James Leath: The Rise of the Sports Psychology Profession
I recently got the chance to sit down with Unleash The Athlete founder James Leath, a visible and trusted figure in the realm of mental performance and leadership development. In this interview, James talks about the rise of the sports psychology profession, how he incorporates his faith into his work, some of his book recommendations, and more. Go check out his website and follow him on social media, as he puts out pure gold every week. I learned a lot from his words, and I’m sure you will, too. Enjoy!
James Leath, founder of Unleash The Athlete
SFW: You recently took a job with the Chicago Bulls. Can you tell me a little about what your role is with them?
JL: My role is a Mental Conditioning Coach for the Windy City Bulls, which is the development team for the Chicago Bulls. I was originally hired as a performance coach, but quickly realized there was a big need for character development and team development. Wendy Borlabi, who is a performance coach for the Bulls, was actually one of my professors during my Masters. We were talking one day and I half-jokingly told her that if she needed help with the Bulls to let me know. She then said they actually are looking for someone and I was able to land the job.
SFW: When you take a job with IMG Academy, or with the Bulls, what's the first thing you do? What's your plan look like? Does it start with the coachy buzzword of 'culture' or is it more systematic?
JL: First thing is keep your mouth shut, and watch. I had to earn the respect and trust of the coaching staff - they needed to know that I was there to help them. Both places have elite athletes, so they wanted to make sure someone in my position wasn't a fan or taking selfies with the players. At IMG, I would get water for the players. Like I was actually a water boy when I arrived. I eventually got the chance to speak to the team for five minutes at the end of practice one day and by that point I had given them enough respect so I was able to earn theirs. Once you know the dynamic of the team and are able earn their respect, you can start implementing a plan.
SFW: I think a lot of professional clubs could benefit from having mental conditioning coaches or mental performance coaches or leadership development coaches. Do you see that as something that we will continue to see more of in the industry going forward?
JL: Absolutely. 40 years ago, Nebraska football was killing everybody and nobody could specifically figure out why. People eventually realized they had a great strength program, that their guys were so much stronger than other team. It was revolutionary at the time. But then everyone else caught on and developed great strength programs and then it wasn't so uncommon anymore. I think that's where we are with sports psychology right now. People are starting to see that it's increasingly beneficial to teams to have people on staff who are responsible for developing mentally-strong athletes within the organization. Sports psychology is more popular overseas, especially in Australia, but it's growing dramatically in the States. The difficult thing is that it's tough to gauge our impact. In strength programs, you can concretely see a player improve by looking at their numbers on bench press and squat. On the mental side of the game, it's tougher to gauge how beneficial we really are.
SFW: I see you've had some experience with FCA in the past. I was an FCA Huddle Leader at UCLA for a few years when I was in college. Have you been able to incorporate your faith into your work at all? At IMG, or the Bulls, or with another employer, was that something you were, let's say, able to do?
JL: It's very situational. Everything I teach is Biblically-based, but I rarely say the word 'Jesus.' I've found that if you're really outspoken about your faith in a place that isn't a religious environment, it can really hurt your credibility. Because that could be looked at pushy or forced. In 1 Corinthians, Paul says something like "To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win Jews." We don't know exactly what that looked like, but I picture Paul smoking a cigar with some dudes who probably would never have listened to Paul unless he was smoking a cigar. So I try to apply that to my work. I never push my faith on people, but if someone asks me what I believe, I always tell them.
SFW: I get the impression that you're a big reader. Do you have a top 3 books list? Or something off the top of your head you'd recommend or something that impacted you in a major way?
JL: I do read a lot, but maybe my view on reading is a bit different. Here's what I believe: read a lot, but study a select few. I have no problem not finishing a book if I don't think it's good or interesting. I only have a certain amount of books I can read in this lifetime so I won't waste my opportunities on average books. Besides the Bible, I study Legacy by James Kerr. Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill. Mitch Albom has some incredible ones (Tuesdays with Morrie, For One More Day, The Five People You Meet in Heaven). One thing I would suggest too, is to get a list of the books you were supposed to read in high school, and read them. It's a completely different perspective. Everyone in adulthood should read The Catcher in the Rye, To Kill a Mockingbird, The Great Gatsby, Hamlet, Macbeth, The Iliad. I just finished The Wonderful Wizard of Oz and it's incredible as an adult. I encourage anyone to just carry a book around with you at all times and instead of checking your phone periodically, read a couple pages.
SFW: I've been given a lot of advice from you, indirectly of course, through answers you've given on podcasts and things you've written about in your Coach Notes. What's one piece of advice you would give to someone looking to get into the sports psychology field? Or really anyone looking to grow in their current field?
JL: When I interviewed for the job at IMG, I remember my final interview was with the person who was going to be my boss. We sat down and went though a couple minutes of basic questions and answers. Then he said, "listen, you already got the job. We made up our mind before the final interview." I asked him why and he said "we went online and searched your name and we saw you everywhere! You are obviously passionate about this type of work." So my advice would be to find your passion, research it to death, and share your findings publicly. If you do that, the perfect circumstance just hasn't caught up with you yet. It's already in you. Join the conversation. Start putting stuff out there.