#82: Building Culture and Growing Companies with Martin Rooney
Do you ever meet someone and walk away feeling motivated, like you can accomplish anything in the world? After listening to today’s guest, you just might be ready to run through a brick wall (though you don’t actually have to do that).
Martin Rooney is the founder of Training for Warriors, turning a modest idea into a massive business. He’s continued growing both his business and his network, navigating a successful speaking career among everything else he’s doing. I’ve met a lot of people in my life, and few are as fired up as Martin is about what they do. And lucky for us, he’s sharing some of the mistakes he’s made along the way and what he’s learned from them.
Martin is also the author of a dozen books, most recently Coach to Coach: An Empowering Story About How to Be a Great Leader and High Ten: An Inspiring Story About Building Great Team Culture. The books are great stories but also drop plenty of knowledge around leadership and building strong cultures within organizations, whether you’re a company of two or two million.
Highlights of our conversation include:
How Martin first got into athletics — including a career twist he didn’t expect! — and why his mission is to help people become better coaches. (1:59)
The insanity of this year’s Olympics and how wild the 400-meter hurdles events were. (3:31)
Martin goes over his two newest books — Coach to Coach and High Ten — that have been released since the pandemic. Plus, he covers why the actual book writing process is much longer than most people think. (6:54)
A look inside the design of the cover for High Ten and why it might take you longer to find a cover you love than it does to write the book. (12:02)
The power of editors and some of the quirks and trends in our writing. (14:39)
The worst speaking gigs that Martin has had — and how he turned them around to lead to some incredibly memorable ones. (18:08)
A few of the must-have items to bring on any trip. (23:05)
The secrets of how to build a great team culture. (26:05)
Martin shares some of the big culture killers and what to watch out for with them. (33:40)
The story behind Martin’s Training for Warriors company, and how it’s grown exponentially over the years. (36:02)
Martin tells us his top sports moments — and you can even see part of one here. (41:48)
Where to find Martin Rooney:
Check out Martin at coachinggreatness.com or trainingforwarriors.com.
Follow him on Instagram: @themartinrooney.
Pick up a copy of Coach to Coach and High Ten on Amazon or wherever you get your books.
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