Los Angeles Lakers Head Coach Luke Walton on Coaching, Leadership, Relationships

Luke Walton (0:00)

If I'm shooting a free throw at the end of the game and there's 20,000 fans screaming at me and there's national TV and millions of people watching across the world, my hands get sweaty thinking about that right now. But in reality of it, it's the same free throw I shot a million times in my career. It's just I'm letting outside factors influence the way my brain is processing this free throw.

And looking at it like that, I have complete control of pressure situations. It's how much do I want to allow those outside factors to make this more challenging for me.

Michael Gervais (0:50)

All right, welcome back or welcome to the Finding Mastery Podcast. I'm Michael Gervais. And the idea behind these conversations is to learn. And in this conversation, it is a absolute joy because who we're sitting down with has learned from legends his entire life, and he's been on this path of mastery for a long time. And what we wanna do is try to understand the psychological framework that is allowing people to pursue excellence, to pursue their very best. And a psychological framework is really how they explain events in their life, how they think about themselves and other people, how they shape ideas around their craft. And then we also wanna explore like underneath all of it, what are they really searching for? What are they so hungry for that they're dedicating their life efforts towards one or two particular ways?

I wanna take a minute here to announce a really exciting event that we have coming up. As you continue to navigate the challenges and opportunities of 2024, I wanna pose a question. What are you doing right now to be great with stress? How are you working with stress on your pursuit towards your most important ambitions and goals? And I just wanna get right to the heart of the key elements, one in particular, for what it takes to excel in today's high heat, high stakes world. Because stress is not the problem that we think it is. Stress is a synonym for change.

And our ability to be agile with change, that is the real opportunity at hand. So if you're wanting to unlock extraordinary results and sustainable performance in your life, it's not about avoiding or reducing stress. And as simple as that sounds, it's very tricky to do, but it is about fundamentally changing your relationship with it.

And that's why I'm so thrilled to invite you to a special event, it's a free virtual event that we're offering and it's called The Power of Embracing Stress. It's on Wednesday, March 6th at 2 p.m. Pacific. So to sign up, just head over to findingmastery.com/training. Whether it's advancing in your career or improving your health or cultivating stronger relationships, I think a new approach to stress can be one of the most powerful unlocks for you in your life. So join us for this free virtual training, The Power of Embracing Stress. On Wednesday, March 6th at 2 p.m. Pacific. Go to findingmastery.com/training to sign up once again. That's findingmastery.com/training. And I'm really excited to see you there.

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And on this podcast, we get to hear from lots of different vantage points. Artists and scientists, elite military, politicians, people who run highly successful businesses, and those who have been on the razor's edge in the sports arena. And when it comes to elite sport, there's a rare breed that have succeeded as both player and coach. And winning championships in both roles is nearly unheard of.