Hugh McCutcheon Spikes With New Book ‘Championship Behaviors’
“Humility, clear expectations, and alignment on principles are essential components of all successful teams,” says Hugh McCutcheon, US Olympic gold medal volleyball coach.
Talking on the Organizational Health Advantage podcast to James Felton and Keith Hadley about his new book Championship Behaviors: A Model For Competitive Excellence In Sports, McCutcheon says the primary role of a coach is to be a “five-star teacher” of competitive excellence. He calls the current role definition of a coach “complex, challenging and consuming.” There are over 300,000 coaches in the US professional sports industry, and very few, says McCutcheon, have academic preparation to support their vocational choice. “The reliance is heavily on tradition as opposed to best practice.”
New Zealand born McCutcheon is a Hall of Fame, gold-medal winning coach of the U.S. Men’s Olympic Volleyball Team in 2008, a silver medalist with the U.S. women’s team in 2012, and has just been named the University of Minnesota’s assistant athletics director for coach and sport development following 11 years as head coach of the University of Minnesota’s women’s volleyball team with a .79 win record over 351 games, including 5 sweet sixteens, 2 elite eights and 3 final fours in NCAA tournament play. His new position as ‘coach of coaches’ involves mentoring, advocating and problem-solving for the coaches of the university’s 19 sports teams. It is understood to be the first such in-house hire for this role in college athletics.
Championship Behaviors has been called “a masterclass in a positive coaching paradigm that has the potential to influence coaches and athletes in all sports.” The playbook for effective athlete education and team building incorporate McCutcheon’s framework for excellence based on decades of coaching experience and competitive success, the foundation of which is “operating at the center.”
A sought-after coach-of-coaches, consultant and speaker, McCutcheon integrates the physical, mental, and social aspects of sport to maximize chances of competitive success and significant achievement. The book draws on the groundbreaking sports science of many, including the world’s foremost researcher of deliberate practice and expertise, Dr. Anders Ericsson.
Source: The Organizational Health Advantage Podcast, S2E1 Hugh McCutcheon – Championship Behavior, March 1, 2023
