J.P. Nerbun - Calling Up: Discovering Your Journey to Transformational Leadership

J.P. did a fascinating job creating a storyline that not only keeps you engaged but drives you all throughout to think deeper and challenge yourself to a higher level of coaching. He essentially does what the title reads; calls us up! Great read!

Adam Bradley, Founder and Director of Lead-Em Up and the of The Hardwood Hustle Podcast

J.P. has woven a compelling tale of a struggling coach and his mentor that highlights many of the issues facing coaches today. The book highlights all the important issues and will help the reader become a better leader and a more influential coach.

John OSullivan, Founder and CEO of Changing the Game Project

I highly recommend all coaches AND parents read this book! I frantically underlined and scribbled notes as I went. There is so much incredibly important information to help guide and provide a blue print for what it really means to be a leader!

Asia Mape, Founder of ilovetowatchyouplay.com

J.P.s fable Calling Up should be mandatory reading for coaches of all backgrounds. Easy to read, relatable, and full of practical advicethis book will cause you to reflect on your own coaching practices, but even more importantly, will help you have a greater impact those you lead.

Nate Sanderson, Head Basketball Coach at Linn Marr High School and Breakthrough Basketball

Calling Up brings exactly the kind of message all of us need to hear as coaches. Leading with positivity and authentic care for your athletes will always create better results than fear and authoritarianism. Delivering this message through a relatable character and entertaining story makes the message twice as powerful.

Pete Jacobson, Founder of WinSmarter.com and Head Wrestling Coach at Edgemont High School

J.P. NERBUN

NEW YORK

LONDONNASHVILLEMELBOURNEVANCOUVER

Calling Up

Discovering Your Journey to Transformational Leadership

2020 J.P. Nerbun

All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any meanselectronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, scanning, or otherexcept for brief quotations in critical reviews or articles, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

Published in New York, New York, by Morgan James Publishing. Morgan James is a trademark of Morgan James, LLC. www.MorganJamesPublishing.com

ISBN 9781642793048 paperback

ISBN 9781642793055 eBook

Library of Congress Control Number: 2018911954

Cover Design by:

Rachel Lopez

www.r2cdesign.com

Interior Design by:

Christopher Kirk

www.GFSstudio.com

Morgan James is a proud partner of Habitat for Humanity Peninsula and Greater Williamsburg. Partners in building since 2006.

Get involved today! Visit
MorganJamesPublishing.com/giving-back

For my parents, Ann and Bob, who loved me from the beginning.
For my wife, Melissa, who will love me forever

T hank you first and foremost to my wife, Melissa Nerbun, who has supported me every step of the way on this journey.

Im so grateful for my parents, Robert and Ann Nerbun, who instilled in me a passion for life and the desire to become the best version of myself.

Thank you to my great friend John Wilson who has been one of my most consistent believers and supporters in my life.

Thank you to Jamie Gilbert for your guidance and friendship these last few years.

Thank you to all my former assistant coaches, players, and athletic directors. Especially Glen Carr, Francisco Soutoyo, and Matt Pobieglo. Without your support I might have left coaching years ago!

A special shout out to the Men of Iron: Brian Catanella, Dustin Krause, Taylor Edge, Justin Simpkins, and Nate Sanderson.

Thank you to my editor Justin Spizman and publisher Morgan James. You have believed in this project and helped make this book great!

Im so grateful for all the special friends in my life. I have been blessed with an incredible group of peopleall are so unique and different.

To download the Calling Up Coaching Guide PDF, go to thriveonchallenge.com .
The guide provides tools and activities for implementing a personal and cultural system that can be done while reading the book or after reading the book.

Climbing mountains can serve as a great metaphor for lifes journey. The story of Part I: Searching for Clarity predominately takes place on a journey up a mountain. The main character, Danny, is searching for clarity of purpose and a process to close the gap from where he is to where he wants to be in life.

Todays culture seems intently concentrated on the problems of the world, and finding clarity within it can be difficult. The first step is to go backward, not forward. This means stepping back to understand where we are and where we want to go. While our main character, Danny, seeks that clarity through his journey up a mountain, we as coaches can find that clarity in a less dramatic way through reading, reflecting, journaling, and mentorship.

I continue to do the reflections and activities in this sectionsome even dailybecause they help me to be mindful of my actions and attitude. This process requires us to continuously step outside of ourselves to reflect on our beliefs, principles, and behaviors.

D anny sat on a stool in the empty locker room with his head in his hands. A million things seemed to be racing through his head. He had felt the pain of loss before with some ugly seasons, and every loss seemed more agonizing than the last. As a coach, you get used to the ups and downs of your sport. Extreme highs and even deeper lows. The losses were much more sour and the wins sweeter. No matter how many times Danny experienced loss, he just couldnt get used to it. Each loss still felt like an unexpected and unwelcomed experience, like jumping into a freezing cold pool. Loss sucked. Every single time. But this one seemed to cut a little deeper and burn a little more than all the rest.

Four years... four years of sacrificing so much, only to have it end like this? Theyd won their conference championship just last week. What a feeling of elation, the high of highs. But a humiliating loss in the first round of the state tournament quickly overshadowed that accomplishment.

Danny knew his team had the potential to develop into something special this seasonmaybe even to go all the way to the state championship. But his squad fell apart in the last few minutes of the game. Jayden, their star player, had again lost his cool. But this proved to be costly timing. After picking up his fourth foul, Jayden decided to mouth off to the referees. The usually patient refs called a technical foul on Jayden, which led to two free throws for the other team and possession of the basketball. But maybe even worse was that the technical foul also counted as a personal foul, and Jayden was done for the night. The final moments of his high school career seemed to act as a microcosm for his entire story.

As much of a head case as he was, he was every bit of a talented ball player as well. With Jayden on the bench, the team didnt have a true scorer on the court, and blew a six-point lead. They lost in the last few seconds of the game. While the opposing team stormed the court, Danny and his group of men stood by in dismay, trying to comprehend another season of falling short of their goal to make it to the state title game.