Coach John Gallagher on Leadership, Commitments and Basketball

On this episode of Big Plan on Campus, Thomas is joined by John Gallagher. Gallagher is the men’s basketball head coach at the University of Hartford. Thomas and John discuss various topics around leadership, commitments and goals, the transfer portal, and the 2021 NCAA tournament.

John shares his educational career journey of where he studied and played basketball at St. Joe’s University and how he transitioned from a player to a college coach. He then shares his definition of what leadership means to him and the evolution of his definition, from prioritizing being competitive to more about the importance of authenticity. John also discusses how crucial it is to be structured when trying to achieve excellence in your endeavors, both on and off the basketball court. He shares his thoughts on the difference between commitments and goals and how he prefers his team members to focus on the commitments in front of them instead of putting importance on goals that are far in the future.

After discussing leadership and commitments, the conversation transitions to the hot topic of more and more players utilizing the transfer portal and how John and his staff have handled this change in popularity.  For the remainder of the episode, Thomas asks John about his experience playing the Baylor Bears in the first round of the 2021 tournament, the evolution of the Baylor basketball program and how John would rank Baylor as compared to other NCAA champions. After discussing basketball, Thomas shares insight on long-term care insurance coverage and how important is to have a financial plan in place to ensure you have the means to a long and happy life.

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