#51: Mastering Your Mindset with DMac (Derin McMains)

As we kick off our sixth season, we are joined by Derin McMains who goes by DMac. Derin McMains is a Mental Performance Coach to some of the highest performing athletes, teams, and business executives in the world. The former professional baseball player and manager began working in the mental performance space in 2012. 

Over the past 12 years, he has built out mental performance programs for the San Francisco Giants, Seattle Mariners, and the University of Notre Dame.  He continues to work in professional baseball as a mental performance consultant with the Arizona Diamondbacks. This season with the Diamondbacks will mark his 24th year in professional baseball. In addition to his work in professional baseball, he consults with professional athletes in the NFL, MLS, and professional Tennis. 
 
In 2021, he began to take the lessons he’s learned from sports into the corporate space. He's currently the Director of Mental Performance at ReliaQuest. ReliaQuest is a global cybersecurity company headquartered in Tampa, Florida that protects some of the largest corporations in the world. 
 
Derin McMains is the Director of Mental Performance at ReliaQuest. The former professional baseball player and manager began working in mental performance in 2012. He has built out mental performance programs with the San Francisco Giants, Seattle Mariners, and the University of Notre Dame. He currently consults with athletes in the NFL and MLS, in addition to consulting with the Arizona Diamondbacks. 

In today’s episode, DMac connects the worlds of sport and business, discussing the overlaps and separations between the two industries. In this powerful discussion, DMac shares how you can use the power of mindset to perform your best when it matters the most. Join us as we kickoff our sixth season and get ready to be indulged with great stories and valuable insights on coaching, leadership, and growth. 

Key Takeaways: 

1. Learn how undisciplined strengths can become our weaknesses 

2. Learn how to reframe your view of failure. Do you fear failure or do you fear what people will say about your failure? 

3. Focusing just on the results and the things you can't control hurts performance 

4. Define the standards of high performance 

5. How Mental Performance Coaches are an extension of the CEO when working in the business world 

6. Learn how the five love languages apply to better understanding your athletes or people who report to you 

7. The difference between athletic coaching and leaders in business 

8. We limit ourselves to stories that we tell ourselves. 

9. It's important to have a coach or people that you trust who can help you read the label 

10. If you want to do things that you are proud of, you need to do the hard things 

11. Reflecting on experience is the best teacher. 

 

Highlights: 

• [07:40] What sparked DMac’s journey into reexamining his goals
• [16:42] Gaining control and aligning with our goals
• [20:32] Transitioning from a player to a coach
• [24:37] Trusting the process and shifting your values
• [28:49] What holds people back from reaching their potential
• [32:00] Overcoming the fear of public perception
• [35:54] DMac’s role as Director of Mental Performance
• [40:08] The parallels and distinctions between sports and business
• [45:57] The importance of senior leadership
• [48:08] Getting an all-star performance from bench players
• [54:20] Advice to struggling new managers
• [58:35] Distancing oneself from the results
• [01:02:09] Taking care of yourself
  

 

For More of DMac: 

• LinkedIn: Derin McMains, CMPC 

• Instagram: @dmac_mindset 

• Podcast: No Show Dogs: Powered by ReliaQuest