Leading through adversity is the part of coaching leadership that never makes the job description. In this keynote from Larry Shyatt’s The Clinic, retired Army officer and leadership advisor Ian Palmer shares three leadership lessons for coaches who are trying to protect their program from the noise without losing focus on the work that actually matters. The hardest stretch of my 26 years in uniform came during a command where the pressure was coming from every direction at once, and the standard I was responsible for meeting never moved an inch. I learned more about leadership in those nine months than in the decade that preceded them, and the tension translates directly to coaching. In this talk, you’ll learn three principles for leading a team under pressure: Be a buffer, not a bunker. Lead from a vision you wrote yourself rather than one you borrowed from someone else. Remember that leaders need other leaders, because the scariest place to be is inside your own head. Grateful to Coach Shyatt and his family for the invitation, to Coaching U for permission to share the video, and to every coach in that room who spent those days investing in their own leadership and not just their scheme. Ian Palmer Leadership provides leadership development and culture building for coaches and athletic programs. [website link] #CoachingLeadership #LeadingThroughAdversity #TeamCulture #CoachDevelopment #BasketballCoaching

Bubba Startz talks with Ian Palmer about his path from military service and family life into leadership consulting. Ian breaks down how athletics shaped his approach, from coaching teams to coaching coaches and preparing assistant coaches for head coaching roles. The conversation covers finding a leadership voice, building culture, and creating championship standards built on competitive greatness. They also discuss why he works most with assistant coaches, relationship-based networking, storytelling, writing, and the long-term impact of leadership. Ian shares IanPalmerLeadership.com and newsletter info before the episode wraps. The Hook: Most business shows give you "expert" advice from the top of the mountain. REEL Biz with Bubba Startz is different. We’re in the trenches with you. The Mission: We are building a global community for founders, entrepreneurs, and creators to share the raw, unfiltered truth of building a business in today’s economy. From the growing pains of a startup to the triumphs of a seasoned CEO, we cover the real struggles that "gurus" won't tell you about. The Value (B2B Discovery): This isn't just a show—it's a network. We created REEL Biz to facilitate B2B partner discovery. We give business owners a platform to tell their stories, showcase their expertise, and connect with a community of like-minded leaders. What to Expect: Full-Length Interviews: Deep dives into founder journeys, overcoming adversity, and scaling through the noise. REEL Biz Shorts: High-impact clips on AI in business, social media promotion, and entrepreneurship hacks. The Raw Truth: No scripts, no fluff—just the real business of building. Call to Action: Ready to be part of the scene? Subscribe to join the network.

In this week's episode, Coach Brendan Suhr is joined by Ian Palmer — a retired U.S. Army colonel and leadership advisor for corporations, coaches, and teams. Palmer spent 26 years in the Army, moving from a 16-soldier tank platoon to command of a 5,000-soldier brigade combat team to chief of staff of an armored corps responsible for 90,000 people. He explains how the Army treats leadership as a continuously evolving laboratory rather than something you either have or don't, and why the skills that get someone promoted are almost never the skills the new job requires. From there he and Suhr get into what translates directly to a locker room: why leadership is always about people, the three questions every person on a team is silently asking, how to build discipline through clear expectations rather than rules, and why walking past a broken standard quietly creates a new and lower one. Palmer also makes the case for recruiting to character you've defined in advance, developing your assistants into head coaches, and leading from your own personality instead of copying the coach you worked for. All that and more on Episode 340 of the Coaching U Podcast presented by Noah Basketball. Noah Basketball is trusted by 28 NBA teams, over 200 NCAA programs, and over 1,000 high school programs to capture and analyze key shooting metrics to help your players perfect their shot and reach their max potential. Learn more at noahbasketball.com Learn more about Ian or book a consultation at www.ianpalmerleadership.com/ The full Shyatt Clinic video set is live now on Coaching U+ — including Ian Palmer's leadership session, plus Josh Schertz, Justin Gainey, God Shammgod, Brad Brownell, John Calipari, Nate Oats, Jai Lucas, and Billy Donovan. Watch this video set along with our entire library of Coaching U clinic videos anytime, anywhere, on any device NOW: https://coachinguplus.com Not a member? Save 20% off your membership to Coaching U+ by using promo code PODCAST20 at checkout ---- 3:29 Meeting at the Shyatt Clinic 4:53 From athlete to soldier to leadership advisor 6:51 What General Mark Hertling taught Coaching U 7:58 How the Army actually teaches leadership 9:02 From 16 soldiers to 90,000 9:26 The promotion trap 11:40 Leaders build relationships 12:13 Trust is the foundation 13:19 The three questions 15:18 Leading a team you didn't get to pick 17:44 Discipline starts with clear expectations 18:56 Accountability and the lower standard 19:34 Courage 23:00 Recruiting to character you've defined 24:41 The four C's of coaching 26:41 Consistency and owning your imperfections 28:31 Lombardi, Wooden, and competitive greatness 29:34 The number one job of a leader 31:55 Don't try to be Bill Belichick 34:00 Internal leadership and psychological safety 38:00 Learning he was an introvert 41:33 A "get to" job

