Coaching (Interview with Ezra)

 Ezra, one of the leading global providers of digital coaching, has revealed how being top of the coaching game can seriously aid your professional development.

Ezra analysed each head coach’s annual salary to have started the 2020 season across all 32 NFL teams. The research shows that those at the top of the coaching game in the NFL take home an average paycheck of $5.3m a year.

However, it pays to be successful, and Ezra’s research shows that Super Bowl winning head coaches are paid considerably more for their success. A Super Bowl proven head coach’s average annual salary is currently $8m, 77% higher than the average paid to head coaches without a Super Bowl ring to their name ($4.5m).

It isn’t just winning the Super Bowl that can boost your earning potential, merely winning games also helps. NFL head coaches with a career win percentage of 30%-40% and 40%-50% make an average of $3.9m and $3.8m a year, respectively.

However, those with a 50%-60% win ratio earn an average of $5m a year, while those winning 60% or more of their games make 56% more ($7.8m).

With six Super Bowl wins and a 67.8 career win ratio, Bill Belichick is the highest-paid head coach in the NFL. His average annual salary of $12.5m is 525% higher than both Sean McDermott and Adam Gase.


Founder of Ezra, Nick Goldberg, commented:
“While it may register as perfect common sense that Super Bowl winning coaches command a pay premium, this research highlights the importance of coaching in its purest form. If you want to earn more, win more, be more successful, you need to be at the top of your game, and this requires dedication, hard work and the acceptance that the work never stops.
There is no finish line for personal and professional progression, and even when you’ve reached the top of your respective field in terms of job title or salary bracket, you can still improve what you do day to day and how you make an impact on the world.
This mindset brings greatness, and the ability to inspire this in others is an extremely valuable trait. So much so that everyone from professional sports teams, to major businesses, will pay top dollar for those with a proven track record of delivering.”

I had a chance to do an interview to learn more.

What parallels are there between business coaching and sports coaching?

There are sports coaches who may take a more “professional coach” approach, but the overarching comparison of the archetypal sports coach is often quite different from a professional business coach.

That said, there are examples of top sports coaches who adopt a great deal of the professional approach. Timothy Gallwey is a great example of this, essentially changing the game of tennis by taking a different approach to sports coaching which he then applied across a range of disciplines in both the sporting and professional world. 

Of course, there are parallels at the highest levels and sports coaches work with the individual to help them see and leverage their strengths and improve on their weaknesses. 

This is a highly ‘reflective’ and active learning approach that can also be used within the professional world. 

Try something, then look at it carefully to see what worked, what didn’t and learn from it. Then change the parts that need improvement.

Coaches notice things, help with awareness, challenge individuals, see the best in their coachees. Accountability is important, yes, but ‘pure’ professional business coaching involves the coach inviting the client to find ways to hold THEMSELVES accountable, rather than the coach ‘holding them accountable’.  

What can professionals learn from the sports world? 

Practice. Practice. Practice. On and off the field. Take soccer, for example. Your coach is always there at practice and the games helping you to make tweaks to enhance your performance, observing, noticing and providing feedback. 

This is no different than having a professional coach help you to navigate the world of work and business. Your professional coach is there to help you on the side-lines to enhance your ability to navigate various work situations. They’ll help you assess your strengths and how to optimize the skills you already have. They’ll give you tools and exercises to practice that are topical, impactful and timely. 

They’ll hold up a mirror and point out your blind spots, raise your awareness, and ask you insightful questions and challenge you to take action for your own development. They want to see you succeed. We all need an objective confidant that has your best interest at heart and while we tend to accept this with open arms in sport, not as many people do so in the workplace.

What sets Ezra apart from other places that provide coaching? 

We have a passionate global team of people who are committed to getting professional coaching to as many employees around the world as possible. 

We care. A lot! We truly believe that “professional coaching is for everyone”.

This allows us to attract and engage professional coaches who embody inclusivity authentically within their coaching practice. The depth and breadth of knowledge in our coaching community are one of kind. 

We also don’t coach to a cookie-cutter model. We listen to our clients' needs and meet them where they’re at. Because we show up differently daily and change is the only constant. 

We’re all unique and everyone deserves a leadership development program that is tailored for them. That’s what we do best – coaching the whole person, not the problem.

We’re very much a coaching business first and a tech business second, but the tech and our app allow us to deliver this coaching on a global scale, around the clock, on a one to one basis, and at a time that suits the individual, not the coach.