The Associate Commissioner at Conference USA, Tre Stallings join us for this episode as we hear from this former Offensive Lineman at Ole Miss in College who was drafted by the Kansas City Chiefs in the NFL, before heading into a career in sports administration. A man whose entire career was built upon taking pride in work ethic and details, Tre offers insight into the power of relationships, the need for us to listen better, and to find opportunities to “get our reps in” when it comes to building experience.

Tre provided an extremely honest account of his difficult process of establishing his identity and career after football and the episode allows us to learn more about how to navigate this difficult period of a person’s life. Throughout the conversation, it is clear that Tre has created an identity he feels he can be consistent with, and even though it took time to build this version of himself, it is this consistency that has provided him with the opportunities to get to where he is today.

Show Notes

Tre introduces himself to us and we hear all about his background within the sport of football (5:35) back to how he got into the sport, what separated him from so many other young kids around him, but also sheds light on the knowledge and experiences his father was able to provide from his own professional football experiences. We also hear early on the types of traits Tre relied upon in order to advance his football career (8:30) that acted as the foundations for his career. We also hear about his NFL years at Kansas City (10:50), the way more senior players mentored him, but also how he felt his professional career in the game was not everything it maybe could have been. Tre then explains some of the communication tendencies that transfer from the game of football to the board room and within any organization (12:23) and also introduces for the first time in the interview his passion for building relationships (13:30). The discussion then moves towards how both Tre and Steve view “preparing to perform” and how you can pull from experiences in sport in order to perform in the board room (15:32), specifically trying to find ways to get “reps” in order to be prepared for when the stakes are at their highest (18:00). Tre shares what he considers to be the most consistent trait that he finds in great leaders (20:35) and offers examples as to why this skill is paramount when leading by example. The conversation then becomes extremely honest as Tre explains the transition he went through from playing football to no longer being an athlete and starting over (24:30), but his insight offers great hope for anyone who truly struggles with this transition themselves (26:00) and reemphasizes the power great relationships can have through such a difficult time. Finally, we hear how Tre has moved through his career thanks to his faith, ability to remain present by focusing on performing, and of course how his strong relationships have allowed him opportunities he didn’t even plan for (29:25). Steve wraps things up with his Career Competitor “Keys to Success” at the conclusion of the interview.

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