Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Chris Mader. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Chris, so good to have you with us today. We’ve always been impressed with folks who have a very clear sense of purpose and so maybe we can jump right in and talk about how you found your purpose?
17 years ago my manager asked me what my “Dream Job” was. At the time, I was working in corporate america making good money and I liked my job, but didn’t really love it.
He said, “Imagine you have enough money in the bank to pay your bills, but you still have to work. Money isn’t an issue but you still need to earn a living. What would you do?”
My immediate answer was to be a Coach, just like my college baseball coach.
He said, “Why coaching?”
I said, “Because I really enjoy helping people. Especially people who never had someone supporting them, cheering for them, and giving them tough love when needed, and seeing someone accomplish something they really didn’t think they could do. My coach gave me a feeling of optimism, confidence, self-esteem, and that I could handle any adversity thrown my way. So I want to have that same type of impact on others.”
Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?
After being in the coaching business the past 18 months, I am very proud to announce the launch of my new book, Make the Adjustment, Finding the Courage to Embark on Your Own Journey of Transformational Change.”
My business is named MTA Consultancy with the tagline of “Make the Adjustment”, and the story behind it is below…
The story begins with my now late college baseball coach, Boyd Coffie. He was not only a coach, but a mentor to hundreds of lucky men and women who played baseball, basketball, or ran track at Rollins College in Winter Park, FL for almost 30 years.
When I first met “Coach” in 1988, he was a strong, but humble man who served in the US Army and played professional baseball for the New York Yankees organization. He was generally reserved and soft-spoken, would watch & observe, and wouldn’t say a whole lot…but when he did speak, everyone would listen.
As a recruit to Rollins baseball, I sat in his office which was placed just behind home plate at Alfond Stadium, with a small window so he could see the field. There were a few bats, baseballs, charts, nothing special really…but behind his desk there was a giant wooden sign that said the most important 3 words that I, along with every athlete at Rollins would ever see or hear, “Make the Adjustment”.
I asked him about what it meant to him, and all he said was, “If you come to Rollins, you will find out.” Again, a man of few words and he was an enigma to me. I couldn’t figure him out fully, but Boyd had a charisma, magnetism, and presence that could only be felt if you spent time with him.
With that, I decided to enroll and play Division 2 college baseball for Boyd. What I found at Rollins were incredible teammates and lifelong friends. Boyd recruited players based not only on their skill, but more so their drive and character. He instituted 2 mile army style jogs followed up with wind one hour of wind-sprints at 6:00am, 6 mornings a week for the entire month leading up to the season. Never mind the 4+ hour practices in the afternoon after attending classes in the morning. “No one will be in better shape than us in the 9th inning”, he would say, and he was right!
You see, the deeper meaning of “Make the Adjustment”, is that Boyd was light years ahead of the studies on Emotional Intelligence (EQ). What I’ve learned about MTA is that this simple phrase puts every good thing or bad thing that happens in your life, back on YOU, and no one else. If you get too high, he would suggest you need to Make the Adjustment and come back down to earth. If you got too low, he would challenge you and ask if what you are doing isn’t working, what adjustments need to be made, either physically, emotionally, or how you interact with your teammates.
“Make the Adjustment” was such a simple, yet impactful way to teach us self-awareness, self-control, ego management, communication skills, empathy, social effectiveness, and more.
Sadly, Boyd passed away in 2006 after a long battle with cancer. When I founded MTA Consultancy, I could think of no better way to pay tribute to the man who was like a second father to me by naming this company after him and his legacy. A man who impacted so many students & athletes in such a positive way. “Make the Adjustment” was a concept that needed to live, breathe, and carry on, and hope the story behind MTA brings self reflection & inspiration to you and your employees.
There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?
Setting SMART GOALS, Having Discipline, Overcoming Adversity, Having an Internal Locus of Control
Being Emotionally Intelligent
Being Courageous, Having an Owners Mentality, & being Relentlessly Persistent
Tell us what your ideal client would be like?
The perfect client for me is one that scaled & promoted a number of people into management, only to realize that those new managers/leaders need training & development. The vast majority of managers in this world are dropped into it with very little or no training, and usually make mistakes for their first 1-3 years trying to figure everything out. Our program improves their effectiveness and helps them avoid the common pitfalls new managers can fall into without this training.
MTA has a cohort/group based training program that ramps up a number of managers very quickly and gives them the confidence and skills they need to get results from the teams they manage.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.mtaconsultancy.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mtaconsultancy/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/mta-consultancy/
- Twitter: https://x.com/ChrisMaderMTA
Image Credits
N/A
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