Win More, Live Better

When we're preparing to experience something new, many of us default to seeking wisdom from others (directly or indirectly) to prepare ourselves accordingly. But some lessons in life, sport, and leadership have to be acquired through first-hand experience. So if you’re stepping into a new season, role, or challenge, this episode will help you understand why some of the most important lessons in leadership can’t be pre-packaged.
Learn More About Zach:
If you’re a coach or leader striving for more clarity, consistency, and fulfillment, feel free to sign up for a free discovery call to see how I can best support you: https://calendly.com/zachbrandon/discoverycall
For more practical tools and mindset stories like this, you can subscribe to my free newsletter here: https://winningwithwords.beehiiv.com/

In pursuit of mastery, good luck not experiencing failure along the way. This episode is a reminder that losing and failure will be inevitable in sport (and in life), but how you recover and bounce-back from it is a trainable skill. As an extension of my guest interview with USA Men's Head Volleyball Coach, Karch Kiraly, this episode is a glimpse into essential three strategies for managing failure more effectively. 
 Learn More About Zach:
If you’re a coach or leader striving for more clarity, consistency, and fulfillment, feel free to sign up for a free discovery call to see how I can best support you: https://calendly.com/zachbrandon/discoverycall
For more practical tools and mindset stories like this, you can subscribe to my free newsletter here: https://winningwithwords.beehiiv.com/

Today we're joined by the Team USA Men's Volleyball Head Coach, Karch Kiraly. Karch is one of the most accomplished figures in the history of volleyball and one of the few individuals to reach the pinnacle of the sport as both a player and a coach.
Widely regarded as the greatest volleyball player of the 20th century, Karch Kiraly is a three-time Olympic gold medalist, winning twice in indoor volleyball and once in beach volleyball. As a collegiate athlete at UCLA, he helped lead the Bruins to three national championships and later became one of the most dominant beach volleyball players ever, earning 148 career tournament wins and six AVP MVP awards. His playing career alone earned him induction into multiple Hall of Fames, including the International Volleyball Hall of Fame and the U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame.
As a coach, Karch has built one of the most consistent and successful programs in international sport. He served as head coach of the U.S. Women’s National Volleyball Team for 12 years, compiling a 327–81 record and leading the team to its first-ever Olympic gold medal in Tokyo (2021), along with multiple Volleyball Nations League titles and a World Championship. In 2024, he guided the U.S. Women to an Olympic silver medal in Paris before being named Head Coach of the U.S. Men’s National Volleyball Team later that year.
In this conversation, Karch and Zach explore the human side of elite performance and leadership including what Karch learned during his first year leading a new national team, why self-doubt still shows up at the highest levels, how elite teams train failure recovery, and why pressure is best understood as something we choose, not something imposed on us. This conversation offers timeless lessons for coaches and leaders navigating transition, pressure, and the thin margins that define high performance.

Here's some notable highlights from our conversation:
[5:23] — Transitioning to Head Coach for the Men's National Team
[10:41] — Lessons Learned in 2025
[14:37] — Recovering From Failure
[16:22] — Training Athletes to Respond to Failure
[23:20] — Pressure Is a Privilege
[31:42] — Developing a Better Perspective Toward Pressure
[36:54] — Embracing Imperfection and Winning Ugly
[39:39] — Mastering Struggle
[43:53] — Coaching With a Beginner's Mind
[49:18] — Body Language 
[51:23] — Caring About the Human, Not Just the Performer

Learn More About Zach:
If you’re a coach or leader striving for more clarity, consistency, and fulfillment, feel free to sign up for a free discovery call to see how I can best support you: https://calendly.com/zachbrandon/discoverycall
For more practical tools and mindset stories like this, you can subscribe to my free newsletter here: https://winningwithwords.beehiiv.com/
You can watch the video recordings of the podcast on YouTube here.

Every year during the Super Bowl, companies spend millions of dollars for just 30 seconds of attention. This episode uses Super Bowl ads as a metaphor to explore why focus is one of your most valuable assets and how easily it gets spent without intention. Learn why attention functions like currency and how to create an internal “reset advertisement" to align your focus with what matters most.
 Learn More About Zach:
If you’re a coach or leader striving for more clarity, consistency, and fulfillment, feel free to sign up for a free discovery call to see how I can best support you: https://calendly.com/zachbrandon/discoverycall
For more practical tools and mindset stories like this, you can subscribe to my free newsletter here: https://winningwithwords.beehiiv.com/

Moylan’s Arrow explores how one small design decision removed friction for millions of people and what it can teach us as coaches and leaders about environment design. Drawing inspiration from the real life story of Jim Moylan, this episode unpacks why leadership is less about telling people to “figure it out” and more about creating conditions for great work to occur. You’ll learn how to spot hidden friction and leverage the right people in your organization to remove it.
 Learn More About Zach:
If you’re a coach or leader striving for more clarity, consistency, and fulfillment, feel free to sign up for a free discovery call to see how I can best support you: https://calendly.com/zachbrandon/discoverycall
For more practical tools and mindset stories like this, you can subscribe to my free newsletter here: https://winningwithwords.beehiiv.com/