Study greatness. Ask "what makes great, great?"
Don't make excuses. "I'll never get to meet Jack Clark" or "I don't have the access." Use what we have, the people we meet and the books we read. We meet exceptional people every day. They might be your parents. Recognize exceptional.
Read Sam Walker's The Captain Class ("The easiest way to lead is to serve") or Don Yaeger's Great Teams. Pick up a biography on DaVinci or Ben Franklin or read about Lincoln or FDR. Ask, "what can I take forward from these lessons?"
Dr. Fergus Connolly, human performance expert, shares lessons he's learned in 59 Lessons: Working with the World's Greatest Coaches, Athletes & Special Forces." He helps us understand what inputs drive success. By extension, their absence predicts lower performance.
Use experience as guidance but recognize ours isn't enough.- She is completely committed to success.
- Put the good of the team ahead of their own. "That doesn't mean thinking less of yourself but thinking less about yourself."
- Excel in your role while training to expand it. Be an ambitious giver.
- Set up criteria beyond "likability" or "presents well."
- Dig into past behavior. "Past behavior is the best predictor of future behavior."
- Develop a network of trusted sources.
- Make great moments possible. "Leadership must intentionally create emotional moments that connect them to their greater purpose." - Don Yaeger
- Leaders serve the team. From The Captain Class, "According to modern defensive metrics, Russell's career mark in defensive win shares is the best in NBA history-and by a 23 percent margin." (See table)
- Leaders focus the team. "He is the person responsible for making sure the agenda of the organization is pursued." - Sam Walker
- Study greatness.
- Use experience but understand ours isn't enough.
- Develop a network of trusted sources.
- Recognize character.
- Hire tough.
- Seek and cultivate leaders.
"Are you coaching to make kids better or make your resume better? It's about the kids, coach, not your accolades. Never forget!"
— The Basketball Teacher Podcast (@BBallTeacherPod) October 7, 2022
Lagniappe 3.
As coaches we all want our teams to be good at everything but we know there simply isn’t enough practice time to be really good at a 100 different things. An exercise my staff & I have done over the past couple weeks is seek to narrow our focus down to a handful of things.
— Brad Levy (@coachbradlevy) October 7, 2022
At what are we going to excel, to be our standard above all else? For examples, defeat pressure. Stop the pick-and-roll. Score efficiently in the half court.
Lagniappe 4. "Discipline is power."
Pat Summitt on discipline: pic.twitter.com/wJ0SqJXL1Y
— The Coaches' Journal (@TheCoachJournal) October 7, 2022