⏳ Read Time: 4 min

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📌 What’s inside:

• 🧠 What our readers revealed about the hardest part of leadership

• 🏀 Why composure might be the most under-trained leadership skill

• 💡 5 insights from coaches that will help you lead yourself first

The Results Are In!

A couple of weeks ago, after we released our first PowerBook, You Are The Culture, we invited coaches and athletic directors to reflect on the Coach’s Control Panel. These five dials serve as the governor for your internal leadership:

Composure. Drive. Focus. Consistency. Perspective.

Then, we asked a simple follow-up question:

The results were clear — composure dominated the responses.
Over half of all readers (52%) said that staying emotionally steady under pressure and responding appropriately in the right moment was the area they were focusing on.

The next closest was consistency with 19% of the vote.

(Btw — if you’ve read but haven’t answered yet — we’d still love to know your answer! The poll is at the bottom of this post).

We’ll be honest, this result surprised both Kevin and me. It makes sense, and the way it’s presented in the poll, it’s the easiest to think of in-game, which is where coaches and ADs most naturally direct their attention when evaluating their leadership. But, we expected to see a little more votes for “Focus”. (Maybe it was wishful thinking 🙂 )

That result alone says a lot about leadership in athletics right now.
But we also ran a second poll on Twitter — one that asked what leaders believe other coaches need most.

That’s where things got interesting.

Note: We didn’t include Drive because we had already seen that it was the lowest selected in the first poll, and Twitter only lets you include four.

What you see is that when answering by what they think other coaches need the most help in, the responses were even across the board.
But when reflecting on themselves, most admitted that what they really needed was composure — something far quieter, and far harder to master.

The difference between those two responses tells a story worth sharing.

If you haven’t read it yet, here is our first PowerBook — You Are The Culture — below!

🧭 Here Are Our 5 Takeaways on This Feedback

1️⃣ We underestimate how hard composure really is.

Composure looks like calm, but it’s one of the most trained — and tested — leadership skills.

Every coach knows the feeling of a close game, a bad call, or a tough meeting. The ability to steady the room when everyone else feels the chaos is what separates leaders who last from those who burn out.

And let’s clarify, it’s not just about staying steady under pressure. The definition of Composure we use in the PowerBook was “Are you emotionally steady and respond appropriately in the right moment?”

What is the point of the steadiness? It’s so that you can respond appropriately at the right moment.

The challenge isn’t knowing what to do. It’s staying steady enough to keep doing it.

2️⃣ We think others need motivation — but we know we need stability.

When asked about others, the answers were (mostly) evenly distributed. But privately, they know it’s not about more energy — it’s about managing their energy.

That quiet truth reveals something important:

In a profession that celebrates intensity, the ability to slow down internally while everything speeds up externally might be the most underrated skill of all.

The difference in the two polls is a quiet admission that the real challenge isn’t knowing what to do — it’s staying steady enough to keep doing it well.

3️⃣ We train our players for pressure — but rarely train ourselves.

Coaches spend hours designing drills to help athletes perform under stress. Yet very few have personal “composure drills” for themselves.

Simple, repeatable rhythms can change that:

• A 30-second reset between meetings or quarters.

• A breathing routine before difficult conversations.

• A short reflection at the end of each day: “When was I steady today? When was I not?”

Pressure isn’t going away. But you can prepare for it the same way you prepare your team — with intentional reps.

4️⃣ Composure is the hidden multiplier.

Without it, focus fades. Consistency breaks. Perspective narrows.

Composure doesn’t just help you handle pressure — it enables you to lead through it.
Teams mirror the emotional state of their leader more than their words. When you’re steady, your staff and players borrow your steadiness.

As one Division I coach told us, “If I flinch, everyone feels it.”

5️⃣ Culture starts where composure starts.

The emotional tone of your team or department always starts with you.
If your leadership rhythm is scattered, your culture will be too.

That’s what You Are The Culture is really about:

Culture isn’t built through slogans or speeches — it’s built through the steadiness, clarity, and composure you model every day.

🏁 Conclusion: Lead Yourself First

The data told us what most coaches already feel but rarely say out loud:
The hardest part of leadership isn’t strategy — it’s stability.

Composure isn’t about never feeling pressure. It’s about building the capacity to stay clear and grounded when it hits.

That’s precisely what our PowerBook, You Are The Culture, was designed to help with — practical tools and reflections to help coaches and athletic directors build rhythms that sustain composure, focus, and clarity all season long.

Pre-Order The Full Book: Lead Yourself First!

When you pre-order, you’ll get:
✅ Immediate access to the next two PowerBooks as soon as they’re released
🗒️ A downloadable implementation guide for PowerBook 1 - You Are The Culture
🎥 Access to our monthly leadership webinars inside the BETTER Community
📗 A physical copy of Lead Yourself First when the full section is complete

🛠️ 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.