Pat Croce
Pat Croce graced the cover of Success magazine as the first person to ascend from the training room to the boardroom of a professional sports team. His remarkable success as a physical therapist and pioneer in the sports medicine field to the colorful leader responsible for the resurrection of the Philadelphia 76ers as an NBA championship contender has been defined as one of the most amazing stories in sports history. Through his business savvy, dynamic personality, and emphasis on customer service, Pat Croce created Sports Physical Therapists.
Sports Physical Therapist turned into a sports medicine empire of 40 centers in 11 states, into a top-ten finalist for the prestigious Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award. Following the sale of his company, Croce focused his entrepreneurial spirit and indestructible positive attitude on the purchase of the NBA’s last place team, the Philadelphia 76ers in 1996. During his 5-year tenure as President, the team rose from worse to first in the NBA standings and broke franchise records in attendance, revenue, merchandise, and consecutive wins on the way to the NBA Championships against the Los Angeles Lakers in 2001.
Croce next tackled television as a lively commentator on the NBA on NBC, a Tae Kwon Do commentator for the Summer Olympic Games 2004 in Greece (Croce is a 4th degree Black Belt), and during that same year hosted a nationally syndicated daily TV show Pat Croce: Moving In for Sony Pictures Television. His most recent role was as a panel judge on ABC’s American Inventor, and he continues to fill requests as a nationally-renowned motivational speaker.
PROGRAM TOPICS
I Feel Great! – The theme of Pat Croce’s amazingly successful motivational presentation is that nothing is impossible when you unlock your mind, unleash the will of your soul, and gamble on yourself. Using equal doses of energy, passion and laughter, Croce’s storytelling touches on his rise from the training room to the boardroom in one of the most unlikely stories in sports history. But even more impressive, participants are further entertained as they learn Croce’s success strategies as “the architect of one of the NBA’s greatest turnaround stories,” said Dick Ebersol, Chairman, NBC Sports & Olympics. Sprinkled throughout Croce’s presentation are his “Pat Croce Pointers,” which emphasize lessons on everything from clear communication to the power of a positive attitude. And, participants will be exposed to several of his “Ten Commandments of Customer Service,” which can help create an atmosphere of success in everything they do, personally as well as business.
110% – Leaders are made, not born. The secrets for winning leadership are within Pat Croce’s entertaining presentation for all participants to embrace. But they must believe, as Croce does, that just as all people have dormant athletic potential, they also have untapped leadership potential. Using real life experiences, humorous anecdotes, and Croce’s “Laws of Leadership,” participants will learn the successful traits and responsibilities of a winning leader. “Pat Croce is the model and mentor for the next generation of sports and business entrepreneurs. He leads… we follow,” said Ted Leonsis, President America Online’s Interactive Properties Group; Owner, Washington Capitals and Washington Wizards.
Ten Commandments of Customer Service – Due to his business savvy, dynamic personality and emphasis on customer service, Pat Croce created Sports Physical Therapists, a sports medicine empire of 40 centers in 11 states, into a top-ten finalist for the prestigious Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award. Participants will learn the “Ten Commandments of Customer Service” that made this company so successful. In 1996, following the sale of his company, Croce focused his entrepreneurial spirit and indestructible positive attitude to purchase the last place team, the Philadelphia 76ers. Again, applying his “Ten Commandments of Customer Service” over the next five years, the team broke NBA attendance, revenue, merchandise, and consecutive win records for the franchise, and rose from worst to first. “Pat Croce quite possibly has the best people skills in pro sports,” reported ESPN Magazine.
ADDITIONAL TOPICS INCLUDE:
- Do it Now!
- Listen, Listen, Listen
- Say Hello and Goodbye
- Achieve The Impossible
- Negotiating For Success
- 10 Commandments Of Customer Service
Besides the notable motivational works above, Croce believes and preaches that you should take action on your passion. And to that end, he has authored two books that delve into his passion for pirates:
Full Biography
Pat Croce graced the cover of Success magazine as the first person to ascend from the training room to the boardroom of a professional sports team. His remarkable success as a physical therapist and pioneer in the sports medicine field to the colorful leader responsible for the resurrection of the Philadelphia 76ers as an NBA championship contender has been defined as one of the most amazing stories in sports history.
Through his business savvy, dynamic personality, and emphasis on customer service, Croce created Sports Physical Therapists, a sports medicine empire of 40 centers in 11 states, into a top-ten finalist for the prestigious Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award. Following the sale of his company, Croce focused his entrepreneurial spirit and indestructible positive attitude on the purchase of the NBA’s last place team, the Philadelphia 76ers in 1996. During his 5-year tenure as President, the team rose from worst to first in the NBA standings and broke franchise records in attendance, revenue, merchandise, and consecutive wins on the way to the NBA Championships against the Los Angeles Lakers in 2001.
Croce has served as a commentator on the NBA on NBC and the Summer Olympic Games, hosted a nationally syndicated daily show Pat Croce: Moving In for Sony Pictures Television, and served as panel judge on ABC’s American Inventor. He currently has a pilot on the History Channel entitled Family Business with Pat Croce.
Croce continues to fill requests as a nationally-renowned motivational speaker, and is the author of the New York Times bestseller, I Feel Great and You Will Too!, the motivational tome 110%, and the business book Lead or Get Off the Pot!
He has also authored several books on his piratical passion. They include the historical Pirate Soul; the children’s picture book, My Pop-Pop is a Pirate; the children’s illustrated book, Blackbeard; the “How-To” book, The Pirate Handbook; and the fictional YA novel Drake’s Quest (Spring ’12 release).
Croce is the founder of the world-renowned St. Augustine Pirate & Treasure Museum. He was the proud recipient of the “Entrepreneur of the Year” Award, featured on the cover of Inc magazine as “The Dale Carnegie of the 21stCentury,” and honored with A&E Biography’s “Community Hero” Award. He is Chairman of Pat Croce & Company that has controlling interests in the three notable Key West restaurant/bars.
