Anson Dorrance on Human Development

Coach Anson Dorrance is the Head Coach of the University of North Carolina’s Women’s Soccer Team. He’s the only Head Coach in program history, having coached 45 seasons as the Women’s Head Coach. He graduated from North Carolina, he spent his time there, he actually coached the Men’s team and the Women’s team when he first got there. He’s won over 1000 games and he’s won 22 National Championships. He has coached some of the best soccer players of all time and won a World Cup with the Women’s Soccer Team. So, in women’s soccer coaching history from a legacy standpoint, Coach Dorrance is the cream of the crop. He’s on the Mount Rushmore of coaching in general, but especially in women’s soccer. He’s in the Soccer Hall of Fame, he’s been named Coach of the Year seven times, the resume just goes on and on and on. He is someone who obviously knows a lot about what it takes to build a team, to build a roster, to develop character, and to develop a competitive spirit. We’re going to talk a lot about collaboration and competitive spirit in this conversation, we’re going to discuss leadership ad nauseam and at length, and you’re going to find really quickly that Coach Dorrance has intentional values that he uses and leverages with his team that are constantly evolving. So, this is someone who has built a program and he will continue to lead that program for the next 5 years, as we get into in today’s conversation. At the end of the day, this is someone who loves to develop humans and he cares deeply about developing humans and he thinks about developing humans all the time. He is truly a lifelong learner. It was a pleasure, it was an honor to learn from him; I hope you pull out a pad of paper and a pen and start taking notes because there are just a ton of gems throughout today’s conversation.

Coach Dorrance had a number of amazing insights during our conversation. Some of them include:

“It’s not really a sports season unless there’s some sort of crisis you’re dealing with” (7:20).

“I just like to play sports and read books” (16:50).

“The truly extraordinary business leaders construct a business that can basically last forever” (18:40).

“My main job is human development” (23:10).

“The key is to be falling forward” (34:40).

“What’s critical is the way you construct your own narrative” (35:25).

“We still want to be responsible for our failures” (35:50).

“There’s nothing wrong with failing” (36:25).

“What’s critical for the leaders is to embrace their role” (37:10).

“The ideal form of leadership is someone who will lead verbally” (39:25).

“[The most critical element for success in all of the team’s I’ve had] is good leadership” (40:15).

“If you don’t have the capacity to lead yourself, you’re not going to be in position to lead anyone else” (40:40).

“I treasure the leaders I’m given, but I don’t take any credit for them” (46:15).

“We all live on a leadership continuum” (50:15).

“The kids I’m recruiting know where they’re coming” (57:20).

“The truly elite players want to know where they stand” (57:45).

“I love the accountability of data for your performance” (1:05:05).

“The truly great competitors have to understand that if you truly want to win it’s not about you winning in a team sport, it’s about the team winning” (1:06:25).

“Self-belief is something I’m not going to touch” (1:20:50).

“Energizing is a form of collaboration” (1:21:20).

“I believe in leading a principle-centered life” (1:25:05).

“I believe in governing without rules” (1:27:25).

“I believe in trying to get everyone’s personal narrative to the truth as fast as possible. And how do we do that? With data” (1:27:30).

Additionally, you can purchase Coach Dorrance’s books, Training Soccer Champions and The Vision of a Champion, anywhere books are sold. You can also find Coach Dorrance’s website here.

Thank you so much to Coach Dorrance for coming on the podcast!

I wrote a book called “Shift Your Mind” that was released in October of 2020, and you can order it on Amazon and Barnes and Noble. Additionally, I have launched a company called Strong Skills, and I encourage you to check out our new website https://www.strongskills.co/. If you liked this episode and/or any others, please follow me on Twitter: @brianlevenson or Instagram: @Intentional_Performers.

Thanks for listening.