Calling Up: Discovering Your Journey to Transformational Leadership

by J.P. Nerbun

Calling Up is a guide for coaches of all sports at all levels that presents a step-by-step process to building a transformational culture, starting with changing coaching behaviors, attitudes, and language. Modern-day coaches face the same challenges every entitled youth, overinvolved parents, and the community and administration’s expectation for wins. Coaching does not just take a great deal of time; it takes an emotional and physical toll, and coaches need to know they are not the only ones facing these struggles. After over 11 years of coaching, and his own coaching philosophy transformation, J.P. Nerbun felt called to share the hard lessons that could not be found in a book when he started coaching. Calling Up provides an easily accessible and inspiring story as J.P. details the transformative experience of a high school basketball coach named Daniel and his year-long struggle to keep his job while working to become the coach he always wanted to be. Apart from the entertaining and relatable story, which connects with coaches on a personal level, Calling Up provides coaches with principles based on scientific research and personal experience that explore how people learn, what motivates them, and the human condition. These principles are shared by some of the most highly qualified and successful coaches in sports and J.P. also provides specific tools and explains how those tools are applied within the context of a team. At the end of the day, Calling Up shows coaches not just how to build great athletes, but how to build great people.

Genres: Leadership

256 pages, Paperback

Published September 3, 2019

About the author

J.P. Nerbun is a coach, sports consultant, and the founder of TOC Culture Consulting, a global sports-consulting business. After over a decade of basketball experience, coaching men and women in Ireland, Lithuania, and the United States, at the professional, collegiate, and high-school levels he started TOC. His mission is to help leaders and their teams grow through 1:1 coaching, community, and practical resources. TOC has supported and consulted with dozens of different leaders in sports, business, healthcare, and education. In 2019, he published his first book, Calling Up: Discovering Your Journey to Transformational Leadership. In 2022, he released The Culture System: A Proven Process for Creating an Extraordinary Team Culture. J.P. lives with his wife and three children in Ireland where he also enjoys ultra running.

Reviews

[Justin · Rating 5 out of 5]

I expected the structure of this book to be annoying: it's told as a novel, each chapter a lesson on coaching/leadership, with occasional cheesiness. The first section of the book is a bit absurd, as it's a literal climb up amount with a wise sage/guide leading our protagonist. The book's pretty irresistible, though. It's densely loaded with ideas, and seeing them play out in a realistic setting (most of the time) turns out to be very helpful.

If you pick this one up, be aware of the way the narrative works, but keep in mind that it's well worth the read.

[lisa rosberg · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome Story and Lessons!

I loved "Calling Up"! I have followed JP Nerbun for a short time, and I have liked the things I have read and heard. "Calling Up" went to a whole new level, though. Great messages and lessons for coaches, yes, but there is so much more to take from this than ways to be a better coach and leader. Great lessons for anyone to become a better version of themselves and live a more fulfilling life. Do yourself a favor and read "Calling Up"!

[Kimberly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great and easy read to gain a new perspective in how to coach/lead a team.