Host Coach Tim Neiman welcomes retired U.S. Army Colonel Ian Palmer — military strategist, leadership coach, and mentor — to this episode of Straight Lines. Colonel Palmer spent over 26 years leading soldiers across the globe, rising from ROTC lieutenant to colonel, and now brings those hard-won lessons directly to coaches, athletes, and business leaders through his company, Ian Palmer Leadership. He and Coach Neiman dig into why the overlap between military leadership and athletics is deeper than most people realize — discipline, trust, cohesion, shared goals — and why culture always beats talent when things get hard. Colonel Palmer opens up about the pivotal moment in his career when he had to choose humility over ego, why being a great follower is the prerequisite to becoming a great leader, and why caring — not credentials — is the true common denominator among the best leaders he's ever served alongside. He also shares a powerful framework for young leaders: name your purpose, define your core values, and make sure your daily behaviors connect directly back to both. A must-listen for coaches, leaders, and anyone searching for the straight line between who they are and what they do every single day. Subscribe for more episodes every week! https://www.youtube.com/@NeimanLegacyNetwork Tim Neiman is a 14-time Coach of the Year and Hall of Fame baseball coach with 36 years at DeSales University, 868 career wins, and 13 players who’ve gone pro. From NCAA tournaments to the College World Series, scouting for MLB teams, and broadcasting AAA baseball, Tim’s career is built on winning cultures and inspiring people to reach their full potential.

Tim Neiman is a 14-time Coach of the Year and Hall of Fame baseball coach with 36 years at DeSales University, 868 career wins, and 13 players who’ve gone pro. From NCAA tournaments to the College World Series, scouting for MLB teams, and broadcasting AAA baseball, Tim’s career is built on winning cultures and inspiring people to reach their full potential.

Folarin Balogun took a harsh red card at the World Cup, and what he did next is the part worth studying. He didn't rage at the officials or play the victim. He owned his part, kept his composure, and put his eyes on the next match. The call was never his to control. His response was. That's personal accountability under a spotlight, and it is the first thing any team learns from the person leading it. Your players are always watching how you handle the calls that go against you, the losses you didn't deserve, and the criticism that wasn't fair. That is where trust, accountability, and shared purpose are built, or quietly lost. I'm Ian Palmer. I help coaches go beyond the X's and O's to build championship cultures rooted in personal leadership, aspirational vision, and disciplined execution.

Saturdays used to just be a day off. Somewhere along the way they became something more useful—a pressure release valve, a place to catch up on everything that piled up during the week instead of letting it create anxiety in the background. That got me thinking about how the same idea applies to the way we manage our time every day. Good time management isn't about scheduling every minute. It's about dedicating time to the things that matter most, getting them on the calendar, and then leaving room for the unexpected, because something always comes up. The trap is the stuff that never seems to get its own time, or quietly eats more of your day than you'd like. Email is the obvious one. A lot of leaders stay chained to the inbox because they don't want to miss what's next. When I was in the busiest jobs of my Army career, the thing that helped most was simple: triage email in the morning, answer what's urgent, file the rest. Do the same at the end of the day. Bookend it. That backstop is what let me get out of the office, go see people, and actually be present with them—because I knew I had time to catch up later. So here's the question I'll leave you with: what's your pressure release valve? Where can you set one simple boundary that frees you up to be more present in everything else? Most of us recognize this as a good idea and then stop short of putting it in place. This week, name it—and do it.

"Leading by example" might be the most overused phrase in coaching. It's also one of the most misunderstood. Too many leaders use it as a shield — a way to avoid the harder, more uncomfortable work of actually leading people. Self-leadership isn't the job. It's the price of admission. In this video, I break down why "leading by example" becomes a cop-out, what real influence requires, and the three movements that help you develop a leadership voice that's unmistakably yours. Subscribe to The Competitive Edge Newsletter here: ianpalmerleadership.com/newsletter Schedule a conversation: ianpalmerleadership.com #LeadershipDevelopment #CoachingLeadership #LeadByExample #ChampionshipCulture #LeadershipVoice #CoachDevelopment #SportsLeadership #LeadershipCoaching #PersonalLeadership #CoachingTheCoach #TeamCulture #LeadershipMindset #InfluentialLeadership #CoachesCorner #LeadershipMatters

