Thursday, March 4, 2021

Basketball: Weaknesses, Three Wishes, Hiring Assistants, and Oops

I love MasterClass, a gold mine of ideas for all aspects of coaching, writing, personal development, culture, and imagination. I re-listened to Sara Blakely (Spanx) discuss culture and got an infusion of ideas, including "weaknesses." Blakely is the ultimate Mom and Pop success, turning a one-woman business into a $5 billion enterprise without any capital raises. 

Perfection is a personal lie. As Coach Pop would say, "get over yourself." Describe three weaknesses. Only 3? 

  • I want to please everyone. That will always result in poorer performance. 
  • I'm aging (physically). I can't demonstrate many techniques any more. 
  • I'm no expert on strength and conditioning. 

With rare exceptions, I've had volunteer assistants. I had two paid women assistants, one who now coaches high school varsity and another who's headed to veterinary school. I've been blessed that my last volunteer assistant was terrific and a former D3 assistant. 

Granted three wishes to hire assistants, here are my choices:

  • I'd hire at least one (if not more) woman. That would help relatability with the girls and potentially help the culture. If a thirteen year-old girl says, "the coach doesn't understand me," that's fair. It's been awhile since I had a house with teenage girls. Muffet McGraw only hired women, because she understood women never got a level playing field. 
  • I'd prioritize "product development" hiring (player development). Enjoying game strategy never replaces individual execution. Skill, skill, and skill are the location, location, and location of the game.
  • I'd hire a strength and conditioning coach. Coordination, agility, balance, endurance, and strength improve a player physically and mentally. It's a specialty. 
  • The third coach would ideally bridge expertise in culture development and resilience. Mindfulness training, relentless positivity, and enthusiasm would be a plus. 
Blakely also has periodic "Oops" meetings, where employees share what didn't work. Not exactly the same as Aerosmith's weekly "Dare to Suck" meetings, but a useful forum to allow mistakes to be understood and overcome. Fear of making mistakes holds organizations back.


Lagniappe. A shooting drill from Zak! 

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