We are privileged to have The Director of Sports Science of The New Orleans Saints, Matt Rhea, as the guest on this episode where he shares some of his personal experiences with high performing athletes to talk about how we can approach life and leadership. He mentions a few names you might recognize in his stories and shares some great lessons and philosophies he has learned from these profound examples. He talks about how being humble and not being content with just being good leads to becoming better and greater satisfaction. Matt shares some great examples that highlight the importance of owning our mistakes, and being vulnerable so we can get better. He also talks about how we as leaders need to build trust in those around us so they are willing to be vulnerable. We can set a high bar for those around us when they know that we care about them if we are willing to take the time to build relationships with our people and build an environment where they can shine and even surpass us.
Matt Rhea just completed his first season as the Director of Sports Science for the New Orleans Saints. He served in the same position with the University of Alabama football for two years prior and Indiana University for two years before that. Prior to his work in football, he worked as a professor of exercise and sport science, a performance consultant for MLB, NBA, international soccer, and Olympic teams, and owned and operated an athlete development facility. He completed a PhD at Arizona State University in Exercise Science, Master’s Degrees at Arizona State (Exercise Science) and American Public University (Sports Management), and a Bachelor’s Degree in Physical Education at Southern Utah University. He grew up in Tooele, Utah and served a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in Chicago. He and his wife, Kellie, have 5 sons ages 16-26 years and now have 2 daughters-in-law and 2 grandchildren.
