Ted Klontz and Facing our Hardest Change Softly

Hi all … it’s Pete.

When I was a kid, I played soccer. I was on the Colorado Springs Youth Soccer league called “Soccsy” at the time, and my team was exceptional. We dominated in every game and sported threatening black t-shirts, and the coaches were pathologically gruff parents, the whole trope-parade.

That was the team. Because clearly there is no “I” in team, now I shall tell you about myself. I was in the goal keeping position and I was quite naturally terrible at it. I was in this position only because I was even more naturally terrible at every other position. The only reason we won so much is because we had a terrific defense and offense, capped by a striker by the name of Ron Cook who was so fast on his feet you’d think he was naturally imbued with wheels. If the ball ever made it passed our defensive line, the other team was guaranteed to score, with the exception of the single time I managed to stop the ball by meeting it with my face.

Our guest today is Dr. Ted Klontz. Ted has been a mentor and friend to Dodge for 20 years. He’s an associate professor of Practice and Financial Psychology at Creighton University, director of the Financial Psychology Institute® in addition to being a sought after international speaker, author, and researcher.

Before that, though, he was a coach.

That’s how Dodge and Ted open their conversation today, with a discussion on Ted’s approach to confrontation when it comes to coaching in sports. And that’s where I want to ask you all to lean in. Right in the beginning. Because whether you’re a coach yourself, or if you’re a recovering victim of youth sports like me, Ted’s experience is positively redemptive.

The real nut of the conversation today is in Motivational Interviewing, a methodology Ted shares that can help probe the roadblocks to personal change rooted in the sort paralyzing ambivalence to change that many of us deal with at some point in our lives.

We all… deal with this in our lives, right? That’s not just a me thing?

Bottom line, Ted’s fantastic. You’ll get it… listen for a few minutes and you’ll discover he’s the human manifestation of a warm hug. And we could all use a warm hug right about now, right?

Thanks, as always, for your commitment to the work.

— Pete

Links & Notes

• Klontz Consulting
• Executive Circle — An exclusive financial psychology training and networking group for thought leaders and practitioners.

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