 questions (presence, clarity, handling challenges). The act of tracking creates the discipline of growth.

🏁 Conclusion: There is a Higher Ceiling Than Winning

Mastery in leadership isn’t about piling up books or podcasts. It’s about being intentional, precise, and accountable.

You’d never let your athletes settle for casual practice. Don’t let yourself settle for it either.
Because healthy leaders create healthy teams — and your team deserves your best.

We’ve been on the road!

We’ve had a busy few weeks. We’ve worked with entire school systems, community colleges, Florida Gulf Coast, Mississippi State, and several high schools. In between, we threw in some lunches and coffees with coaches we’ve been hoping to connect with for a while.

If you ever want to get a coffee or a meal and you see we’ll be in your part of the world — don’t hesitate to reach out!

To keep up with BETTER, follow:
@bebetterleaders, @KevinDeShazo, or @SethKindig on Twitter.
@bebetterleaders, @KevinDeShazo, @seth_kindig, or @visualleaders on Instagram

🧱 Build Your Culture on Purpose

Just in the past two weeks, we’ve added over 100 coaches and ADs to our Culture Playbook Community.

Most coaches know the kind of culture they want.
But when is it time to teach it, reinforce it, and make it visible?
That’s where it breaks down.

That’s why we built the Culture Playbook—a simple, customizable system you can use to make your culture clear and coachable from Day 1.

It’s packed with short, practical tools and team exercises that take your values off the wall and bring them to life.
The same tools are used by programs like Mississippi State, Florida State, and even teams at Microsoft and Google.

🛠️ Want to win more? Know Yourself First.

Just last week, nearly 60 leaders signed up for our 5-day leadership course based on your Voice!

It will be sent to your inbox starting the Monday after you take the assessment and run for that week.

The assessment takes 10-15 minutes. Take it below.