Naeimeh Zafar: Coaching Across Cultures, Resilience, and Leading Beyond Barriers

We believe that there is no algorithm for leadership. So we ask the world's great coaches how they do it.

Naeimeh Zafar shares how coaching across Iran, Serbia, Qatar, Oman, Vietnam, Thailand, and France demanded cultural adaptation, humility, and clear communication when language and perceptions created barriers, and how she learned to respect athletes’ privacy and judge only commitment and performance. She describes building resilience amid restrictions in Iranian women’s sport, using her Serbian studies to raise coaching standards, and pursuing opportunities abroad when institutional constraints outweighed development. She reflects on the controversy and success of coaching a men’s team in Oman—reaching a grand final and being voted best coach—and on staying focused while unable to contact family during war. She hopes her legacy is defined by discipline, professional values, and six coaching books.

If you would like to send us any feedback or if you know a great coach, who has a unique story to share, then we would love to hear from you, please contact us at paul@thegreatcoachespodcast.com and if you would like to receive our newsletter with 5 ideas to help you improve your leadership, then sign up at: https://thegreatcoaches.beehiiv.com/subscribe

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John Speraw on Systems, Feedback, and Winning Under Pressure

We believe that there is no algorithm for leadership. So we ask the world's great coaches how they do it. John Speraw reflects on how great coaches lean into singular strengths while staying humble and learning from staff, and how early mentors helped him see what was possible. He describes choosing coaching over medical school, building a “systems coach” identity at UC Irvine by maximizing limited resources, and returning to UCLA ready to follow Al Scates by being himself. Speraw shares practical lessons on feedback—asking athletes how they want to hear it, creating cultures that accept critical input, and using routines for mistake recovery—plus integrating visualization, breathwork, and journaling into practice to prepare for championship moments when things go sideways. Now as USA Volleyball CEO, he’s focused on scaling culture, improving communication, increasing volleyball’s cultural relevance, lowering barriers to play, and ensuring kids have great growth experiences through sport. If you would like to send us any feedback or if you know a great coach, who has a unique story to share, then we would love to hear from you, please contact us at paul@thegreatcoachespodcast.com and if you would like to receive our newsletter with 5 ideas to help you improve your leadership, then sign up at: https://thegreatcoaches.beehiiv.com/subscribe

Here are 3 self-reflective questions based on the interview:

1.What are one or two strengths I naturally bring to a team, and how could I use them more intentionally?

2.what routine or mindset could help me stay composed and useful in high pressure moments?

3.Who has helped me see a possibility for myself that I could not yet see, and how can I now do that for someone else?

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This episode is a recording of our book club. The book we discuss is Why Die? The Extraordinary Percy Cerutty, 'Maker of Champions' by Graem Sims (Author).

Percy Cerutty was an Australian athletics coach who transformed distance running in the 1950s and 1960s. Based at his rugged Portsea training camp, he developed the Stotan philosophy, blending Stoic discipline, Spartan toughness, natural diets, sand-hill running, weight training and intellectual growth. Best known for coaching Herb Elliott to world records and Olympic gold, Cerutty inspired athletes to pursue physical excellence and personal mastery.

Our discussion is led by Dr David Turner, a Senior Lecturer in Sports Coaching at Anglia Ruskin University in the United Kingdom, and we are also joined by Andrew Gunn the author of Percy Cerutty: Life Lessons From A Remarkable Coach by Andrew Gunn.

I scribbled down these 3 self-reflective questions:

· Where in my life could I benefit from choosing growth over comfort?

· What is one challenge I have already overcome that shows I am capable of reinvention?

· How do I personally measure success: by outward achievement, or by how far I have come from where I started?

If you would like to send us any feedback or if you know a great coach, who has a unique story to share, then we would love to hear from you, please contact us at paul@thegreatcoachespodcast.com and if you would like to receive our newsletter with 5 ideas to help you improve your leadership, then sign up at: https://thegreatcoaches.beehiiv.com/subscribe

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.