Seven-Time New York Times Best Selling Author Don Yaeger Sees Greatness in SMCOV

DALLAS, April 30, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Don Yaeger, an award-winning keynote speaker, seven-time New York Times Best-selling author and and long-time Associate Editor for Sports Illustrated, announced today a partnership with SMCOV that will help distribute Yaeger's 16 Characteristics of Greatness to a worldwide audience.  Founded by co-CEO's Stephan Mardyks and David Covey, SMCOV is a leader in global training distribution.

Through the partnership, SMCOV will distribute Yaeger's secrets from great winners.  From Michael Jordan to John Wooden, Yaeger imparts knowledge that he attained from spending time with these champions and many others in the sports world.  The award winning writer has been retained by many of the world's largest companies to discuss lessons on achieving greatness and how organizations can coach their leaders, management teams and employees on building a culture of greatness by looking at Great champions in sports and discerning the business lessons we can learn from them.

"I have been fortunate to learn first-hand what it takes to become a true champion," Yaeger said. "I have spent my entire career studying great champions like Walter Payton, Annika Sorenstam, Derek Jeter and more - and have built my speaking career defining a culture of greatness and discerning the business lessons to be learned.  The opportunity to partner with SMCOV and build a program around this culture of greatness is an opportunity that is truly…great. What SMCOV is doing to distribute the material is first-class and will be a game-changer in the training industry."

"We are very excited to welcome Don Yaeger and his culture of greatness to SMCOV," said Mardyks, "Don brings a unique perspective to our training program in that all of his 16 Characteristics of Greatness are from his own personal experience and can be applied to all facets of global business."

In his illustrious career, Yaeger has penned 23 books, all of which have earned him national acclaim.  Yaeger has developed a reputation as a world-class storyteller and has been invited as a guest to every major talk show – from Oprah to Nightline, from CNN to Good Morning America.

"I have personally known Don for years and have attended his speech on multiple occasions," Covey said. "When we created SMCOV, one of the first names that I knew we needed to make our training successful was Don Yaeger."

SOURCE SMCOV