The Champion Teammate: Timeless Lessons to Connect, Compete and Lead in Sports and Life

Throughout our lives, we will be part of many teams. From sports teams to community groups to our dining room table, our lives are filled with opportunities to come together with others in pursuit of a common goal, and people who thrive in these situations are highly valued teammates. We use terms such as competitive, selfless, loyal, inspiring, hardworking, and caring to describe great teammates, but what do those words actually mean, and how do you achieve those ideals?

In The Champion Teammate, Jerry Lynch and John O’Sullivan share wisdom accrued from decades of consultation with well over 100 conference, national, and world championship teams and dozens of Hall of Fame coaches; interviews with hundreds of athletes, coaches, and leadership experts on their Way of Champions Podcast; and hundreds of workshops on being an exceptional teammate, leader, coach, and parent.

This book offers a powerful approach to help build better relationships, practice effective leadership, and develop the competitive prowess needed to be an exceptional teammate. Through numerous stories of modern-day athletes, as well as time-honored lessons garnered from Eastern philosophy, Western psychology, and Native American tradition, this book will guide and mentor you in creating an environment where you and your teammates can connect, compete, and thrive in sports and in life.

Jerry Lynch and John O'Sullivan are leadership, performance, and team culture specialists.Their work has received global acclaim in youth, high school, collegiate, and professional athletics.They are highly sought after by teams, schools, and sport governing bodies around the world for their work in athletic performance, coach education, and parent engagement. Jerry and John cohost the Way of Champions Podcast, as well as the Way of Champions Transformational Leadership Conference, and both are national advisory board members of the Positive Coaching Alliance. 

Jerry Lynch, PhD, is the founder and director of Way of Champions, a human potential and performance consulting group helping others master the relationship and culture building games in athletics, business, and life. He has published 17 books in over 10 languages. His work has impacted teams, coaches, and athletes in the NBA, Pro Lacrosse, and Major League Soccer, in addition to men's and women's basketball, lacrosse, field hockey, swimming, soccer, tennis, golf, and track and field at the universities of North Carolina, Duke, Maryland, California, Syracuse, Stanford, Harvard, and Middlebury. In the past 35 years alone, he has helped influence 118 world, national, conference and state championship teams.
 
John O'Sullivan is the founder of Changing the Game Project, an organization dedicated to helping coaches, parents, schools, and youth sport organizations give sports back to our kids and put a little more "play" in "play ball." He is a former collegiate and professional soccer player, and has coached for over 30 years on the youth, high school, and collegiate levels. John has written two bestselling books, Changing the Game and Every Moment Matters, and has consulted with the USOC, US Soccer, USA Swimming, US Ski and Snowboard, USA Wrestling, Ireland Rugby, National Rugby League of Australia, the PGA, and many other entities.