Creating the Promise Land: A Call to Coaches from Jeremy Boone’s Leadership Playbook

By Scott Garvis, Executive Director of the National High School Athletic Coaches Association

Listening to a Winning Leader: Why Jeremy Boone Matters

When Jeremy Boone speaks, coaches listen. Not because he yells louder or knows all the answers, but because he asks the questions that challenge us at our core: “Who does X need me to be right now?” and “How will X experience me?” Boone isn’t just a performance coach—he’s a leadership architect. His work through Winning Leader and his Athlete by Design initiative pushes us beyond traditional coaching and into the terrain of transformational leadership.

Boone challenges us to engineer environments that foster ownership, alignment, and growth, not just performance on the field. After hearing him speak, I couldn’t help but reflect on how his philosophy intersects perfectly with the evolving responsibilities of today’s high school coach and athletic director

Building the Promise-land: The Five Pillars of Transformational Leadership

Boone invites athletic directors & coaches to rethink their leadership journey through the lens of five key elements, what he calls the journey to the “Promise-land.” Here’s how these concepts come alive in the coaching world:

1. Stakes: Create Urgency for Change

Boone reminds us that change begins with discontent. If there's no urgency, there's no movement. Coaches must be willing to raise the stakes and create environments where complacency is not welcome. This isn’t about panic, it’s about purpose.

2. Standards: Define the Non-Negotiables

Without clear, uncompromising standards, leadership becomes arbitrary. As Boone puts it, “You need a standard. You need non-negotiables.” These standards shape the expectations, identity, and ultimately the performance of a team. Clarity breeds commitment.

3. Sacrifice: What Are You Willing to Give Up?

Every breakthrough requires something to be left behind. Coaches must ask: “What am I willing to sacrifice to grow?” Comfort? Routine? Legacy systems? Boone teaches that true leadership demands personal and systemic sacrifice.

4. Selfless: Leading Beyond Self

Leadership is not about being in charge, it’s about being of service. A selfless athletic leader pours into their athletes, colleagues, & school culture, aiming for impact over ego.

5. Surrender: Let Go to Grow

One of Boone’s most powerful challenges: “You can’t always do what you’ve always done.” Surrendering to a new process, new systems, and even new identities is required to advance. Resistance to surrender is resistance to growth.

Precision Connection: Aligning Truth, Trust, and Transformation

Boone speaks often about Precision Connection, the idea that effective leadership demands total alignment, of your words, your values, your systems, and your energy. Growth, according to Boone, begins with one fundamental ingredient: truth.

To create alignment, Boone asks leaders to be truth-tellers with themselves and their teams. Are you honest about your team culture? Are your systems designed to produce excellence or just activity?

Normalizing Excellence: More Than a Buzzword

Boone’s model for “normalizing excellence” rests on five foundational elements:

1. Example – “Set the example you want others to follow.” Coaches are always on stage, modeling matters.
2. Expectations – Uphold high standards and hold people to them.
3. Environment – Boone challenges us to engineer environments that pull people toward greatness, rather than push rules on them.
4. Experience – “I’ve created an experience for you.” Trust comes from experiences, not instructions. Boone urges coaches to connect, not just communicate.
5. Energy – Energy is contagious. A coach’s enthusiasm, focus, and presence invite players to rise.

It’s Not About Buy-In, It’s About Ownership

One of Boone’s most powerful insights is that buy-in is not enough. Buy-in is passive ownership is personal. Athletic leaders must empower athletes and coaches alike to take full ownership of the culture, the process, and the outcomes.

He asks a critical question: “Are you engineering and creating value in the relationships, time, and attention you give?” When leaders create value, they generate ownership. When ownership exists, culture takes root.

Two Questions Every Coach Must Ask

Boone offers two questions that should live in every coach’s daily reflections:

1. “How will my players experience me today?”
2. “Who does my team need me to be right now?”

These questions aren’t about changing who you are, they’re about aligning who you are with what your team needs. That’s adaptive leadership at its finest.

Final Word: Your Presence Should Matter

Jeremy Boone leaves us with a powerful challenge:

“If your presence doesn’t make an impact, your absence will not make a difference.”

In the education based athletics profession, our presence has the power to shape lives, develop character, and build lasting legacies. The call is clear, don’t just lead. Lead with design, purpose, and impact.

Let’s engineer the Promise-land, one truth, one standard, and one selfless act at a time.

To learn more about Jeremy Boone’s leadership work, visit winningleader.com and follow Athlete by Design on Facebook.