I am a generalist. I am interested in all aspects of coaching and performance. I often struggle because I want to be involved in everything. I want to problem solve.

I wrote, “Coaching is one of the last, great generalist professions,” in the mid ‘00s. Coaches understood the physical and the psychological, motivation and conditioning. They knew how to teach and instruct. Their knowledge was learned primarily through observation (assistant coaches watching a head coach) and experience (actually coaching). Some beliefs were more universal than others, some practices can be criticized, and some coaches were better or more knowledgeable than others, but coaches generally accrued significant implicit and explicit knowledge about conditioning, development, motivation, skill acquisition, teaching, and more. Coaches had extensive general knowledge across a wide range of domains, although few were experts in a single domain.

WHY GENERALISTS TRIUMPH IN A SPECIALIZED WORLD “The most important business — and parenting — book of the year.” — Forbes “The most important business — and parenting — book of the year.” — Forbes “The most important business — and parenting — book of the year.” — Forbes “The most important business — and parenting — book of the year.” — Forbes “The most important business — and parenting — book of the year.” — Forbes ‹›

To him who observes them from afar, it appears as though they are scattering and dissipating their energies, while in reality they are channeling and strengthening them.