🧭 Meet the Greatest NCAA Coach of All Time

Jim Steen on Growth

“Find a place within yourself where success and failure don’t matter, a place where you can engage in battle without compromise.”

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The Power of Affirmations

Jim Steen didn’t just win 50 championships at Kenyon College, he built champions and better humans.

In yesterday’s X post, we looked at 7 timeless lessons from his swimmers - stories of belief, care, and presence that live far beyond the pool.

But Steen didn’t just coach swimming. He coached life.

And one speech from him - delivered to Kenyon’s graduating class of 2011 - might be the most complete breakdown of what performance really is.

Why this matters: We often think performance is about doing the thing:
The rep. The meet. The test. The job. But Steen redefined performance as something deeper:

“One’s capacity to perform is a factor of time and effort, incentive and circumstance… evaluated by how successfully it was mastered.”

His philosophy and message was created through decades of helping people grow, not just win.

🔍 What to know

Steen believed performance came down to three essential questions:

1. How’s your attitude?

   “It’s not whether it’s good or bad. It’s whether it defines your direction.”

   Steen treated your attitude like a compass. Most people don’t veer off course on purpose, but a few degrees off every day can take you miles from where you want to be. It means challenging someone isn’t criticism, it’s showing that you believe in their potential.

2. How’s your preparation?

   “A momentary flurry of intensity pales in comparison to the day-in-and-day-out consistency needed to move to the next level.”

   “Too much hard work with too little imagination leads to underperformance.”

   It’s about being consistent with working hard. It’s not just working hard for the sake of the grind, but being intentional about how you work as well. It means living the details and thinking creatively. You need to have a vision of where you want to grow and prepare with the details to make that vision come true.

3. Do you live under a threat or for a challenge?

   “Perceived threats reduce us… but when we reframe them as challenges, we come alive.”

   That was Steen’s favorite quote about living under a threat or for a challenge. You have to accept that there are challenges in life and that you want to show up for those challenges. It reframes your mindset to embrace challenges instead of viewing them as threats.

📚 So what can we learn from this?

Great coaching isn’t about chasing outcomes. It’s about transformation. Jim Steen didn’t just win with athletes, he built a coaching tree still thriving today.

His former assistants - now head coaches at Emory, Denison, Princeton, Kenyon, Brown, and beyond - lead the same way he did:

You need to emphasize performance, but great coaches balance being demanding and holding you to a high standard with truly caring for you. They push you to perform because they believe in you and your potential.

➡️ If you're interested in more… This week inside Premium, we're diving into the most important shift happening in sports you’re probably not hearing about. We’re breaking down:

• The #1 trend top programs are using to win consistently

• How to reframe stress so your team performs better under pressure

• A simple 3-step process to build real confidence that sticks

It’s short. It’s clear. It’s actionable. And it might just change the way you lead forever. → Start your free trial today!

🧠Questions to Ask Others You’re Leading

• If you’re a manager or coach: Are you guiding your team through pressure or helping them reframe it as a challenge? Are you building belief and intentionality into your preparation?

• If you’re a leader: Are you showing people how to lead with consistent effort and intentionality? Are you reinforcing the character habits that build long-term growth?

• If you’re a parent: Are you modeling belief not just in their success, but in their growth? Do your kids know you're in their corner when you say “you can do better”?

• If you’re an athlete: Are you living with a challenge mindset? Are you training with consistency and intentionality to grow or just effort?

Final Takeaway: True performance isn’t about outcomes - it’s about who you become in the process.

Sources:

1. Jim Steen commencement speech at Kenyon College (2011)

2. Jess Book Discusses His Team’s Success and the Coach Who Started it All, Jim Steen

3. Jim Steen Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony PART 1: Early Years

Favorite Posts I Found This Week

Free Mental Fitness Links 👇

For coaches and leaders:

• Dick Vermeil on leadership

• Roy Williams explaining the greatest timeout of all-time

• The 3 things needed to build a winning according to a SB winning coach

• 4 bad habits to get rid of in your culture

For athletes and performers:

• 5 things stopping you from your goals

• John Harbaugh defining resilience for you

• Dan Quinn on hard work and adversity

• 7 self-discipline habits of successful people

What I am reading and listening to:

📚 Book: Team of Teams: New Rules of Engagement for a Complex World by General Stanley McChrystal

🎥 Video: Deion Sanders Interview: How Coach Prime Inspires Champions!

🎧Podcast: Eric Musselman - How To Build a Team (Head Men's Basketball Coach at the University of Arkansas) | Learning Leader Show

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