Life teaches humility.
Can we learn from adversity? "Everyone is broken by life, but afterwards some people are stronger at the broken places." - Hemingway
Adversity is universal
Lincoln persevered through because he wanted to accomplish more.
Memorable leaders often manifest profound resilience. At 23, Teddy Roosevelt suffered the death of both his wife and his mother.
Coaches cannot allow loss to prevent us from advancing the story. We value winning precisely because it is hard.
Wooden won his first title in his 16th year at UCLA. Dean Smith won his inaugural title in year twenty-one at Carolina.
Develop Resilience
"Resilience is like a muscle to be developed." - Doris Kearns Goodwin
FDR learned by crawling after his experience with polio. Few were literally "more grounded."
How do you develop empathy? Read about others and see if you can identify what others have experienced. Teddy Roosevelt warned about seeing people as "The Other" instead of common citizens.
Examine the recent FIBA Basketball World Cup and the withering criticism directed at Kara Lawson. The largest complaint was objection to her distribution of minutes.
Emotional intelligence defines coaching
Coaches must "read the room." Conflicts occur coach-to-coach, coach-to-player, and player-to-player. Hard conversations come with the job.
Coaches learn what motivates players. Need for a calming voice or a louder awakening can vary from player to player. Better to lose a game than a team because of flawed communication.
Self-examination is critical. As Confucius said, “By three methods we may learn wisdom: first, by reflection, which is noblest; second, by imitation, which is easiest; and third, by experience, which is bitterest.”
Lagniappe. Identify where the points can arise and attack the solution.
Ten more points a game is not a speech, it is arithmetic. One breakaway lay-up a quarter is eight points. One put-back is six to eight. One shooting foul drawn is six. One shot from a player's own spot is six to eight. The team does not need to be better. It needs to do one… pic.twitter.com/zpuKAhGxcz
— Tim Brady (@CoachTBrady) September 16, 2026