Providing Insights on Leadership and Success. Coach Bechler is a John Maxwell Leadership Team Member.
Communication is perhaps the most important skill you can possess. It can make or break your relationships, friendships, and partnerships — and it’s the difference between your team reaching their potential or not.
Billionaire businessman Richard Branson says “Communication is a skill that you can learn. It’s like riding a bicycle or typing. If you’re willing to work at it, you can rapidly improve the quality of every part of your life.”
There are no small parts — only small actors!
This phrase has been uttered countless times when it comes to acting, but it also applies beautifully to your team. You could easily say there are no small roles, only small athletes.
A car is made up of many parts, from the chassis to the motor to the tires to the lug nuts. Even though some may appear more important than others, each component of a car plays a vital part to its’ operation. An expensive luxury car doesn’t get very far if the $5 spark plug isn’t working properly.
It’s very exciting to join a new program and start fresh.
Whether we’re a young coach or a wily veteran, head coach or assistant, there are still some important things to remember as we begin this new job.
11-time NBA Championship coach Phil Jackson said, “The strength of the team is each individual member, and the strength of each member is the team.” As a coach, you understand the importance of building a strong team.
There are plenty of teams that consist of skilled individuals and athletes with tremendous physical assets. However, some of these teams never reach their potential because they are just a bunch of puzzle pieces that don’t seem to fit together.
There’s no doubt that you want a stronger culture and a successful program. This is oftentimes accomplished when you have athletes that are good leaders. This might manifest itself in the form of strong team captains, upperclassmen, or an overall atmosphere of all players taking responsibility for the team’s leadership.
However, whether the leadership on your team is currently where you want it to be or not, you can do something to make it even better.
There’s more to a good team than just talent, strategy, and philosophy. The best teams have a high level of trust, respect, and a sense of purpose. This doesn’t happen by accident. Building a strong and healthy team is intentional.
There’s an old adage that says, “One day the winter will come calling and it will ask what you did all summer long.” You reap what you sow, and this is no different for your athletes, your team, or even yourself. The off season is a great time to prepare for the upcoming season. It’s a great time to build strong habits.
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As a middle schooler, my mother wouldn’t let me play tackle football. I figured I’d be able to talk her out of it prior to entering high school.
I guess I overestimated my lawyering skills.
Having a good team captain can make your job easier. Conversely, if your captains struggle to lead effectively, then your team will most likely underperform during the year. Team captains can often make or break your season.
You’d probably love to have a Derek Jeter, Sue Bird, Tim Tebow, or Mia Hamm-type captain, but those are exceptions, not the rule. No matter who wears the captain’s armband or dons the “C” on their jersey, you want to be training them and helping them develop their skills for this leadership position.
As you think about selecting your team captains, maybe you’ve always done it a certain way. Maybe you’re ready for a change. No matter how you select your captains or how successful this process has been in the past, you should always be evaluating your methods so that you can be as good of a coach and have as strong of a program as possible.
Hey Coach, if you’re like me, you’re constantly trying to get better and improve. You probably see things differently now than you did five years ago, one year ago, or even yesterday. In my 20+ years of coaching and athletic administrating, I had my fair share of ups and downs, but I also felt that I got better every year. Leaders are learners and I wanted to always be learning.
I’m a product of those people I’ve been associated with and the environments I was a part of. Oftentimes in coaching, we do things the way others close to us did them. We may coach similar to the way our old coach did back in the day. We might run some of the same plays. Our communication might resemble their methods, as well.
However, through the years I realized that if I’m going to get better and improve as a coach, I must constantly be re-evaluating and honestly assessing some of my actions, words, and philosophies. Especially toward the end of my career in organized athletics, I tried to be as coachable as possible and be willing to adjust, adapt, and pivot when it was necessary.
The late great Billy Graham liked to say, “A coach will impact more young people in one year than the average person will in a lifetime.” The quote didn’t distinguish between head coaches or assistant coaches. All coaches have an opportunity to make a difference.
As a head coach, your platform is greater and you may have more opportunities, but your assistants can make a tremendous difference in the lives of your athletes – both from an athletic and personal level. The best programs have great coaches. A good head coach can only do so much if the assistant coaches are not very good.
Having a good assistant coach isn’t automatic even if that person has the knowledge or experience.
Here are 6 ways that you can better utilize your assistant coaches more effectively…