What is a NASCAR Pit Crew Coach?

Matt will explain that a pit crew coach is similar to any other professional coach. A Pit Crew Coach deals with the X’s and O’s (choreography) of the pit stop as well as the people side of the sport.  Tenths of a second  on pit road mean the difference between having a job or losing it.  Also, he will share that being a lifetime learner, who isn’t afraid to explore the unknown, opened a door to an amazing career in NASCAR that he never knew was possible.

You speak about the neuroscience of belief formation. Why?

Matt dives into the  discovery of his own self-limiting beliefs and how he came to change them through understanding the neuroscience of how beliefs are formed and how you can change them.  Willpower isn’t enough when it comes to changing core beliefs. Our beliefs are happening at the cellular level and running in the subconscious with an  “automatic transmission”, shifting gears in the background. 

You’ve built championship pit crews for drivers Jeff Gordon & Jimmie Johnson, what is the parallel for everyday businesses? 

Business is all about performance if you expect to win. However, most teams are not functioning at a championship level. The same team building principals that drive high performance pit crews apply to every organization. The 4 Pillars of a high performance team include, mindset, culture, communication and execution.

How does mindset fit into building high performance teams?

Winning starts with the right mindset. Successful individuals and teams, must develop a champion’s mindset. Champions have no choice but to have a growth mindset and to be focused on continual improvement even in the most challenging situations. Championships are won in the mind, long before they witnessed in victory lane.

Culture is an important component of high performing teams. How do YOU define culture and what are some things that  impact culture?

Culture is the “personality” of your team.  It is the way members interact, or “do business” both internally and externally. Culture reflects the  embodiment and outward expression of the teams mission, vision and core values. Culture happens by design or default.

Pearson’s law states, “What is measured, improves. That which is measured and reported improves exponentially.”  Does that quote still hold true today and how does it apply to the modern workplace?

Some business principles are timeless and immutable. Given his experience, where an 11 second pitstop was broken down into at least twenty-five distinct time segments for critical review and millisecond improvement, measuring output gives quantifiable results that can be improved.

Tim Ferriss famously wrote the  NYT Best Seller 4 hour work week, I’ve heard you talk about the 60 second work week. What do you mean?

NASCAR Pit crews spend about 60 – 80 seconds a week actually working on getting results; changing tires, fueling and adjusting the car during the race. Each pit stop can be 10-12 seconds with the average of 5 – 7 pits tops per race. These Pit Athletes are required to workout, rehab, stretch, watch film, setup & tear down, all of which is important. However, at the end of the day, it’s the number on the stopwatch that matters.