Most athletes are taught to beat the person across from them. Run faster. Score more. Earn the starting spot. Win the matchup. But Josh Young challenges athletes and coaches to think differently: What happens when your greatest competition becomes the person you were yesterday? On a recent episode of the Game Changers Lead Podcast, we sat down with Josh, former Drake University standout, professional basketball player, and author of Competition of One, for a powerful conversation about performance, leadership, and program culture. We talked about what happens when athletes start taking ownership of their own growth. Because here's the challenge for us as coaches: Great cultures don't eliminate competition. They teach athletes how to compete the right way. When athletes learn to pursue excellence without constantly measuring themselves against everyone else, we begin developing competitors who are more confident, accountable, resilient, and capable of leading others. Check out this episode and then join the conversation below. 🏀 COACH CONVERSATION: Are you building a culture where your athletes are simply trying to beat each other, or one where they're challenging each other to become better? What does that look like in your program? Drop your thoughts below. 👇

We often talk about legacy as something we leave behind. But legacy isn't built at the end. It's built in layers over time, and it's being built right now. Think about the layers that create a lasting program: 1. IDENTITY — What do we stand for? 2. STANDARDS — How do we live it? 3. PEOPLE — Who carries it forward? 4. SYSTEMS — How do we make it repeatable? 5. TRADITIONS — What keeps the story alive? Here's the key: If the culture depends entirely on the coach, it isn't legacy yet. Legacy begins when what you believe gets built into your people and systems so deeply that it becomes: “This is how we do things here.” COACH CONVERSATION Which building block is strongest in your program right now? Identity | Standards | People | Systems | Traditions And which one needs the most work? Drop yours below. 👇 Legacy isn't something you leave someday. It's something you're building today.

Every season eventually ends. The final horn sounds. Seniors graduate. Records are broken. Trophies collect dust. And eventually, someone else will stand where you're standing. So here's a question worth asking: What will remain because you coached here? That's the difference between building a team and building a program. A team can have a great season. A program develops an identity that lasts beyond one season, one graduating class, and eventually, beyond one coach. Your legacy isn't simply your record. It's the standards your players carry forward. It's the leaders you developed. It's the way former players treat people. It's the expectations younger athletes inherit. It's the traditions that reinforce what matters. And it's the culture that remains when you're no longer in the room. That's why culture building requires us to think beyond the next game. We're not simply asking: "How do we win this season?" We're also asking: "What are we building that deserves to last?" Coach Reflection Imagine someone describing your program five years after you've left it. What do you hope they say? Don't give me your record. Don't give me championships. Give me the three words you want to describe the program you built. Drop your three words below. 👇 Because championships will create great memories, but culture creates meaning and purpose. Let's build something worth passing on.

One of the most important decisions you make as a leader happens when you see something that doesn't meet the standard. Do you address it? Or do you walk past it? Because eventually… The standard you walk past becomes the standard you accept. - Bad body language. - Walking through a drill. - A teammate being disrespected. - Excuses after a mistake. - Equipment left for someone else to pick up. None of these moments seem huge by themselves. But culture is rarely lost in one dramatic moment. It erodes through small behaviors that repeatedly go unchallenged. And here's where leadership development gets interesting: Eventually, your players have to learn to see those moments too. The goal isn't for the coach to become the culture police. The goal is to develop a team where players recognize the standard, take ownership of it, and have the courage to protect it. That's when you know culture is becoming player-owned instead of coach-enforced. Today's Challenge Think about the last week. What's one thing you walked past that you probably should have addressed? Now take it one step further: What's one behavior you want your players to begin addressing without waiting for a coach? Drop one below. What you permit, you promote. Protect the standard.