Just what is a performance coach?
I’m a Performance Coach who is obsessed with the most effective and efficient methods for learning new skills, the strongest pathway to take you from where you are today to where you need to be when you enter a high-stress environment, and the mental and emotional states needed to assure that you perform at your best in that environment.
My Background
My background and early career are in the music world. In that world I’ve been a performing bass player, studio musician, arranger, producer, songwriter, rehearsal leader, music director and quasi-psychologist. (If you’ve ever been in a studio during the 11th hour of a recording session, you’ll understand!)
During my years as a musician, I regularly taught lessons and always seemed to be the one organizing the efforts to keep projects alive. My reputation as a high-level performer and trusted teacher who could motivate students and break down complex processes into manageable components led me to becoming a member of the music faculty at San Francisco State University.
At that time, I created the Musician’s Practice Planner notebook to help musicians organize their learning process, clearly define goals, and track their progress. This notebook has gone on to sell 100,000 copies. I also ran a publishing company and developed an SAAS application.
Why I Do What I Do Now
Something happened when I was teaching at SF State that changed the course of my life. It was during an audition of a potential music student for the university program. Just as this student was about to start performing the material he had prepared for his audition, he said, “I was a Marine in Iraq. And, I’m more nervous now than I was going into combat!”
I determined then and there that my mission in life would be to figure out how to stop the life or death feelings that so many people have on stage, in competition, presenting to groups, speaking up at meetings, and all of the other environments where we put ourselves out there to make our voices heard.
I stopped focusing on the skills and techniques that usually define “mastery” and put my attention on the mental and emotional landscape that stops many people – even those who have high-level skills – from succeeding in their chosen task.
I read every book, journal article, and website I could find on the subject. At the time there weren’t that many. Luckily, this has changed. Today, there is an entire movement dedicated to understanding the processes that create mastery and masterful outcomes. I continue to absorb as much of this information as I can and incorporate that information into my coaching sessions, workshops, and books.
How a Performance Coach Helps You Succeed
I call myself a Performance Coach. But, that term elicits a lot of questions from people. They ask, “Just what IS a Performance Coach?” The simplest answer is: I help you perform better.
I help musicians perform better – while practicing, at rehearsals, during auditions, and on stage. I help presenters perform better – while creating their presentations, practicing their delivery, and giving the presentation. I help athletes perform better – during workouts, in team practices, and during competition. I help anyone with a goal perform better – in choosing the right goal, planning how to achieve that goal, and moving along the path to achievement and success.
I consider this my mission in life: I help people who want to do something better actually do better so they can achieve the success they desire.
I’m a big believer in everyone having goals and something they want to improve, whether in their personal or professional lives. I believe that if everyone in the world had something important they were striving for, the world would be a better place.
And, I have a goal of my own: to help 1 million people achieve their goals. That music notebook I created years ago has already helped 100,000 people. And, I’ve given talks, workshops, and coaching sessions to several thousand more. So, I’m working toward my own goal.
As busy as I am with coaching, public speaking, and facilitating workshops, I keep a hand in the music industry. I still perform occasionally, I’m listed in Who’s Who in America and I’m a voting member of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences—which gives me the privilege of voting for the Grammy Awards.
Personal Life
There is, of course, a lot more to life than our CV’s. I live with my wife, violist Stephanie Railsback, in the hills of Oakland, California, overlooking the San Francisco Bay. I swim laps five mornings a week, I hike in the redwoods, I paddle a canoe when Stephanie and I can get away from it all, I try to learn something new every day, I listen to great music (of course!), and I travel the world searching for awe-inspiring views.
