We had a saying in the Navy, "if they want our opinion, they'll ask for it." Nobody asked.
Blogging allows us to share our opinions (opinions are not facts), hoping that age produces more wisdom and not less wit. Seek and share practical, applicable information.
If a young coach asked, "help me," what would you answer? "What is your philosophy?" We cannot change the world until we change ourselves. We do so through our attitude, choices, and effort. Become more positive and share that positive energy. Our choices define our organization - habits, preparation, and practices including player and team development. Our effort informs our self-investment and resource management.
1. Learn how to listen, to your family, your peers, and your players. Leaders listen.
2. Communicate better. Relationships make or break us. Honest communication creates trust; trust creates loyalty.
3. Simplify. To get everyone on the same page, we need clarity.
4. Read. Find superior content. Study and internalize the parts applicable for you. Reading gives us a 'software update' every day.
5. Write it down. Have a commonplace book, notebook, or 'peripheral brain'. I regularly repeat Picasso, "good artists borrow; great artists steal." In medical school, we carried these "miniature" notebooks absorbing that firehose of information.
6. Add value. Every player should leave every practice better and wanting more. They 'buy in' when we sell worthwhile goods.
7. Model excellence. Make it clear that we chase our better version. Steady improvement beats unattainable perfection.
8. Focus on solutions. Teams have to survive and apply pressure, literally and figuratively. Fill their toolboxes, because 'technique beats tactics'.
9. Find mentors. "Be like Mike" wasn't just a slogan. John Calipari has a Personal Board of Directors with whom he convenes periodically for life advice.
10.Be humble. Humility comes with great struggle. Ben Franklin wrote that if he achieved humility, then he would surely be proud of it. He understood that maybe 'the appearance of humility' would be as close as he could come.
If we succeed at a majority of these tasks, then we have a good chance of "doing well by doing good."
Lagniappe:
Horns set into Stagger/Spain PnR