What if you were able to gain specific information about the athletes under your direction that gave detailed insight into their personality strengths and weaknesses, how they think, react, are motivated and inspired? The type of information that would give you the ability to interact with them at their best level of understanding, allowing you to reach inside each athlete and pull out the potential they have within. Do you think this type of information might help you to create a team environment where everyone on that team thrives? Where leaders can be chosen based on who brings the best leadership skills to the table, and where goals become a mere end result of a process rather than the brass ring that few can reach. If any of this has sparked your interest, then stay with me as I introduce you to Pam Brooks, a certified behavior analyst from Arizona.I had the pleasure of making contact with Pam through her interest in my forthcoming book Becoming a True Champion. She had wanted to purchase my book “on the spot” as a “great teaching tool for young people who aspire to be great athletes.” It was on emailing her back to explain that I am still in the process of seeking publication that we commenced a dialogue between us regarding what behavioral analysis, especially athletic behavioral analysis, is all about and how it works. Through this dialogue she offered to test me to see where my results might fall on all of the parameters at her disposal. Since I had been through both a successful high school and college athletic career, I felt it would be interesting to see how all this panned out. In addition, I was genuinely intrigued by what Pam was trying to accomplish. Now I should point out that Pam, aside from being a certified behavior analyst (as mentioned above), also holds two masters degrees in counseling and communications, worked as an athletic academic adviser at Boise State University and was a former Division I collegiate volleyball player out of the University of Washington. With a background like this, what more could one ask for from a behavior analyst who assesses athletic behavior.
Without going into any form of great detail, let me just say that Pam spent a great deal of time with me over the phone thoroughly detailing my results. The passion for what she does was very evident throughout our conversation and the accuracy of her results, or profiling as it might be called, was, well, uncanny to say the least. I was shocked and amazed at how well these assessments laid out my own personality and how well Pam was able to interpret them, and not just strengths but also my “areas of improvement.” Pam, and these tools, basically took my personality apart piece by piece leaving a pretty comprehensive picture of who I was and how I react. Any minor discrepancies Pam was able to clarify using data from the assessment tools themselves. From a coach’s standpoint, it gave all the pieces necessary for a coach to actively work with me as an athlete, and as a person. It would have enabled any coach the capability of enhancing his or her ability to inspire me to reach my own potential, as well as giving the coach the information needed to effectively integrate me into his or her team environment.
Pam’s work is nothing short of amazing. Just keep in mind that Pam and the tools she uses are only as good as the willingness the coach has to put her results into practical use. As the Baylor Men's Tennis coach said, "We would not have won the National Championship in 2004 without the insightful assistance of Pam Brooks.
She helped us better understand one another and brought out the best in all of us. I can think of no better way to help your program move to the next level than placing your group in her capable hands.”
If you would like more information on Pam and her work you can peruse her website at Understandingyourathletes.com or you can email her directly at CCSuccess@qwest.net.
