Category Archives: Sports

BrandingBlog Radio: Michele Miller on Sports, Politics and F.A.R.E.

Recording this Podcast was a blast. I’ve been working with Michele Miller for 10 years now and being able to share conversations like this is exactly why I started podcasting.

What really made this one fun is that we were face-to-face instead of on Skype. We were both in Palm Springs to have an annual meeting with a client that we’ve worked with almost as long as we’ve been Wizard of Ads partners. This past year our retail client grew 28% over the previous year. That’s a big deal any way you look at it.

In this rambling conversation, we discuss trends in societal change, sports (was it baseball or football?), politics and New Year’s Resolutions, or the lack thereof. You’ll learn about Michele’s F.A.R.E. mantra and my own twist on it.

I hope you enjoy it. I think I managed to maintain my family friendly rating on iTunes. Somehow, turning on the recorder kept us both from flinging f-bombs around the room.

This picture was from her Wonderbranding Class at Wizard Academy on Halloween, 2007. Yes, she taught the class dressed like this.

Terry Pettit: Coach, Mentor, Author, Rockstar

Every field of endeavor has its Rockstars. In the world of Collegiate Volleyball coaching, Terry Pettit is a Rockstar. As the coach of the University of Nebraska Volleyball team Terry Pettit's coaching record was an astounding 694 and 148 (82% winning record).

Order Talent and the Secret Life of Teams When Terry travels back to Nebraska from his current home of Fort Collins, Colorado, he is recognized in stores and on the streets where people want to re-live his teams' amazing feats.

His 2008 book, Talent and the Secret Life of Teams is a masterfully crafted collection of some of the best leadership lessons you'll find anywhere. Although written about volleyball, you'd have to be pretty dense not to see the applications for business, marketing, hiring and mentoring.

It was exciting news to find out that Terry would be attending my class at Wizard Academy this week. He was an engaged and inquisitive student, asking challenging questions and always wanting to know more detail and underlying concepts in our blog/web workshop.

Both Terry and I were scheduled to fly home to the Denver airport Thursday morning, but the weather intervened, requiring us to stay in Austin for an extra day.

Today, the tables were turned.  I was treated to a personal seminar from one of the best leadership presenters I've ever come across. Pettit's stories of trust, collaborative leadership and talent are woven together with movie clips, insightful exercises and the wisdom that can only come from a lifetime of walking the walk.

A private seminar that coaches and corporations have paid tens of thousands of dollars to hear, went a long way towards making up for an extra day away from my family…not all the way…but certainly unforgettable and the best weather delay you could possibly ask for.

If you want to run into rockstars like Terry Pettit, you should come to Wizard Academy. I think Terry will be back one day soon.

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