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Thursday, January 5, 2017

Good Optics, Bad Optics


Voltaire's message from Dr. Pangloss in the French philosophical novel Candide...

We have an obligation to our team to become a better version of ourselves. Because most communication is non-verbal, we message others constantly, regardless of our intent. What messages do we send? What are our windows to the soul?


We should be conscious of our messages. This isn't easy, even for advanced practitioners.


Nobody is in complete control all the time.

Good optics...








Bad optics. 

Great coaches can 'lose it'. 







With so much transparency (a cellphone camera everywhere) and attention to every behavioral faux pas, let's pay attention to optics. We all make mistakes, but we can work to reduce them, just as we teach our players to do so. 


There's pushback against 'political correctness'. Emotion won't be leaving sport anytime soon. But as Ryan Holiday reminds us in The Obstacle is the Way, there are perceptions and our responses. We choose how we view the world and how we act.