What lessons can leaders draw from championship-winning coaches? Kevin is joined by Chantal Vallée, who discusses her academic research on leadership and coaching success across sports, business, education, and healthcare. She identified four essential elements shared by great leaders: a compelling vision, strong organizational skills, a focus on individual development, and the ability to utilize key leadership traits. Together, Kevin and Chantal explore topics like setting a vision, handling pressure, and trusting the process. Chantal also offers practical tools for leadership, including the Council of Advisors and symbolic team-building exercises.

Listen For

00:00 Welcome to the Remarkable Leadership Podcast
00:39 Join Our Live Recordings
01:05 About Flexible Leadership
01:32 Introducing Chantal Vallée
02:48 Chantal’s Journey from Player to Coach
04:14 Why Chantal Wrote Her Book
05:13 Research Behind High-Performance Teams
06:28 Applying Research to Build a Championship Team
07:09 The Four-Part Leadership Framework
08:57 The Power of Vision
09:38 Organizational Skills as a Leadership Pillar
10:37 Investing in Individual Growth
11:12 Leadership Attributes: The Full Spectrum
11:42 Connecting to Flexible Leadership
12:02 Clarifying Organizational Skills
12:54 The Five-Year Vision and Recruiting
14:17 Making the Vision Real Through Staged Goals
16:19 Trusting the Process
17:28 Sacrificing Short-Term Wins for Long-Term Culture
18:29 Teaching Culture Through Strategic Decisions
19:13 Undervalued Leadership Attribute
20:27 The Importance of Lifelong Learning
21:34 Building a Council of Advisors
24:17 Inclusive Decision-Making as a Leader
25:06 Leading After a Crushing Defeat
26:10 Symbolism of the Hill and Letting Go
28:32 Applying Coaching Lessons to Business Leadership
28:52 Coaching Men’s Professional Basketball
30:22 Rapid Organizational Transformation
30:35 What Chantal Does for Fun
31:22 Recommended Book: Breaking the Habit of Being Yourself
32:14 Final Thoughts and Next Steps

Chantal's Story: Chantal Vallée is the author of Dare to Win: The Blueprint to Building and Leading High Performance and Championship Teams. She is the Windsor Lancers Women’s Basketball Coach and transformed a last-place team into five-time national champions. She was also the first woman worldwide to coach and manage a men’s professional team (Hamilton Honey Badgers), guiding them to the finals. Chantal Vallée lives in Windsor, ON.