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If you have ever thought about transitioning career paths, you are not the only one.
Alan Stein Jr. spent nearly 20 years as a professional basketball performance coach before deciding to enter into the corporate world. Now, instead of helping world-class athletes improve their performance, Stein helps corporate leaders and individuals improve their collective and individual performances.
In basketball, Stein worked with highly magnified NBA superstars like Kevin Durant, Victor Oladipo and Markelle Fultz when they were in high school and events with Kobe Bryant, Chris Paul, and LeBron James. Now he works with clients like American Express and Pepsi.
Stein believes the tenants of achieving success in sports and business are vastly similar, thus allowing him to position himself as an expert in a new industry.
As a corporate keynote speaker, Stein now dedicates his time to instilling organizational performance, cohesion, and accountability, per his dominating interests.
“I found myself studying, observing and learning everything I could on leadership, team cohesion, culture and accountability since those were the topics that consumed me,” Stein said. As he was approaching burnout in his basketball career, Stein knew if he was not 100 percent committed as a coach should be, then he needed to develop a new passion.
“Making a pivot from on-court basketball performance to corporate leadership, sales and organizational performance was a seamless transition,” said Stein.
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The two careers are very similar in that Stein takes fundamentals from basketball and meshes them with the business world, leaving positivity and results in the wake.
Varsity Partners Principal Tim Rebich has worked with Stein in the past in branding. Rebich knows Stein’s passion and excitement can inspire any audience, and his success pays to it. When transitioning careers like Stein, Rebich puts it simply: “The personal brand needs to always be consistent, while the audience changes.”
As much as inspiration is important, Rebich knows perception is just as important.
“As humans, we make assumptions based on first impressions. It is important to align these assumptions with your brand vision,” said Rebich.
Leadership, according to Stein, is a choice and not a title — a choice everyone makes in an organization.
“Everyone has the choice to intentionally have a positive influence over someone else,” said Stein. “I now take the lessons I’ve learned and translate those into actionable strategies for businesses to implement.”
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By educating, empowering and engaging with his clients, Stein is able to facilitate a “game plan” as he calls it to lead others
“He provides a realistic look into teamwork and different mindsets that allow you to grow not only as a professional but as a person,” said Rebich.
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Through his performance measuring metrics, analytics, and praise-filled testimonials, this new career gleans of immediate success, but Stein knows building brand recognition in a new industry was the biggest challenge.
“I went from a space where I was fairly well known and respected to a space where I was virtually unknown,” said Stein. “But nearly every skill set and intangible quality I learned through basketball is applicable in business.”
Coaches, CEOs and managers, players and colleagues, and teams and organizations all share the same traits and Stein treats these roles similarly.
SEE MORE: Personal Branding Tips for Sports Business Professionals
Stein knows he has found a unique niche in the business world carrying learned skills and attributes from sports to deadlines, sales, and organizations, all while espousing wisdom.
“Companies that have authentic cohesion, vertical and horizontal accountability, and an unparalleled culture will outperform those that don’t,” said Stein. “This will not only result in higher profits, but a more fulfilling workplace, higher satisfaction, and lower attrition.”
If anything, Stein is actually still a performance coach, engaging a different audience, but still bringing out professional performance qualities in today’s business and innovation leaders.
