Managing The Mental Game

In this episode of Strategic Minds Podcast, Rich sits down with Derin McMains to explore how elite athletes develop clarity, resilience, and composure—and how business leaders can do the same. Drawing from his career in professional baseball and mental performance coaching across major sports, Derin breaks down the “mental game”: the crucial seconds between moments where decisions are shaped.

He shares practical tools leaders can use to shift from emotion-driven reactions to process-driven responses, manage confidence, and prepare with greater intention. The discussion shows how the principles that help athletes perform under pressure can empower executives to show up as the version their team needs most.

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Key Quotes

“I define the mental game as the game you play between moments.”

“Emotions are great informants and terrible dictators.”

“The scoreboard doesn’t care how you feel. Fans don’t care how you feel. When I focus on confidence and feelings, I’m not focused on the task at hand.”

“Let’s start with identity. How I see myself determines how I see the world.”

“With every goal, it always starts with what problem you’re really trying to solve.”

Winsights: Ideas for Advantage

Jack Welch once warned that when the rate of change inside a company lags the rate of change outside it, the end is already in motion. Reed Hastings echoes the same truth: organizations rarely die from moving too fast—they die from moving too slow. Together, their message is unmistakable. Leaders must cultivate a constant urgency around getting better.

Value creation isn’t static, and neither is the environment we compete in. The moment we stop evolving, we start falling behind.

Set aside time regularly with your team to look beyond the present and define the future state of the business. Where are you going, and what must change to get there? Strategic progress begins with intentional forward focus.

Links

Submit a question for Rich to the League of Strategic Minds

Derin McMains on LinkedIn

Rich Horwath on LinkedIn
Rich Horwath on YouTube
Rich Horwath on Instagram
Strategic Thinking Institute Website
Inc. Magazine’s Top 4 book for 2024: STRATEGIC Book
New executive development platform: Strategic Fitness System
Sign up for Rich’s free Strategic Thinker Newsletter

About the Guest

Derin McMains
Director of Mental Performance, ReliaQuest

About the Host

Rich Horwath, Founder & CEO
Strategic Thinking Institute

Rich is a New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestselling author of eight books on strategic thinking, including his most recent work, STRATEGIC, which was named a “top 4 must-read business book for 2024” by Inc. Magazine, and a national bestseller by USA TODAY. He has been the top rated keynote speaker on strategic thinking at national conferences for nearly 20 years.

This Episode Brought to You by the Strategic Thinking Institute

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The Strategic Thinking Institute has developed hundreds of resources to help leaders at all levels think, plan, and act strategically. In addition to facilitating workshops and strategic coaching with executive leadership teams, STI has assessments and products for functional groups such as sales, marketing, finance, human resources, operations, information technology, account management, business development, accounting, clinical, medical, and other technical specialties. STI’s experience in a wide range of industries brings your team the best-of-breed practices and resources to enable your team to outthink and outperform the competition. Remember, be strategic … or be gone.

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Strategic Minds Podcast: Episode 27 – Managing The Mental Game