We were lucky to catch up with Jared Frank recently and have shared our conversation below.

Jared, appreciate you joining us today. Let’s start with the story of your mission. What should we know?

We believe many Americans remain in the midst of a mental health pandemic, lacking a true sense of self or positive setting in which to discover it. We also believe the sport of football (and athletics generally) offers critical life lessons and shared human experiences that generate moments of self-actualization for its participants.

Participation has wavered amid health and safety concerns, but those concerns are a red herring for the sport’s true problem – poor coaching. Unqualified coaches teach bad technique and flawed strategies throughout the industry, leading to performance below potential and most injuries.

Coach and Coordinator Media serves football coaches at all levels of play, from youth to professional. We exist to raise the definition of good coaching. We are a community of coaches motivated to improve their careers, programs, players, families, and overall lifestyles to realize the best versions of ourselves, everyone we serve, and the game itself. At Coach and Coordinator, we put the ladder down for any coach willing to put the work in and harness the power of collaboration to accelerate what’s possible for the game and its people.

We are passionate about this mission because we have lived it ourselves and want to ensure it is passed on to the next generation of coaches and players. All players deserve coaches who value them and help them see value in themselves. The bonds between players and coaches are rocket fuel for realizing our full potential.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

I have always thrived in leadership roles within team settings. I played football through the college level at the University of Dayton and earned the program’s award for most inspirational leadership during my senior season. A medical situation abruptly ended my playing career shortly before graduation, which occupied my focus for a couple years and changed the trajectory of my life.

During this time, I fell in love with the arts and the written word. I started writing poetry and fiction. I had always enjoyed reading classic literature and scribbling in a notebook, but I never expected to make money from it. I have a degree in civil engineering because that’s what I thought I was supposed to do with my life. But as I’ve gotten older, I’ve learned that man doesn’t run down his destiny. Destiny runs down the man.

I ended up landing a job as head of content for a professional trade association serving the sports industry. In that role, I was introduced to small business and the opportunity to wear many hats and solve many problems, all while being a part of a community again and being that community’s storyteller.

After 15 years, I decided it was time to stake my own claim and plant my own flag. I was fortunate to meet someone with a common value system who ultimately became my business partner on Coach and Coordinator Media. We both have a unique blend of right brain and left brain skills and interests, we now put them to use as entrepreneurs.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

I used to believe the most important attribute of a successful professional was talent, courage being a very close second. Success still requires talent and courage, but now, I believe the most non-negotiable skill one must master to succeed is focus.

There are a lot of talented people with great ideas. There are a lot of courageous people with resilience. But there are far fewer people with the capability to focus their talent and grit on the task at hand, whatever that task might be.

In the early days of our business, we tried to do everything at once. But Rome wasn’t built in a day, as the expression goes. We lacked the discipline to pull back our expectations. We never finished a to-do list, and at our quarterly reviews, we never accomplished even half of the goals we had set for ourselves. It was demoralizing to our confidence.

Part of the attraction to starting your own business is the idea that you will be unbridled. But that is simply untrue in my experience. Entrepreneurship requires an even more heightened level of focus and restraint to edit your vision and execute daily. When you do less, you accomplish more.

Any advice for managing a team?

People are pretty simple when you peel back the layers of the onion. All people want to be seen, heard, and valued. See your people, hear them, value them.

There are all sorts of programs and incentives that you can implement – awards, recognition, bonuses, etc. But you don’t need an “employee of the month” program. The most effective way to see, hear, and value your people is through direct, kind, and clear communication.

No one wants to be spoken to. They want to be spoken with. Ditch the passive aggressiveness. Be very, very direct with your message, whether it is good or bad news, and listen. Your people will value that transparency and vulnerability, knowing you value them enough to be transparent and vulnerable. And if they don’t value those things, they’re probably not the right person to have in your organization.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://coachandcoordinator.com/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jaredfrank/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/JaredCFrank36