Mindful Monday / Issue #514
Building a Championship Culture
March 30, 2026 · By Ryan Hawk, host of The Learning Leader Show
Welcome to Mindful Monday!
My new book, The Price of Becoming, is now available to pre-order. Please do that now. If you’ve already done so, thank you! Email us (me or Eli@LearningLeader.com), and we’ll send you a digital copy of the book right now. If you want to see all the cool pre-order bonuses we’ve set up for you, CLICK HERE.
Here are some things from this week…
- I went to Nashville to meet with one of the most impactful coaches in America (Clark Lea)
- Remember Ramit’s book-buying rule…
- A lesson from March Madness
- An incredible letter Steve Kerr wrote for John Schneider after losing the World Series
- Some wise words from 4-Star General Stanley McChrystal about The Price of Becoming
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#681: Clark Lea – “Relatedness is Our Edge”
Clark Lea is the head football coach at Vanderbilt. He’s inherited a program that had gone winless the year before he got there. What he’s built since is remarkable: a 40–35 upset of No. 1 Alabama, back-to-back SEC Coach of the Year awards, and Vanderbilt’s first 10-win season in program history. Highlights from the talk: Rebuilding a Program, Belief as a Practice, Leading Misfits, Ownership Mentality, and Why Relatedness Is Your Edge. This was filmed in the locker room at Vanderbilt. Check it out on YouTube.
Ramit’s Book Buying Rule
Ramit Sethi’s Book-Buying Rule: If you’re even considering buying a book, JUST BUY IT. I’m so grateful that my parents taught me that the price of a book should never stop me from buying it. Just 1 good idea makes it worth it, and I’ve discovered so many great books and authors by accident this way.
A Lesson From March Madness
This was Maryland coach Brenda Frese, nose-to-nose with her star Oluchi Okananwa during the NCAA tournament. The clip went viral, but as always occurs on the internet, we largely missed the point. People saw a coach getting in a player’s face and immediately split into two camps: “That’s what real coaching looks like,” versus “You can’t treat players like that.”
“What Survives is The Character and Connection of the Group”
When Toronto Blue Jays manager John Schneider returned to his Rogers Centre office last week, a single envelope sat on his desk. It looked, Schneider said, like it had been there all winter. “As I read it, I was like ‘holy s—.’” The handwritten letter came from Warriors head coach and nine-time NBA champion Steve Kerr. The two coaches have never met. The letter was dated Nov. 2, 2025 — the day after Toronto’s Game 7 loss. “The pain was real,” Kerr wrote. “But what always survives through the tough losses is the character and connection of the group. The loss won’t define you, but the way you and your guys carried themselves afterwards will.”
General Stanley McChrystal Talking About The Price of Becoming…
“Having led in environments where preparation, discipline, and trust determine outcomes, I found The Price of Becoming deeply authentic. Ryan Hawk captures a truth familiar to those in uniform: excellence is earned through consistent effort, accountability, and the willingness to stay uncomfortable long after others stop.” – General Stan McChrystal (U.S. Army, Ret.), four-star general and bestselling author of Team of Teams.
