"Don't talk of stars burning above, if you're in love, show me."
Trust wields a double-edged sword. During internship, I found myself "on call" a lot during short-staffing seasonal vacations. The Chief Resident explained, "we need somebody who knows what they're doing." No good deed goes unpunished.
Coaches need players to trust. SHOW ME why you deserve minutes. "Show me, now."
Steven M.R. Covey writes in The Speed of Trust, "Trust impacts us 24/7, 365 days a year. It undergirds and affects the quality of every relationship, every communication, every work project, every business venture, every effort in which we are engaged."
Urban Meyer defines his trust components (vide supra) in Above the Line. He reframes Greek influencers - ethos (character), logos (logic), and pathos (emotion).
Trust and leadership intertwine. Covey writes, “Over time, I have come to this simple definition of leadership: Leadership is getting results in a way that inspires trust.” Leaders create trust. Trust builds loyalty. Loyalty reinforces leadership via positive feedback.
Leadership comes from above AND below. Players know when they lack enough communication, skill, intensity, or rest and can freely share that with coaches. Coaches can admit mistakes, in tactics or motivation and earn more trust from showing our humanity. Competence does not mean infallibility.
In the film about trust, Finding Forrester, Sean Connery tells Jamaal, "you write your first draft with your heart and you rewrite with your head." When he corrects Jamaal's manuscript, he asks in the margin, "where are you taking me?" Basketball is not so different, harmonizing the heart and the head, with the coach figuratively wondering, "where are you taking me?" The best players take us to greater trust.
Trust mirrors VDE - vision, decision, and execution. Without vision, there is no decision. Good decisions offer the possibility of execution. Execution informs results.
Every practice affords participants (coaches and players) opportunities to gain or lose trust. Mistakes don't terminate trust. But repeating the same faults (selfishness, sloth, tardiness) or actions (turnovers, poor shot selection) erode trust.
Trust demands reciprocity. Reflect on inspiring trust and how players can earn trust. Remember Covey's quality of relationships. Quality repays time with trust.
Lagniappe:
This two guard front sets up two quality scoring options...an initial corner 3 off the back screen and a screen-the-screener option later.