The Winning Edge Way

The success of any person or organization is capped at person's ability to lead themselves and others. Through his lens as a former NCAA division-I athlete, high school coach, athlete parent and certified leadership trainer, Eric Smith takes you on a journey on "how to" lead and elevate in 3 dimension, the dimensions of SELF, TEAM, and SPORT. Athletes and Coaches will enjoy this light but fascinating read which offers specific strategies that can be implemented immediately! In this book, you will learn gain a competitive edge by learning valuable tactics that will empower you and those around you to play at a much higher level, while creating a legacy by leaving your sport in a better place long after you're gone. Coaches will benefit by learning how to create a mindset that puts the athlete back in control so that they play faster, looser and with more creativity while leaving their athletes with a continuous thirst for improvement. They will also learn how to be a better leaders and create leadership on their team.

The reason the triangle is the strongest of the polygonal shapes is because, when force is added to a triangle, that force is spread evenly throughout all three sides. This is the same logic Eric Smith applies to The Winning Edge Way: An Athlete and Coach's Guide to Becoming a 3-Dimensional Competitor. As complex and nuanced as team sports are, there are three main components at their core: the player, the team, the game - each reliant on the other. In this guide, Smith meticulously breaks down and examines each of these three components through the lens of his own personal experience as both athlete and coach. One should devote oneself to a purpose not for the purpose but for that which can be learned and gained along the way, to then be passed along to the next generation. And when you devote yourself to a sport (or purpose), as Smith has, you learn a thing or two - or in this case, three!

Eric Smith grew up in the small town of Alma, Michigan. He loved sports. He was a 4 sport varsity athlete in football, basketball, baseball and track. Hard work paid off. In 1984, he earned a scholarship to attend Bowling Green State to play football as a Quarterback. He describes his college athletic career as being full of ups and downs. "My time playing athletics was typical of what most athletes experience. Full of challenges and adversity. Some highlights and very bright moments filled with a lot of difficult ones as well." Eric claims that the difficult times were every bit as valuable as the good times. "While things didn't always go my way, looking back, I don't think I'd trade my experience for anything. The challenging times really helped shape me and prepare me for navigating the challenges that I've faced in life." Graduating in 1989, Eric began his business career which took him from financial services to pharmaceutical sales and a 15 year career in real estate. While coaching high school sports, Eric realized that organized sports served as the perfect 'classroom' for teaching life and leadership. Eric claims that "if you're intentional about it, the experiences that you have in sports can change your life. I never really faced a problem or challenge in life where I couldn't draw a direct correlation to a similar experience that I had while playing sports. Whether it be learning how to deal with success or failure, or connecting and build relationships with others while trying to lead them. It's all the same, whether you're in the board room of business, the locker room of sports or the family room of family life!" Due to his passion for helping others, in 2015, Eric started the Winning Edge Academy where he teaches athletes how to reach their fullest potential while also helping others do the same by being a great leader. Eric say's "coaches know that leadership is important to success. They can always be heard encouraging there top athletes to be leaders. But they often fall short in teaching them 'how' to be leaders. The Winning Edge Academy is about teaching athletes the 'how to' of leadership. Leadership is a developed skill. It's a skill that will not only enable an athlete to reach the best version of themselves but it will elevate their team to a higher level as well. Most importantly, leadership is a transferable skill that can transform an individual's life as well as the lives of those around them." Due to his passion for helping others become their best in sports and in life, Eric aligned with one of the world's leading leadership organizations in 2016 - The John Maxwell TEAM as a certified partner, trainer and leadership speaker. In 2019, Eric had his first book published to share his knowledge and experience with anyone striving to be their best. He also wrote it as a starting point to connect with athletes, coaches, athletic administrators and parents. His book is titled – The Winning Edge Way: An Athlete and Coach's Guide to Becoming a 3-Dimensional Competitor. The book's primary focus is to serve as a 'how to' guide to learn how to elevate self, teammates and your sport. Eric believes that in order to maximize growth in the concepts and strategies taught in this book, you've got to do more than just read about them. You have to discuss them, practice them and teach them. If you'd like to do this, consider purchasing The Winning Edge Way 'companion guide' for your team or organization so that you can teach these strategies in a structured format through a workshop or master mind group format. The companion guide can be found on Amazon.com or through the Winning Edge Way website: www.3dcompetitor.com If you'd like Eric to speak to your organization about 'how to reach your fullest potential while elevating those around you' or host a workshop, please contact him today. He lives in NC with his wife Lisa. He can be reached at winningedgeleadership@gmail.com / 919.414.1774