#67: Coaching Case Study: Enabling a Leader to Embrace a Midfielder Mentality with Dr. Eric Bean

What does it really mean to win? For one seasoned executive and for many leaders today, it wasn’t about another title or promotion. It was about finding balance, presence, and a sustainable way to lead. 

In this solo episode of Coaching Through Stories, Dr. Eric Bean shares a powerful coaching case study of a senior leader navigating the transition between peak performance and the next chapter of life. Through sports metaphors, reflection practices, and practical strategies, this client redefined success in ways that fueled not just results but also recovery, influence, and deeper relationships. 

Key Takeaways: 

• Why redefining success doesn’t mean losing your edge: How shifting from a “striker” mindset to a “midfielder” mindset allowed him to focus on empowering others while still driving results. 

• Satisfaction as a formula: The model of satisfaction = what you have ÷ what you want. How reducing the denominator with gratitude and presence can create long-term fulfillment. 

• The fear of change: Why many leaders resist redefining winning because they believe it will lose their edge. 

• Using sport to reframe leadership: How soccer metaphors and coaching language helped understand delegation, patience, and reading the field in both business and life. 

• Reflection rituals: Why wins often fade too fast while losses linger, and how intentional rituals of gratitude and reflection extend positive energy and build resilience. 

• Naming the surge: How asking “Is this a surge or is this status quo?” created shared language for stress management and helped protect margins around sleep, exercise, and recovery. 

• Shaping the new leadership perspective: Considering not only his goals but also his fears 

• Navigating leadership changes: How curiosity, empathy, and proactive influence turned resistance into opportunity during multiple leadership transitions. 

• Presence as practice: Why leaving his laptop at home on a family trip became a pivotal test of trust, recovery, and realignment with what matters most. 

• Lasting outcomes: How this client built stronger empathy, improved decision-making, empowered his team, sustained high performance, and reshaped retirement from an endpoint into a new beginning. 

Highlights: 

• [1:01] The client’s background: elite athlete, coach, and seasoned executive 

• [3:07] Initial goals: redefining winning and preparing for retirement 

• [4:30] Satisfaction = what you have ÷ what you want 

• [5:41] The fear of losing your edge 

• [7:27] The soccer metaphor: From striker to midfielder 

• [8:39] Making space for emotions, gratitude, compassion, and pride 

• [10:14] Extending the energy of wins through reflection rituals 

• [12:07] “Is this a surge or is this status quo?” 

• [13:46] Focusing heavily on long-term goals leads to missing timely learning opportunities 

• [15:00] Reframing leadership changes as opportunities 

• [16:02] Strengthening his own credibility while creating space for the team to thrive 

• [17:27] Leaving the laptop behind on a family trip 

• [18:42] Outcomes: Improved presence, recovery, empathy, influence, and sustained high performance 

• [20:42] Presence is a practice, not a trait 

• [21:19] Retiring to something, not just from something 

Resources: 

• What Got You Here Won’t Get You There by Marshall Goldsmith — on why changing behaviors is essential for growth 

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"Redefining success isn’t about losing your edge—it’s about finding new ways to win that align with your values and fuel your future." — Dr. Eric Bean