Episode 465: Connect, Impact, Grow: Building Trust and Mental Performance | Zach Brandon Pt. 1

Episode 465: Connect, Impact, Grow: Building Trust and Mental Performance | Zach Brandon Pt. 1

Podcast accessible on: iTunes | Spotify | YouTube

I have been in enough locker rooms to know that trust is not built in team meetings. It is built in the small moments, remembering a name, asking the right question, showing up with something useful.

In part one of JP's conversation with Zach Brandon, former Head of Mental Performance for the Arizona Diamondbacks, a lot of what I thought I knew about connection got sharpened. Zach has a way of making the important things feel simple and the overlooked things feel urgent. This episode is both.

TOC 3-2-1

3 QUOTES WORTH WRITING DOWN

"I got a lot better as a leader when I showed up every day from a space of like, hey, how can I serve you?"

— Zach Brandon

"Diluted focus produces diluted results."

— Zach Brandon

"Letting each person you come into contact with be the expert on themselves — and allowing them to share their expertise."

— Zach Brandon

2 QUESTIONS FOR YOUR TEAM

Q1: If you rated your relationship with every athlete on your roster from 1 to 5, where are the gaps — and what is one move you could make this week to close the most important one?

Q2: When is the last time you asked one of your athletes for advice? How might doing that more intentionally change the dynamic in your program?

1 RESOURCE TO GO DEEPER

Win More, Live Better by Zach Brandon

One of JP's handful of go-to podcast subscriptions. The episode featuring former Washington football coach Chris Peterson is the one that first caught JP's attention. Zach's curiosity and depth as an interviewer takes the conversation to a real level of honesty. Find it and all of Zach's work at zachbrandoncoaching.com.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Servant Leadership Is a Daily Choice, Not a Personality Trait. Zach did not become a better leader by reinventing himself. He became one by starting each day with a different question: "What do you need from me today?" The shift from output-focused to service-focused changed how his team showed up and how they responded to him.

You Cannot Build Deep Connection Without a System. The Diamondbacks' mental performance staff mapped every player relationship and graded them. Not to hit a perfect score with everyone, but to find where the gaps were and who might close them better. Connection is not just warmth. It is a strategic discipline.

Asking for Advice Builds More Trust Than Giving It. With veteran players who did not need another coach giving suggestions, Zach led with a question: "What have you found most useful?" It signaled respect, not weakness. And the answers became reference points he could return to when those players struggled later..

Diluted Focus Produces Diluted Results. Wearing multiple hats is often unavoidable. But without a clear definition of what "winning" looks like in each role, busyness masquerades as productivity. Zach reflects honestly on what it cost him to hold three jobs at once without sharp clarity on what success looked like in each.

Go See the Work. MIT professor Nelson Repinning's most overlooked leadership principle: the further up you move in any organization, the more insulated you become from ground-level reality. The fix is not more data. It is physically putting yourself where the work actually happens.

An Overused Strength Becomes a Limitation. High achievers rarely struggle with ambition. They struggle with permission to stop. Zach's honest admission, listening to podcasts in the shower without any open space for silence, captures something most coaches feel but rarely name. That permission to slow down is its own discipline.

ACTION ITEMS FOR LEADERS AND COACHES

AUDIT YOUR RELATIONSHIPS

Write down every athlete on your roster and rate your relationship with each from 1 to 5. Find the two or three lowest scores. Make one intentional move toward each of those athletes this week.

ASK FOR ADVICE

Choose one experienced athlete and ask them for advice on a specific challenge your team is facing. Use what they share as a reference point you can return to later in the season.

DEFINE YOUR WINS

Pick one role you currently hold and write down what a win actually looks like in that role this week. If you cannot define it clearly, your focus will stay scattered.

GO SEE THE WORK

Spend 20 minutes this week observing athletes or staff in an environment you do not normally occupy. Do not evaluate. Just watch what is actually happening.

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