By Rob Ramseyer
April 23, 2025
The lion story: What leadership feels like. Have you ever been to the zoo? This is a rhetorical question—of course you have. Whenever I speak to groups, I sometimes borrow a story from my good friend and Impactful Coaching Project co-founder, Dustin Galyon. It’s too good not to share, and it says a lot about how we think about leadership.
Dustin once told me about the first time he and his wife took their kids to the zoo. Now, his kids don’t remember the trip – but Dustin sure does. And not for the reasons you’d expect. They were excited to see the lions first – what kid wouldn’t be? But when they got to the lion exhibit, the lions were sound asleep. Major letdown. So naturally, Dustin, being the energetic and enthusiastic guy he is, decided to try and get the lions’ attention. He climbed up on the ledge near the window and let out what can only be described as a… very Dustin-like roar. Loud, awkward, and probably somewhere between a bird call and a yell.
Nothing.
His wife gave him “the look” and told him to stop. He didn’t. He roared again, louder. One of the lions stirred, but didn’t move. Now his kids were giggling and egging him on, so Dustin kept going. One more roar. A bit goofier. This time, the lion got up and started walking toward them. Dustin told me he felt like Steve Irwin in that moment—his kids were pumped, and he was fired up.
So, what did he do? Of course, he jumped up on the ledge one more time and gave it everything he had.
And the lion charged. Leapt straight at the glass and roared.
The kids screamed. His wife looked mortified. And right on cue, a zoo staff member walked over and kindly asked them to leave. Dustin explained he wasn’t trying to cause trouble—just wanted his kids to see the lions up close. The staff member nodded, said he understood… but rules were rules.
As he escorted them out, he told Dustin something that has stuck with him ever since: “I get what you were trying to do. But from the lion’s point of view, a wild man was yelling at him and stressing out his entire environment. From his side of the glass, it felt like someone was invading his home.”
That moment changed the way Dustin thought about leadership. And honestly, it changed the way I think about it too.
The lesson? It doesn’t matter what our intentions are if the people on the other side of the glass—our teams, our athletes, our colleagues don’t feel safe, valued, or supported. Leadership isn’t just about doing what we think is best; it’s about understanding how our actions are received and how they affect others.
The chase story: A lesson in missed impact. In my first year as a head college baseball coach, I think I cared about the right things, but my intent did not always match the impact. I think, in part, because I saw the guys as too much of a reflection of me as opposed to a work in process where I was helping them grow.
A relationship with one player, whom I’ll call Chase, comes to mind as a perfect example. He was rough, emotional, and unpredictable and did not fit the mold of what I thought “my team” should be like. He was also one of our better players. I benched him repeatedly over different things. Some major, some minor. But Chase didn’t see a leader holding the line—he saw someone who didn’t care to understand him. He transferred without even talking to me after the season and I never spoke to him again.
Looking back, I still believe in the standards I was trying to uphold. But I also believe I failed Chase in three key areas:
- While I had a level of Competence as a coach of my sport, I lacked the wisdom (leadership competence) to lead someone different from me.
- I didn’t build a system of Care to make sure he felt seen and valued as a person…a person in an incredibly different environment than he had ever been.
- And I wasn’t Constant—I reacted emotionally…too often.
The 3 C’s of Impactful Coaching
At the Impactful Coaching Project, we say that great leadership requires the 3 C’s:
Competence: You have to know what you are talking about. But more importantly, you must have the humility to keep learning—especially when what worked before isn’t working now. With today’s access to information, if you don’t know what you are talking about, you either are lazy, lack the wisdom to discern the right information, or are fearful of learning because you might not know it all. We encourage you to dive into your sport coaching associations and seek out mentors to discern the right information.
Care: You need to genuinely care about your people. That means seeing them, hearing them, and understanding how your leadership feels from their side of the glass. This must be done in systems that can be done day after day, week after week, and year after year. These are intentional contact time pre-practice and post-practice, avoiding toxic post-game talks, and cultivating systems like “put ups” to lift out the good that is going on. We write in depth about these strategies in our book “Coaching and Leading the 21st Century Athlete”.
Constant: The best leaders show up consistently. They’re steady, reliable, and intentional—day in and day out—regardless of how chaotic things feel. Constant refers to the character of time. Brett Ledbetter from What Drives Winning says trust is won and lost in how we react to the moments that take us off guard. Constant cultivation of character is essential to responding in those moments. Further, it is about continuous learning and adapting over time. Constancy is a competitive advantage, but it can’t be accomplished without a plan.
Final Thought
Leadership isn’t about intention – it’s about impact. What we do only matters if it’s understood and felt the right way by the people we lead. If we want to be effective, we need to show up with competence, build real systems that demonstrate care, and stay consistent when things get hard. The best leaders pay attention to how their actions land – not just how they’re delivered. That’s what it means to lead from the other side of the glass.
The Impactful Coaching Project (ICP) aims to transform coaching by helping coaches adopt a holistic approach to coaching and leadership. ICP serves as a leader in helping coaches lead the 21st Century Athlete. We offer a variety of training programs, resources, and research to help coaches grow in their roles. By highlighting the connections between mental, emotional, and physical health, ICP provides coaches with the tools they need to promote healthy team environments that achieve at a high level. Our commitment to innovative coaching practices empowers coaches to create environments that encourage resilience, teamwork, and personal growth.
For more information on The Impactful Coaching Project, visit https://impactfulcoachingproject.substack.com
Visit Amazon for more information on Dr. Ramseyer’s two books:
Coaching and Leading the 21st Century Athlete
Athletic Department Leadership and Developing Coaches
