Coaches are jacks-of-all-trades, beginning with leadership.
Tag phrase for basketball: "Basketball is the Elegant Game." Enormous amount of dexterity in hands versus the Beautiful Game of soccer.
Building a Team
You need a team around your team. Coaches, support staff...admin, PR, medicine and training. Create consistency of thought, message, philosophy...the team around you ultimately defines you.
What leadership skills are necessary? "The speed of the boss is the speed of the team." - Lee Iacocca (Chrysler CEO)...we set the tempo...commandments and prohibitions.
1. Thou shalt commit to the mastery of yourself. You can't teach what you don't know. Discipline translates to players. If we are raving lunatics, we can't expect player maturity.
2. Thou shalt believe in the sanctity of the team. "We of us is better than the me of us." Permit people to participate. Ideas brought to you, add to you. Don't be a hypocrite...don't talk team and make it about you.
3. Thou shalt develop a team philosophy that develops a team culture. Have team members participates with the buy-in. But don't be a diva.
4. Thou shalt engage with all of your team. We need everyone. Be inclusive in planning, execution, and review. Don't fail to listen.
5. Thou shalt develop a mission statement and define everyone's role. Focus and purpose matter...don't presume that everyone is on board.
6. Thou shalt learn to delegate. "Delegation is trust." Trust is mutual. Don't allow hidden agendas or lack of integrity to flourish.
7. Thou shalt allow initiative and autonomy, but expect accountability. Team members can bring key elements to make the team better. Don't grab all the authority.
8. Thou shalt develop metrics. Find tools to help us make decisions. Numbers promote competition. Don't fear the numbers.
9. Thou shalt understand the difference between power and authority. Work tirelessly to develop power. Authority is granted. Power is earned. Power is greater than position. Power gets people to work overtime. It gets back to the difference between persuasion and motivation. Don't be a bully. "Kindness is the language that the deaf can hear and the blind can see." - Mark Twain
10.Thou shalt hire slowly and fire quickly. Hire tough. Find people who are right for your organization. If it's not working, then you must let people go. As the leader, you need to explain to people why they are being released.
Bonus commandment: "Communicate, communicate, communicate." Don't hide in the bunker because you don't want to communicate. Control the narrative.
Lagniappe. (Via Radius Athletics)
Horns as misdirection for drive into double gap...have to establish other horns actions first.
