When I played tennis in high school, my coach was a guy named Ed Deitch. Ed was a new teacher and had never coached any sport before. And he didn't play tennis.
What I loved about Ed was that he didn't have an ego. He spent as much time off the court learning not only tennis but also how to coach as he did on the court leading his players.
In the summer between my junior and senior years, Ed introduced me to another coach who successfully helped a number of USTA regional and national players. Ed drove an hour from Virginia to pick me up in Maryland and take me to my lesson. Then we would grab a bite to eat and debrief. He'd drop me off at home before driving an hour back home to Virginia.
Ed was committed to whatever success he could create for each of his players first, rather than for himself. That, I think is what made him a great coach.
Years later I was introduced to today's guest NICK HANSEN. Nick coaches real estate agents all over the country to higher levels of professional and personal success. But he started his career coaching swimmers and was a hair from becoming the U.S. Olympic Swim coach.
To hear Nick talk about it, there is great art to coaching. Whether it's swimmers, baseball players or real estate agents, the ability to see each individual's strengths an weaknesses and meet them where they are rather than adhering to some coaching dogma is what contributed to the success, however defined, of the coaching client.
It's also the coach's job, Nick says, to hold his mentee accountable and this is something he is very good at. To know when they are not "on board" with the program, not giving their best efforts. While every person is different, there are fundamental things every athlete -- or Realtor®--needs to put them into position for success. Nick calls it winning the day.
The harder you focus on those fundamentals, the more time you spend in the pool, and the more intensely you are committed to doing what he calls the boring work, the more likely you'll be to touch the wall first.
We explore Nick's experience as a national class swimmer at Iowa state and then later coaching stints at the University of Arizona and then at Wisconsin. His success placing several swimmers on the U.S. National team led to him coaching the U.S. team at the world championships in Spain and to being that close to becoming the U.S. Olympic swim coach.
Nick is a friend and in full disclosure has been my coach in real estate. He approaches his clients like he coached swimmers: By understanding what each person's interests, commitments and abilities might be. For Nick the focus isn't touching the wall first. It's mastery of the craft that garners success.
Links:
Real estate:
https://www.hansenteamrealestate.com/agent/nick-hansen/
https://www.hansenteamrealestate.com/about/
https://www.hansenteamrealestate.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/RE-Coaching-Book-Hansen.pdf
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nick-hansen-002201117/
As a high school swimmer: https://siouxcityjournal.com/sports/swimming-and-diving/college/hansen-inducted-into-swimming-hall-of-fame/article_46809a87-1
Website: https://christianrward.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/christianrward/