Teams reflect their leadership. Make our leadership transparent, simple, and clear. That starts with philosophy.
Respect. Respect the game. Respect your teammates. Respect your opponents. Respect the officials.
Team first. Represent. Never embarrass the team or yourself. Need an example? How do you represent the team and yourself on social media?
Model excellence. Our actions and habits are 'votes' for the person we desire to become. Be the athlete that a coach chooses as the model player.
Core values. Teamwork. Improvement. Accountability. What is accountability? Hold yourself to a high standard.
Learning culture. Learn every day. Ask better questions? Revise...from Michael Useem, The Leadership Moment, required reading for UNC Women's soccer.
- What went well?
- What went poorly?
- How can we do it better next time?
- What is the enduring lesson?
"What has not been learned has not been taught."
Wellness. Wellness includes conditioning and mental health. Condition within drills and scrimmaging. Conditioning is not punishment. Support mental health with positivity and inclusiveness.
Decision making. Decision making includes attitudes, behavior, and character starting at home, continuing in school, and culminating in basketball activities. You cannot separate who you are as a person from how you play the game. Every coach says, "Do the right thing, the right way, at the right time." Be proud of the people our players become over the players our people become.
Player development. "Every day is player development day." Fundamental skill building from warmups to post-practice and post-game assessments defines our ability to play. "We can't run what we can't run."
Toughness. Know it when you see it. It's not just diving on the floor or sacrificing your body to make plays. It's the capacity to "play harder for longer" and sustain intensity, regardless of the situation.
Feedback. Give and get feedback. We're not always right. When we're wrong, "think again" and as Professor Adam Grant says, "keep a rethinking scorecard." As Bill Walsh's book title says, when our teams do what's necessary, "The Score Takes Care of Itself."
Lagniappe. What's in our leadership lexicon?
Lagniappe 2. People "know."
