How Great Leaders Succeed Through Preparation with Matthew Mitchell
The Remarkable Leadership Podcast
Release Date: 07/16/2025
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info_outlineHave you ever considered that the key to leadership isn’t just vision, but also preparation? Kevin sits down with Coach Matthew Mitchell to explore the role of preparation in leadership and in building winning teams. Matthew shares his five levels of preparation: casual, cursory, compliant, committed, and constant. He believes leaders need to reach levels 4 and 5, where thorough systems, discipline, and introspection take precedence. Using Coach John Wooden’s approach, he explains that most preparation should focus on your systems, only delving deeply into the competitor’s game when necessary, such as during critical “special situations.”
Listen For
00:00 Introduction
00:36 Welcome to the podcast
01:06 About Kevin’s book “Flexible Leadership”
01:33 Guest introduction: Coach Matthew Mitchell
02:27 Overview of Coach Mitchell’s coaching career
03:44 How he got into coaching and writing
06:16 Why return to coaching now?
07:35 Focus of the book: preparation
08:32 Why preparation matters
10:23 Casino analogy: "the house always wins"
13:00 The five levels of preparation
17:01 Where organizations typically fall on the preparation spectrum
18:36 Peyton Manning’s quote on preparation and work ethic
20:19 Attitude and effort: what we can control
22:17 Coaching insights that apply to business
24:22 The importance of identifying your “bread and butter”
25:03 Constant preparation and the power of systems
26:22 Preparing for strategy vs. reacting to the competition
30:27 Special situations in games and business
31:06 The danger of perfectionism vs. pursuit of excellence
32:11 What Coach Mitchell does for fun
33:03 What he’s currently reading
34:39 Where to learn more about Coach Mitchell
35:24 Final thoughts and action steps for listeners
36:34 Closing remarks and next episode teaser
Matthew's Story: Matthew Mitchell is the author of Ready to Win: How Great Leaders Succeed Through Preparation. He is a Wall Street Journal best-selling author, speaker, three-time SEC Coach of the Year, and the winningest head coach in the history of the University of Kentucky women's basketball program. The foundation for his teams’ achievements is the Winning Tools principles: honesty, hard work, and discipline. Through Mitchell’s focus on the fundamentals, he led the program to new heights―seven winning seasons and UK’s first SEC Championship in 30 years.
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Flexible Leadership is every leader’s guide to greater success in a world of increasing complexity and chaos.