About Lance
Lance Loya helps driven leaders get their teams to understand the art of being a good teammate.
He is the founder and CEO of The Good Teammate Factory and the creator of National Be a Good Teammate Day (July 22nd).
As a leading authority on team micro-dynamics, he specializes in getting individuals to shift into the We Gear and change their focus from me to we. Other experts concentrate on improving teamwork, but Lance concentrates on improving the mindset of the individual teammate. Lance’s method works!
A former college basketball coach turned best-selling author, blogger, podcaster, and keynote speaker, Lance’s approach is refreshingly simple yet profoundly impactful. He demystifies the art of being a good teammate, offering practical insights that are easy to grasp and implement.
His principles have been embraced by Fortune 500 companies, professional and college sports teams, school districts, government agencies, and other non-profits.
Lance is the author of ten books on the art of being a good teammate. His book, The WE Gear: How Good Teammates Shift From Me to We, topped Forbes’ list of “20 Books That Will Make You a Better Coach or Mentor.” Lance’s work has also been featured in The New York Times, USA Today, CEO Weekly, and others.
He is a rare two-time recipient of the prestigious Schoenfeld Award for Sportsmanship, Character, and Ethics, as presented by the Collegiate Basketball Officials Association.
As a former intercollegiate student-athlete, Lance was an academic All-American. He holds an undergraduate degree in theatre and a master’s degree in sports management.
Prior to embarking on an NCAA coaching career, he honed his speaking skills as a radio morning show disc jockey.
When not speaking or writing, Lance is a doting father to his two daughters and devoted husband to his wife of of 20+ years.
Lance’s Be A Good Teammate Story
Lance was content to be a basketball coach until a turbulent plane ride changed the trajectory of his life and gave him a new purpose.
While traveling home from watching one of his players receive the NABC Allstate Good Works Award at the NCAA Final Four in Dallas, Texas, Lance had an epiphany. As he bounced around the cabin of his rough flight, he wondered, “What if this plane goes down?”
That frightening thought caused him to think about his two pre-school aged daughters and to consider what one final bit of advice he would want to pass onto them, should his life come to a sudden and unexpected end.
The advice he decided upon? Be a good teammate.
His daughters will always be part of a team in some capacity. If they can be good teammates, they will always have friends and a strong support network. People want to surround themselves with good teammates.
If they can be good teammates, they will always have financial stability. Companies can’t wait to hire good teammates—people who put the needs of the company ahead of their own agendas.
If they can be good teammates, they will find purpose in their live. People who serve have purpose. Purpose leads to happiness. What more could any parent hope for than for their children to have happiness in their life?
Lance’s attempt to convey that advice to his daughters came in the form of his children’s book Be A Good Teammate.
As that book grew in popularity, he found himself being repeatedly asked to write an adult version of the book, because as one zealous principal eloquently stated, “We’ve got some people who work here who don’t know how to be a good teammate.”
In response to the recurring demand, Lance’s authored the adult nonfiction title Building Good Teammates: The Story of My Mount Rushmore, a Coaching Epiphany, and That Nun.
Through the course of his research for the book, and his subsequent exploration of what it means to be a good teammate, Lance developed an obsession with the topic. The rest of the story is, as they say, history.
His mission in life is to make a positive impact on others by getting them to become better teammates. Because…the world cannot have too many good teammates!