By: Jay Miller
When I resigned from my job at a small NCAA DII school in south Florida, I told myself I wanted to be a coach. Yes, I love winning, but my main reason was to be able to impact the lives of young people at critical points during their growth as a young adult.
I was blessed to be hired as the Head Softball Coach at Lake-Sumter State College in central Florida. When I took over in August of 2015, the program had averaged 11 wins a year for the previous decade and had not had a winning season since the year 2000. It was an opportunity to put my thoughts and ideas to the test.
In the third year after taking over, we had our first winning season in 19 years. After speaking at the State Softball Convention, I was approached to write a book about our program and what we did different. Shockingly enough, after a tumultuous situation with my infant son, I was inspired and sat down and wrote the book.
It was selling very well and I was set for a few speaking engagements when, BOOM, Covid. There was still this push in me to get my message out. So, I applied to be a speaker at TedxLSSC to give a TedTalk. Much to my surprise, I was selected.
The video is my presentation and my goal is to reach as many coaches and anyone in leadership positions as possible. Thank you for taking the time to watch.
Leadership Begins with Culture | Jay Miller | TEDxLSSC – YouTube