Always giving it 100%

I once played golf with Talk ‘N Text coach Vincent “Chot” Reyes and the first thing that I noticed was how intense and focused he was.

Whether be it basketball, or golf, or life coaching, Chot always gives it his best shot. Chot created history by being the youngest coach in the PBA to win a championship in his first tournament at age 29. This feat led him to win his first Coach-of-the Year award. He was also coach of Team Pilipinas, a team composed of several professional and collegiate players. He started the program in 2005, leading Team Pilipinas to a fifth place finish in the FIBA-Asia Champions Cup, third-place in the William Jones Cup and the title in the 2005 Brunei Sultan Cup.

In 2003, Chot established coachcom.inc, an executive and coaching company that helps develop coaching aspects in sports and in other fields such as business.

He was a former member and the only Filipino in the International Advisory Board of the United States Basketball Academy. He is a degree holder in Interdisciplinary Studies from the Ateneo de Manila University and a Masters in Business Administration student at the Edinburgh Business School in Scotland, United Kingdom.

Chot takes time out of his busy day to give Spare Time a sneak peek into what makes him tick. Here it goes.

How did you start in basketball? Did you ever dream of becoming a coach for the pro-league?

Reyes: My Dad introduced me to the game at a very young age. At 8 years old I was already playing for company mini-midget leagues and I’ve been a varsity player since then. From grade school, to high school, and college. It was while playing for the Ateneo Blue Eagles that the thought of coaching entered my mind. I knew I wasn't tall enough to play pro ball, so I figured I could coach. I tried high school and college coaching first, enjoyed it, and went to coach professionally. While in college, I dreamt of coaching pro ball, but I must admit I didn't think I would be this fortunate to win five Coach of the Year Awards and seven championships

How is golf different from basketball in terms of the satisfaction you get out of playing it? What's your current golf handicap?

The satisfaction from golf is borne out of individual achievement. From basketball it is about team success. I've lost a lot of ballgames and even been fired twice, but golf is still a lot more frustrating. My current handicap index is 8.5 I think.

How are you as a coach? How about you as a dad and as a husband?

I am a very intense coach, yet I thoroughly enjoy hanging out with the guys. I value my relationships with my players very deeply, not only as pros, but as people, and so our connection goes beyond the basketball court. My kids’ friends call me a "cool" Dad. I know the names of all my kids' close friends and they are all very comfortable hanging out with me – whether it’s watching games or a Bieber concert, sharing a meal, dancing the Dougie, or just shooting the breeze. As a husband I would like to think that I'm not too shabby either. My wife Cherry and I just celebrated our 26th anniversary as a happily married couple – she's happy, I'm married – haha! Seriously, I give my wife a lot of space to pursue her craft and self-development. I fully support her vocation as a hairdresser and managing director of the Essensuals Toni & Guy chain of salons. I am perfectly fine with all the success and accolades she has garnered in her career.

How did you get into life coaching? Tell us a little about this field and why we need it? How can businesses benefit from engaging life coaches? How is your approach to life coaching different?

Actually it's really business and corporate coaching. While taking my MBA at the Edinburgh Business School, Scotland I discovered business and corporate coaching, and I felt it spoke to who I was as an individual. So I took coaching certification courses in London and New York and started in this field about six years ago. I work with executives, senior managers, and entrepreneurs in a variety of engagements. It is as Executive Coach that the engagement inevitably spills over to life coaching, as these are the issues of top executives. I've coached expat country managers, local executives and business owners.

Why do we need it? Simple. Coaches help us get from one place to another at the quickest possible time. It is not for people who have anything "wrong" with them. Why does Tiger Woods, the best golfer of our generation have a coach? Why does the world's best pound-for-pound boxer have a coach? Why should individualized attention and tutelage be limited only to elite athletes? Studies have shown the ROI of good coaching programs up to six times the investment spent on instituting a quality coaching culture. It varies, of course, but like we always say, coaching MUST make business sense. The results must show up in the company's bottom line. Businesses benefit from having engaged, and thus more productive employees. Decreased absenteeism and tardiness, among others

Let us go to your salon business. Tell us how Toni and Guy started, how you and your wife divide the work, and why the salon business?

