Monday, June 25, 2018

Basketball: The Character Coach



"This dude is not pretending." Former Patriot Ricky Jean Francois praises Patriots Character Coach Jack Easterby. We do live in a cynical world. The Patriots hired Jack Easterby to navigate the Aaron Hernandez murder scandal. Easterby says, “My role is to simply serve...to help them create healthier relationships, healthier viewpoints, so that they can become the kind of people they want. Doing that would make them more sustainable in just about everything.”

 New Detroit Lions coach Matt Patricia and former Patriots executive Bob Quinn hired a character coach. 

 We're still in the early innings of #MeToo. We don't need x-ray vision to find crisis-plagued athletes. Athletic gifts, entitlement, money, and celebrity may create a toxic brew of bad behavior. It's not unique to sports or America, as misconduct rages through politics, education, and yes, medicine.  

 Can we elevate character? First, we have to look in the right places. You've heard the story about the drunk looking for his keys under the street lamp. Someone asks "do you know where you dropped them?" He answers, "over there, but the light's better over here." Make character a teaching priority. Shine the light on healthy behaviors. 

 Geno Auriemma discusses the problem of finding players with high character. "I didn't score so why should I be happy...I'm not getting enough minutes, so why should I be happy?" 

Key point 1. Use mental models. "Invert, always invert." You've seen bad coaching. What would the opposite of that look like? 


Key point 2. In What Drives Winning, Brett Ledbetter preachers person > player. 

Choose character players. "The best predictor of future behavior is past behavior." If we choose "bad actors" then we shouldn't be surprised when we get bad behavior. 

Key point 3. Model excellence. "Your actions speak so loudly that I cannot hear what you say." Model commitment, communication, fairness, respect. We're not the parent; but we can reinforce behaviors parents teach. 
Key point 4. Identify your values. Statesman and Renaissance Man, Benjamin Franklin built a personal template (above) to work on himself. As a player or coach,  figure out whom you want to be and then travel the self-sculpting journey. Remind players, "this is who we are and that is not." 

Key point 5. Tell great stories. Build a portfolio of character stories. Arlene Blum, profiled in Michael Useem's The Leadership Moment, led an expedition of women who ascended Annapurna, one of Nepal's fourteen 8,000 meter peaks. Quadriplegic Kyle Maynard climbed Mount Kilimanjaro. Jane Elliott will never stop educating to fight racism. Frances Perkins became a worker rights leader, the New York State Industrial Commissioner, and the first woman cabinet member under Franklin Roosevelt. 

 For readers wanting character and biography, consider David Brooks' The Road to Character, far more than a lengthy sermon about character lessons. "In “The Road to Character,” Brooks begins with a sweeping overview...dividing us into an “Adam I,” who seeks success in the world, and an “Adam II,” more deeply committed to character and an inner life."

 Many of us coach young players. Add character value and make a sustainable difference in players' lives.  

 Lagniappe:
Chris Oliver shares a "stack attack" that overloads the bottom of the 2-3 zone. 

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