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If you’re an assistant who wants to be a head coach, or a head coach who wants to move to a different level, these tips are for you:

After nine months at KPMG accounting firm I received a call to meet with a partner about my annual review. He told me that I was the opposite of most first year employees—I had the people skills but not the technical skills to succeed at the firm. They were letting me go. Never did I think that I would get fired from my first job out of college! Looking back, this marked a defining moment in my life.

I’ve seen it time and time again, and you have too—coaches who struggle to sleep. Particularly in-season. Late night film, crazy travel schedules and the pressure to win (and keep their job) are just a few of the reasons coaches find it tough to sleep well. The results? Moodiness. Caffeine addiction. Increased stress. Slower thinking …

You’ve probably heard it said that leaders are learners. Our world is changing at light speed, so in order to lead effectively, we’ve got to keep growing and learning. But getting better as leaders (or in any area of life) requires more than gathering and understanding information.   In practice, Penn State coach Coquese Washington …

A big birthday shout out to Coach Coquese Washington! I am super blessed to have been given the opportunity to be part of the Lady Lions staff and to work with Coquese.

After 22 seasons at LSU (13 as part of the women’s basketball coaching staff) and a season at UCF, Bob Starkey begins his first season with the Texas A&M Aggies. Bob helped guide LSU to four SEC Championships, 12 straight NCAA Tournament appearances, eight Sweet 16s, seven Elite Eights and five consecutive trips to the Final …

Mark Ehlen enters his second season as an assistant basketball coach for the Miami Redhawks after serving two years as an assistant at Cincinnati. As the head coach for 13 years at Toledo, Mark led the Rockets to four regular season MAC titles as well as four MAC Tournament Championships. With a coaching resume that …

Jane Albright enters her fifth season as the coach of the Nevada women’s basketball team. A 25+ year coaching veteran, Coach Albright is the winningest all-time women’s basketball coach at both Wisconsin and Northern Illinois and ranks 31st in wins among all active Division I coaches. More importantly, she is known for her strong faith …

Recently I attended a volunteer training for the Oasis House at which they presented a handout with skills for effective listening. Many people over the years have told me I’m a good listener, and yet I found myself challenged to become better at some of these skills.

Last weekend at the A Step Up symposium, Big East Associate Commissioner Danielle Donehew spoke to the Director of Operations group about using their transferrable skills to transition to the next level of administration. She did such a great job that symposium founder Felicia Hall Allen asked her to make the same presentation to all the coaches. Lots of helpful information! Some snippets from my notes: