Don Yaeger

Don Yaeger is a seven-time New York Times bestselling author, former longtime associate editor of Sports Illustrated, and one of the most compelling speakers on the topics of greatness, teamwork, and championship performance. His books have sold over two million copies and have been translated into more than a dozen languages.

What Makes Great Teams Great

Yaeger has spent decades studying the habits, behaviors, and cultures that produce sustained excellence in sports and business. His unprecedented access to legendary athletes, coaches, and championship organizations has given him a unique body of research on what separates great teams from good ones. He has written books with and about some of the biggest names in sports history and brings those stories and insights to every keynote engagement.

Lessons from Champions for Every Organization

Yaeger’s presentations combine gripping storytelling with research-backed insights that translate directly from the playing field to the boardroom. His keynotes deliver powerful insights on what makes great teams great and how to build winning cultures, championship habits and the behaviors that drive sustained excellence, leadership lessons from legendary athletes and coaches, and the timeless principles of greatness that apply in any organization or industry.

What Makes the Great Ones Great

Don has had a front-row seat with some of the greatest winners of our generation.  Each is a legend in his or her own right, but their career wasn’t built strictly on physical gifts.  Remember, Jordan wasn’t even the first pick of the draft.  O’Neal didn’t make his high school varsity team until he was a junior.  Payton had to go to a small black college because bigger schools didn’t want to risk a scholarship on him.  Connors, at 5-10, 155 pounds, was dwarfed by most of his competitors.  But each became a champion through strengths and skills that had nothing to do with physical prowess.

Using rich, personal accounts gathered from more than 25 years of interviews, Don has distilled Sixteen Consistent Characteristics of Greatness that you will find consistently in the super-achievers.  He will share with the audience these characteristics – in how they think, how they prepare, how they work and how they live – that truly make the great ones great.  Then he’ll explain how every audience member can apply these characteristics to their personal and professional lives.

Don works with every organization to customize his presentation by determining which characteristics and stories to discuss.  Depending on the theme of your event and the needs of the audience, he may choose to tell the story of John Wooden and how he demonstrated the Value of Association or how Michael Jordan showed him that hating to lose is more important than loving to win, among many others.

Building Your Personal Brand

Everyone recognizes the value of a brand. In fact, BusinessWeek magazine once said that Coca-Cola’s brand alone is worth $67 BILLION. But you don’t have to be a Fortune 500 company to be a brand. Today, in the Age of the Individual, every one of us is a brand. And, just as executives at Coca-Cola must do, it is your responsibility to increase your brand value daily.

Don Yaeger is a nationally recognized expert on the development of Personal Brands, having worked with business leaders, elected officials and world-class athletes on building their brands. In this workshop, Don challenges your audience members to work on the fundamentals of personal branding, including: identifying what they want their brand to be; understanding what intentional acts they must take to get to that place; and discussing the responsibilities of brand ownership.

Why should your employees or members attend this session? Because those who possess, develop and constantly work on their personal brand find their path to professional success a little smoother. People do business with those they enjoy, trust and respect, all are characteristics of a strong brand. Like most skills, some people do these things intuitively. But, most of us must work on these things intentionally. This program lays the framework for that growth.

Institutional Reputation Management

Don Yaeger, a four-time New York Times best-selling author, major newspaper veteran and former Sports Illustrated associate editor, has covered some of America’s most challenging stories over the last two decades.

This session will cover everything from tips on how to create a well of good will with today’s media to developing a communications plan to guide you through any potential crisis.

Crisis Management

As the author of the best-selling book on the Duke lacrosse scandal – a spectacular example of poor crisis management – Don has studied ways to prepare for and manage potential crises.  This seminar is a shortened version of a one-semester course that he taught at a major university.

When The Media Comes Calling

In today’s age of instantaneous communication, companies and individuals alike need to be more knowledgeable than ever when it comes to media relations.  If a member of the press contacts you, will you be ready for that call?  How will you react when a question comes your way that you weren’t expecting?  And what if you actually want to tell your story?  Is there a trick to getting a reporter to see your story as worth telling?

Don Yaeger has developed a national reputation for answering these questions.  His expertise has been sought out by countless high-profile athletes, business leaders and elected officials.  As a New York Times bestselling author and former associate editor of Sports Illustrated, Don has been on both sides of the microphone.  He has conducted interviews around the globe and has been interviewed on countless national television and radio shows about his work.  His 20-plus years of experience gives him the qualifications to teach you how to win the battle between a professional interrogator and an amateur respondent.