OUR STORY

The Balance The Bar initiative has roots at the 2016 NBA Predraft Combine week in Chicago, IL. The global concept was originally part of a presentation given by BTB Founder, Jesse Wright, at the National Basketball Strength & Conditioning Association (NBSCA) Continuing Education Conference that year. The title was “Advance: Rise Through the Ranks and Thrive as an S&C Professional.” The talk ran through details of eight attributes, all derived from the interpersonal side of coaching, that empower an individual to have a long, successful, impactful career. It was again presented in 2017 at the National Strength & Conditioning Association (NSCA) National Conference in Las Vegas.

In the moments and days following both events, attendees volunteered a lot of valuable feedback. The experienced coaches said the equivalent of “great information, this stuff is so important and isn’t talked about enough.” Many of the young practitioners were thankful for the “inside, veteran knowledge” and reported they never considered many of the items that were discussed. Nearly all of them acknowledged the known importance of the topic, but also the lack of opportunity or options to learn more about it.

Enter: Balance The Bar.

”The experienced coaches said the equivalent of 'great information, this stuff is so important and isn’t talked about enough'.”

”Many of the young practitioners were thankful for the 'inside, veteran knowledge...'”

Original slides from the presentation shown above in 2016

OUR FOUNDER

Jesse K. Wright, founder of the Balance The Bar initiative, is a high performance consultant, Amazon best-selling author, coach, and public speaker. His career has spanned over two decades in the team sport culture, including working with organizations in the NBA, NFL, NCAA, and in private sports training. His passion lies in helping young professionals grow and advance in their careers and lives. Through continuing education resources and private coaching, he seeks to create awareness, recognition, and comprehensive solutions for others in both professional and personal development. His experiences as a teammate and leader in professional sports, collegiate athletics, and in business have him uniquely positioned to provide guidance for successfully navigating and thriving in today’s challenging, high performance environments.

Jesse most recently spent 14 years with the Philadelphia 76ers of the NBA, first as the Head Strength & Conditioning Coach and then as the Director of Performance Science. During his time in professional basketball, he was named the NBA’s Strength & Conditioning Coach of the Year in 2013, an award voted on by his contemporaries in the league. He also served as President of the National Basketball Strength & Conditioning Association from 2013-2015. In addition, he served as chair of the committee that oversees and coordinates the anthropometric and performance testing for the NBA Pre-Draft Combine for 6 years.

During his career, Wright has held Strength & Conditioning Coach positions with Temple University, the Philadelphia Eagles, the Barcelona Dragons (NFL-Europe), Hofstra University Football, and Saint Joseph’s University. He also served as the Director of Summit Sports Training Center, a retail-based performance center located outside of Philadelphia, PA, which served youth through professional athletes. He oversaw operations for four start-up training facilities, including sports performance programming, customer service, sales and marketing, accounting, new business development, and personnel.

He received an Exercise Science degree from Temple University and a Master’s of High Performance Sport degree from Australian Catholic University. He is a Certified Strength & Conditioning Specialist (CSCS) and a Registered Strength & Conditioning Coach Emeritus (RSCC*E), both from the National Strength & Conditioning Association (NSCA).

OUR STRATEGIC TRIAD

Three strategic pillars provide the framework for the resources that benefit our membership

Guide the growth and development of a comprehensive interpersonal skill set for our members, to help them serve others better and stand out amongst their peers as great teammates and effective leaders

Powerful combination of evidenced-based research and 20+ years of high performance experience educates our members in a self-guided learning environment

Situation-specific training and instruction to prepare our members for success within the unique and challenging aspects of high performance culture

OUR STRATEGIC TRIAD

Three strategic pillars provide the framework for the resources that benefit our membership

Grow and develop a comprehensive interpersonal skill set of our members to help them serve others better and stand out amongst their peers as great teammates and effective leaders

Powerful combination of evidenced-based research and 20+ years of high performance experience educates our members in a self-guided learning environment

Situation-specific training and instruction to prepare our members for success within the unique and challenging aspects of high performance culture

OUR STRATEGIC TRIAD

Three strategic pillars provide the framework for the resources that benefit our membership

Grow and develop a comprehensive interpersonal skill set of our members to help them serve others better and stand out amongst their peers as great teammates and effective leaders

Powerful combination of evidenced-based research and 20+ years of high performance experience educates our members in a self-guided learning environment

Situation-specific training and instruction to prepare our members for success within the unique and challenging aspects of high performance culture

OUR LOGO

The word “balance” can be described as the ability to maintain equilibrium; where equilibrium can be any condition in which all acting forces are cancelled by each other resulting in a stable system.

The uneven bar is symbolic for the conventional path that many high performance professionals choose early in their development.

Heavy on one end, the technical knowledge side, with undergraduate work in a chosen field and followed by advanced degrees, licenses, and a host of certifications. This domain intelligence and specific expertise is required. It is important. It is necessary. These competencies, these hard skills, will always remain the foundational component of our ability to practice in high performance settings.

But what about the other side of the bar? The side that represents a complementary path to success. The one that involves connecting with people and communicating well. The side that has your leaders and coworkers repeatedly describing you as a “great teammate.”

The part that empowers you to lead others and has people seeking you out for support, answers, and advice. The qualities that enable you to be OK with vulnerability, to fully recognize your strengths and weaknesses, and that prepare you for success in any work environment or new culture in which you find yourself. Is there attention and focus on developing these types of critical, “interpersonal” or “soft” skills early in your career as well?

Let’s reduce this asymmetry in professional growth. Seek out the path that leads to equilibrium. Load the development barbell evenly. Balance The Bar.

CONTACT & FOLLOW US:

admin@balancethebar.com