Cover Page

Coaching Up!

Inspiring Peak Performance When It Matters Most

Jordan Fliegel
with Kathleen Landis Lancaster

Wiley Logo

Dedication

This book is for all the fathers who have steadfastly coached me up over the years: my devoted father and best friend, Dorian Fliegel; my terrific stepfather, Michael Keating; my magnificent godfather, Guido Goldman; and my unfailingly supportive honorary father, Elliot Levine; and for my beloved one and only mother, Kathleen Lancaster, who suggested to me some decades back that it might be a good idea to write things down from time to time, and who is still helping me do it.

With all my love,
JLF

Praise for Coaching Up!

“Jordan Fliegel was an outstanding basketball player who became a brilliant coach and entrepreneur. He brought all three skill sets together in founding CoachUp, Inc., which is so masterfully enabling thousands of coaches and players to work together. Now he is offering all of us his original, creative, and eminently implementable ideas in this remarkable book, which will appeal to everyone who coaches or is coached in sports, business, or any other activity.”

Marc Gerson, Cofounder and Chairman of Gerson Lehrman Group, Thuzio, United Hatzalah, African Mission Healthcare Foundation, and United Rescue

“Jordan's success as an athlete and entrepreneur can be attributed to his keen understanding of the elements of effective leadership—whether on the court or in the boardroom. Coaching Up! is a fantastic read for you if you believe in building genuine relationships with teammates, colleagues, and friends—especially if you want to know how to provide active support and how to inspire success.”

John Harthorne, Cofounder and CEO of MassChallenge, a startup-friendly accelerator whose 835 alumni have raised $1.4 billion, generated $575 million, and created 8,500 jobs globally to date

“Jordan Fliegel's insights and guidelines, based on firsthand experience with professional athletes and top-notch coaches, apply equally well to the coaching needed by students, aspiring entrepreneurs, and executives struggling to meet the challenges of development and growth, as well as to those working to succeed on the playing field.”

Edward Roberts, Professor, MIT Sloan School of Management, Founder and Chair, MIT Entrepreneurship Center (now the Trust Center for MIT Entrepreneurship)

Coaching Up! soars above the array of books on how to be a good coach or leader by literally practicing what it preaches. In this engagingly written book, Jordan Fliegel addresses his readers directly in a frank, first-person conversation about how inspirational leadership actually works. In doing so, he creates with us exactly the kind of connection he describes as the basis for coaching someone up, i.e., what any writer, coach, executive, or parent aspires to: an authentic and heartening relationship with his or her readers, players, colleagues, or family members.”

Adele Pressman, Child Psychiatrist; Assistant Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School; Author of Pump Prout: a Little League Novel; and the mother of two Division I athletes

“The way people work has radically changed, and as business leaders we need to evolve our approach to coaching, too. Jordan really gets this and provides actionable guidance for leaders to create the right environment for employee growth and transformation.”

Brian Halligan, Cofounder and CEO of HubSpot; Author of Inbound Marketing: Attract, Engage, and Delight Customers Online

“Employee coaching is such an important part of a successful company culture. As Coaching Up! emphasizes, guidance and transparency are more important than ever. They can be the deciding factors between a mediocre and a remarkable company.”

Dharmesh Shah, Cofounder and CTO of HubSpot; Author of Inbound Marketing: Attract, Engage, and Delight Customers Online

“In Coaching Up! Jordan Fliegel demonstrates how the best coaches build trusting relationships, focus on strengths, and give specific timely guidance for effective action. Vibrant coaching success stories and proven techniques make this book an essential read for all management and life coaches, and for everyone exercising leadership in families and organizations.”

Joan Bragar, EdD, Author of Leading for Results: Five Practices to Use in Your Personal and Professional Life

“I have always been an overachiever. Growing up in a family in which my mom and dad were married and divorced four times each and I had lived in 17 apartments by the time I was 18, with a lot of violence in the family unit, I was lucky to have sports and some great mentors to guide me toward a better future. Growing up, I did not have tools like the ones found in Coaching Up! That's the bad news. The good news is that reading Coaching Up! has given me great new tools for leadership and for life. I will use these tools to continue to drive and refocuse my energy, not only for myself, but also for the benefit of my close business, entertainment, and political associates. Congratulations, Jordan.”

Scott Brown, former U.S. Senator and Fox News Contributor