What If Losing Is Where Culture Begins

About this episode

The episode explores the insights gained from a post-game interview with Gav Hickey, focusing on leadership and coaching culture after a team loss.

A team loses a final. The microphone shows up. Most leaders reach for explanations, soft excuses, or someone to blame. We don’t. We play a short, stunning post-game interview from Gav Hickey, who coaches the Naval Academy in the United States, and we slow it down to hear what it reveals about real leadership, coaching culture, and what your players learn from your voice. Gav’s message is all pride and perspective: he talks about the character of his players, the joy of spending time together...

People in this episode

Host: Ben Herring

Guest: Gav Hickey

Topics covered

• leadership
• coaching culture
• team dynamics
• loss
• character development

Keywords

• coaching
• leadership
• team loss
• character
• perspective

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Naval Academy

More episodes of Coaching Culture with Ben Herring

• The Power Of Little Hooks · June 3, 2026 · 11 min
• Alex Laybourne: Swedens rise to Top 30 on a shoestring · May 31, 2026 · 1h 2m
• How to Make and Break Confidence · May 27, 2026 · 12 min
• Gary Gold: What Coaches Get Wrong With Culture. · May 23, 2026 · 1h 11m
• What If Your Best Coaching Is Silence · May 20, 2026 · 9 min
• Filo Tiatia: Edge And Empathy In Coaching · May 16, 2026 · 57 min