My wife has been a hairdresser practically all her life. And 'THE' place to go to for advanced haircutting and coloring training was the Toni & Guy Academy in London. After she attended a course there, she thought, "what if we could bring Toni & Guy to Manila?" So we inquired, sent a franchise application and waited. Suntok sa buwan. After about six months they called and asked us to come to London for an interview. Part of the interview was a 'trade test' wherein the applicant was asked to cut and color in front of Toni Mascolo's son and heir-apparent. Turns out you have to be an accomplished hairdresser to be a franchisee. It was not about how much money you had or what business experience you possess, which was good, because we had neither. My wife passed the test and they awarded the franchise to us. Then we looked for partners to raise the necessary investment, and the rest is history. My wife handles the operations and technical part. I do very little. Mostly motivating the staff.

How do you find Manny V. Pangilinan as a person and as a boss?

As a person he's very down-to-earth. Madali pakisamahan. We share a passion for good food and try to eat at the best restaurants here and in HK, the US. Mahilig sa kwento. He likes to keep abreast of goings-on in the sports and entertainment fields. He enjoys a good laugh, but gets easily bored. He gets ‘tired’ when doing nothing, even when he's supposed to be on vacation. As a boss, he's very demanding. He demands a lot from himself, so he expects nothing less from his people. We share a fierce determination to win and an abhorrence for defeat. He's the ideal boss because he understands basketball, and being a sportsman himself, understands the dynamics of competition. But inasmuch as his demands are high, he makes sure he provides you with all the support necessary to succeed. He wants to be in the loop even on technical matters, but doesn't interfere in my coaching decisions. Some team owners walang pakialam at walang suporta. Other owners grabe suporta pero sobra naman makialam. MVP sobra suporta but allows you to do your job. Kaya ideal talaga.

How do you motivate your players to give their best in every game?

My #1 rule for motivation is first be self-motivated myself. If I am not motivated, nothing I can say or do will motivate my players. We can't fool our people. If I'm motivated, it rubs off on my players. Then I go out of my way to know them as individuals -- their wife's and kids' names, who they're dating, where they come from, what they like doing outside of basketball. This knowledge gives me an idea of what buttons to push for every individual. It is not a one-size-fits-all approach. Motivation is a 1-on-1 thing.

Do you have any sports and business personality that you idolize? Why?

I am not ashamed to say I idolize MVP for all he has achieved and for what he stands for. But most of all I admire him for his humanity. Totoong tao. My coaching icons are Pat Riley, Phil Jackson, and my first high school coach, Fr James O'Brien. In business my other idol is Rene Buhain, my former boss at Purefoods, because even as company president, he took a fresh-out-of-college guy like me under his wing. He's probably the reason I entered into executive and business coaching.

What's a typical weekend for you and your family?

We take advantage of weekends to chill. The kids sleep in while I'm out early playing golf. We try to have dinner together if there is nothing special on tap. Sundays are reserved for 10 am mass then family lunch. We have very atypical weekends because I normally have games on Sundays, so it's not a free day.

What was the last book you've read and movie you've watched?

I read three books at a time, seriously. The last set was Steve Jobs book, Good Strategy/Bad Strategy by Rich Rumelt, and Gold Standard by Mike Kryzsewski. I am currently reading Mark Cuban’s “How to Win at the sport of Business”, John Grisham’s “The Litigators” and Paulo Coelho’s “Aleph”. The last movie I watched was “Contagion” and “No Other Woman.”

Are you tech-savvy?

Apart from facility in my Mac using Keynote for my talks and presentations, and some amateur editing for my game videos, not really. I'm an avid Mac user, though. I have an iPhone 4S, an iPad2, and a MacBook Pro -- tools of my trade.

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