Ian Palmer is a retired U.S. Army Colonel with more than 26 years of experience leading organizations in complex, global, and high-stakes environments. He commanded at every echelon from platoon to brigade combat team, culminating in service as Chief of Staff of the III Armored Corps, where he led the synchronization of operations and strategy for a 90,000-person organization across five Army installations. His career included combat tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, advisory and partnership missions across Europe, the Middle East, and Asia, and strategic assignments on the Joint Staff in the Pentagon, where he advised national leaders on global operations. A lifelong leader and mentor, Ian has built teams from the ground up, led organizations through crisis and transformation, and shaped leader development across every level of the Army. _______________ MENTORS4MIL SHOW LINKS: SUBSCRIBE: https://www.youtube.com/@Mentors4mil Support the Show: https://www.patreon.com/Mentors4mil Listen on Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/mentors-for-military-podcast/id1072421783 Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3w4RiZBxBS8EDy6cuOlbUl Follow on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mentors4mil Follow on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Mentors4Mil/ Follow on X: https://www.twitter.com/mentors4mil Mentors4mil Website: https://www.mentorsformilitary.com #mentors4mil #mentorsformilitary Guest Links: https://www.ianpalmerleadership.com 00:00 Intro & Back-Story 14:08 Choosing Armor branch 23:00 First assignment at Fort Hood — Force 21 32:00 Germany, division staff, Kosovo & Turkey planning 01:03:00 Squadron command at JBLM & Pacific Pathways 01:14:00 Joining and standing up 1st SFAB 01:27:00 Brigade command at Fort Hood & scrutiny 01:44:00 Post-retirement: consulting and athletics focus Intro music "Long Way Down" by Silence & Light is used with permission. Show Disclaimer: https://mentorsformilitary.com/disclaimer/

We've all heard "it's a marathon, not a sprint." But what does that actually mean for the way you develop yourself, your team, or your program? In this video I unpack the marathon metaphor as a framework for leader development. Because the components of marathon training — long-term commitment, daily discipline, structure, mental endurance, recovery from setbacks — are the same components that build durable leaders and lasting programs. Four things every coach and leader needs: Know where you are. Honest self-assessment first, before anything else. Know where you're going. A vision that's realistic and ambitious — both, not one or the other. Have a plan. The path from where you are to where you're going, broken down into daily rhythms and habits. Execute the plan with discipline. Especially the day after a setback. Especially the day after a win. One of the things that surprised me most across years of marathon training: the residual effects of the training were as beneficial as the training itself. Better sleep. Better food. Better focus across every other part of life. The discipline you build in one place feeds the discipline you build everywhere else. The same is true for the work of building a championship culture. This video is a companion to my newsletter series, Development as a Marathon, where I'm walking through seven races across 24 years and what each one taught me about leadership. New piece every week. Subscribe to the channel for more. Sign up for the Competitive Edge newsletter at www.ianpalmerleadership.com/newsletter Until next time — culture wins. #Leadership #CoachingDevelopment #ChampionshipCulture #LeaderDevelopment #Marathon

Most people hear great ideas every day… and forget them just as fast. In this video, I break down a simple but powerful leadership habit: taking notes—and why research shows it can improve learning and retention by 10–15%. Drawing from my experience in the military and leadership development, I walk through a practical 3-step framework to turn information into action: Take notes to capture and retain what matters Make a plan so learning doesn’t disappear after the moment Take action to build real improvement over time I also share a real example from a coaching clinic, where even top performers like Eddie George were still taking notes, because growth never stops. If you want to lead better, learn faster, and actually apply what you’re hearing, this is where it starts. #ChampionshipCulture #CultureWins #Leadership #CoachingLeadership #TeamCulture #CompetitiveEdge #SportsLeadership #CoachDevelopment

Why do so many leaders struggle to motivate their teams? Because most leaders misunderstand what motivation actually is. In this video, I explain why motivation is not something leaders create in the moment of performance, but something that is built long before pressure ever arrives. True team motivation comes from trust, preparation, buy-in, accountability, and culture, not from speeches, hype, or emotional intensity. If you are a coach, executive, manager, or team leader trying to build a high-performance culture, this video will challenge how you think about motivating people and show you what great leadership really requires. Why motivation is revealed under pressure, not created there Why most motivational speeches fail to create lasting performance How trust and team culture drive sustainable motivation Why preparation matters more than hype How great leaders build environments where effort is inevitable Subscribe for weekly content on leadership development, team culture, coaching leadership, and building a competitive edge: ianpalmerleadership.com/newsletter #ChampionshipCulture #CultureWins #Leadership #CoachingLeadership #TeamCulture #CompetitiveEdge #SportsLeadership #CoachDevelopment