Using Love as a Foundation for a Championship Culture

with Blake Boldon,
Drake University Senior Associate Athletics Director;
Acting Director of Cross Country and Track & Field;
Franklin 'Pitch' Johnson Director of the Drake Relays;
former Executive Director of the Indianapolis Monumental Marathon;
former University of Pennsylvania Head Cross Country & Track & Field Coach;
2003 Missouri State University Outstanding Male Athlete Award

Blake Boldon shares years of knowledge as an elite runner, college coach, and successful businessperson to explain the four cornerstones that will help you integrate love (he calls it the 'L-word') into your program. Boldon provides best practices that he has learned through his research and communication with other successful colleagues and mentors in business and sport.

Four Cornerstones

Boldon begins by explaining the four cornerstones of a championship culture:

• Setting goals
• Using the most powerful four-letter word
• Ensuring a win/win environment
• Living the 'L-Word' culture

Boldon's cornerstones will provide you with a blueprint for how to operate in all areas of your program, including recruiting, scheduling, training/practice, and competition. You'll learn how to select appropriate goals to drive your program for the coming year, how to use simple and powerful language to represent the culture of your program, and how to get your athletes to buy in to your message.

How to Become an Effective Leader

Next, Boldon talks at length about leadership; specifically, how it relates to running a program and the culture you've created. Several other areas of creating and maintaining a championship culture are also discussed at length. Additionally, Boldon explains what an "abundance mentality" is and how important it is to creating and maintaining your culture.

In this section, you'll discover what the most important character traits are for the leader of a program, how to set the groundwork for your culture by building trust and relationships with athletes and assistant coaches, and why merely focusing on winning the game is poisonous in the long run.

This presentation is a well-organized, practical resource for all coaches at every level to use to get on the right track. Boldon helps you think of ways to refine, reestablish, and reinforce your team's culture.

52 minutes. 2021.