Sunday, November 5, 2023

Basketball: Mentoring

Thoughts on mentoring: 

"Mentoring is the only shortcut to excellence." 

Find a mentor and become one. 

Steve Kerr's three core values include: mindset, mentors, and culture. 

"Make friends with the dead." Great mentors don't have to be accessible in real time. Consider coaches like Dean Smith, Pete Newell, John Wooden, John McLendon, and Pat Summitt.  

Share thoughts from a few mentors:

Coach Sonny Lane (New England BB Hall of Fame): 
  • Sacrifice. Teams win through sacrifice. 
  • Turnovers. "The ball is gold." 
Dr. Bill Baker (Cardiology)
  • Consider 'base rates'. Coronary disease is rare in young people under 30. "You fellas fish those waters pretty hard." 
  • Things add up. "I don't see many people with bad lung disease in my clinic and you won't see many with bad heart disease in yours." 
Dr. Thomas Walsh 
  • "You're following a lit fuse." (If he thought we weren't on track...)
  • "DATU" ..."doesn't apply to us." (Certain training functions...e.g. mercury spill training)
Important tasks of mentors
  • Be a sounding board not a rubber stamp.
  • Encourage mentees to "think again."
  • Be a good listener. 
  • Ask good questions.
  • Invert. What if you did the opposite? 
Lagniappe. Good ideas are often simple. 

Lagniappe 2. 

 

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