Player-Coach: How to Shift from Subject Matter Expert to Leader and Get the Best from the Team

Player-Coach is your playbook for successfully navigating the transition from workplace team member to manager.

There are workplace teams, and there are managers. But what about the role that straddles both worlds? Just as some athletes stay in the game and also coach their team, the business player-coach is a doer and a leader at the same time.

Shifting from purely doing to leading others can be a challenging transition—but with the right knowledge and skills, anyone can thrive in this role. In Player-Coach, HR experts and leadership development experts Val Markos and Tammy Martin provide invaluable advice for team members navigating this shift into management.

Armed with a four-part leadership model and key concepts, you will be empowered to become an effective—even great—leader. Filled with real-life experiences, stories and tips on developing the critical skills every player-coach needs to be successful, Player-Coach is your how-to guide to moving from the team bench to the team coach.

Val Markos and Tammy Martin are the principals of Player-Coach Leadership, specializing in helping subject experts transition to leadership positions. Val received a PhD in Psychology from the University of Georgia, and worked across a variety of leadership development roles with the City of Miami, Florida; US Steel; and BellSouth, before dedicating himself to a private coaching practice for executives. Tammy began her professional career as a graphic artist before serving in various leadership roles over her thirty-year career with BellSouth and AT&T. She found her passion in working with leaders to excel at leading others, spending the bulk of her tenure to human resource management and leadership development.