Press Room

ARTICLE: Sports psychologists aim to help Miami Dolphins win mind games

By Adam Beasley, Miami Herald, November 3, 2015

Stephen Ross has directed the Miami Dolphins to find non-traditional ways to improve the team’s performance, and mental health — once a taboo subject around the league — is part of the initiative.

To this end – the organization partners with Mastery Technologies. In Dolphins headquarters, the mental health professionals are called “peak performance coaches.” Sports psychology is a part of what they do, but the counseling goes well beyond sitting a player down on the couch after a bad loss.

“I think those guys are good for our football team,” Pouncey said. “They keep everything whole, especially when there’s problems. Guys have real issues outside of football sometimes, so it’s good to have someone to talk to that’s on-base.”

As a captain, Pouncey has a weekly meeting with teammates, interim coach Dan Campbell and members of Mastery Technologies’ staff.

Leadership building is a big part of what they do. So is helping along the maturation process for Miami’s rookies.

In addition to one-on-one counseling, Mastery Technologies holds seminars intended to help players sharpen their mental edge, as well as recognize their bodies’ strengths and weaknesses.

A big part of sports psychology is teaching athletes how to block out external noise that clutter the mind, and Mastery Technologies’ program is no different.

“Your whole life, you’ve prepared,” Denney said. “You’ve been training, you’ve been doing this work. Your body has this muscle memory that you’ve created, not allowing your mind to overtake those things, but to rely on your preparation, not to become a mental midget.”

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ARTICLE: Credo Award has special meaning among Dolphins players

Every Thursday morning the Dolphins crowd into the team auditorium for their daily meeting.

And during that gathering, in front the entire team, the Credo Award, a figurine of a Spartan warrior that’s a symbol of the team’s credo, is handed out to an offensive player, a defensive player and a special teams player, as everyone applauds.

“I ain’t gonna lie,” said Pro Bowl left tackle Branden Albert, who won after the Oakland game, “it’s cool to get outside accolades, but within your team, it’s a pretty cool thing.”

In the NFL, as in all pro sports, respect from the fans is good, but respect from your peers is life-giving.

That’s the Credo Award.

“The whole organization sees it,” said safety Michael Thomas, who also won after the Oakland game. “When you get the award it shows everybody, ‘Yeah, that’s somebody who really exemplifies it.’

“For the most part, it’s spot on. I feel like a lot of guys probably do deserve it, but for the guys who receive it, it’s a high honor. It’s one of those, ‘OK, I’m getting respect.’ Because a lot of things you do might go unnoticed through the media or what not. You might not get accolades and awards for it. But to get recognized by your team is cool.”

At the specified time of the team meeting, offensive coordinator Bill Lazor calls the offensive player to the front of the auditorium, says a few words him, and presents his award. Defensive coordinator Kevin Coyle handles the defensive player, and special teams coordinator Darren Rizzi honors the special teams player.

Players genuinely seem to love it.

Miami Dolphins writer Omar Kelly and WPEC 12’s Matt Lincoln discuss the Dolphins big win against the Jacksonville Jaguars, their upcoming matchup this Sunday with the San Diego Chargers, and who may or may not be with the Dolphins next year.

“It feels great,” said linebacker Jelani Jenkins, who won after the Kansas City game. “I like it as an award that stands for something more than just what you do on the football field.

“It stands for your character, the way you work, your service off the field, and just being a good teammate. I think it’s our best award.”

The Credo Award is the latest incarnation of the player-developed mantra that was crafted during the summer.

The credo begins, “I am a Miami Dolphin. I am a warrior and a member of an unbeatable team. I will always place the team first.”

The Dolphins’ credo first became public because it’s printed on the back of T-shirts all the players were awarded after the initial 53-man roster was announced.

Then the team displayed a bronze-looking shield in the locker room. It’s a symbol of the credo that travels to every game, home and away. It even made the trip to London.

Cortland Finnegan and the Miami Dolphins defense did it all last week and look to continue that trend against the Chargers.

Now the credo is proudly and boldly showed on a locker room wall. Underneath it are three small wooden shelves that display the offensive, defensive and special teams Credo Awards. To the left of the shelves is a list of every Credo Award winner for the season.

And, yes, the players still take the credo seriously.

“The credo, it’s a covenant,” Thomas said while looking at the words on the lockerroom wall. “It’s just something to constantly remind you what’s the Dolphins’ way, what you stand for, and your standards.”

Defensive end Olivier Vernon was honored after the Chicago game.

“I thought I was never going win the award,” he said laughing. “No, I’m messing with you. It’s cool. It’s something different. It’s cool to have our own thing.

“It’s pretty much the guys that put in the work regardless if you played in the game or not. It’s what you did throughout the week…it signifies just being a hard worker and good teammates as well. It’s not really based off performance. It’s, how can I say, setting good examples, being a good teammate and being a good role model.”

Copyright © 2014, Sun Sentinel

MT joins the faculty of HEC Paris to deliver the “Leading Unbeatable Teams” program to global Rabobank executives

Rabobank, one of the largest financial institutions in Europe, is undergoing a large scale organizational change initiative part of which is training their senior executives on leadership and team development competencies needed to execute complex global changes throughout the enterprise. MT joined forces with the Harvard faculty of HEC Paris to present a joint executive MBA style program where MT provided the execution and application phases of an advanced leadership, teaming and strategic change program to a team of world-wide Rabobank executives. Due to the success of the collaboration, HEC Paris is integrating MT’s “Leading Unbeatable Teams” curriculum into their global executive development offerings to businesses globally.