Saturday, December 14, 2019

Basketball: Banish the Monster Within and More

"Never be a child's last coach.




Nobody coaches to be a monster. Yet, it happens. We have friends who behave like monsters. Do we know them as the friend or the monster? Do we defend the indefensible? Do we become apologistas?   "That's not who she is?" 



And do they get redemption

Stephen M.R. Covey describes trust as products of character and competence. He takes a traditional business formula (strategy * execution = results) and enhances it:

(S*E) T = R, where T is trust. Where Trust is lacking, results suffer. Zero out trust and results fail. 

Monsters are less about competence than character, but they're inseparable. Monsters lack emotional intelligence. Etorre Messina says, "Character is skill number one."



What makes a coach a monster? First, minutes make misunderstanding, not monsters. As Bill Parcells said, "coaches are the most selfish people. They want players who make them look good." So, coaches don't sit great players as an act of self-abuse. 

We loose the monster when we forget we coach people, especially children. Monsters lack empathy and forget about feelings and respect. Are we hard-nosed or hard-headed? Are we tough or thoughtless? 


We're all flawed; we're all a bit broken. Self-reflection changes us when we become more self-aware. Heal and become stronger at those broken places. 

Lagniappe: Celtics Exchange Scissors with Options 




This exceeds our pay grade. But the principles are sound. 

Lagniappe 2: If this is "old school," it never becomes dated.