Providing Insights on Leadership and Success. Coach Bechler is a John Maxwell Leadership Team Member.
A strong culture requires trust and chemistry among all the team members. As coaches, we usually think of this in terms of our athletes. We look at team-building as something they do, as opposed to something we do.
If you’re trying to maximize the potential of your athletes, the coaching staff must be a cohesive unit that’s on the same page. You can’t expect our athletes to trust one another, communicate effectively with one another, or support one another if you’re not doing that as well.
As a coach, you want to be successful and do all you can to achieve positive outcomes. However, sometimes you unknowingly block your team’s success.
Great teams have great teammates. No disagreements there, but it isn’t easy to find great teammates. Not everybody that makes your team will come in as a great teammate — and that is where your presence and team culture kicks in.
The clearest signal that you have an athlete that is a great teammate is their desire to serve others. When athletes have the mindset of serving other team members, the entire program benefits. Legendary basketball coach John Wooden put it well when he said, “It’s amazing what you can achieve when you don’t care who gets the credit.”
Serving others is at the very core of sports — and it’s paramount to your team’s success.
As a coach, you’re constantly trying to lead your team as far as you can each season. This is true regardless of your resources or talent.
However, some coaches are blessed to be a part of programs that have high-performing individuals. High-performing teams usually have individuals that are more talented than most, but as coach, your role is to get the most out of them.
Long before Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce excited the fans at Arrowhead Stadium, the Kansas City Chiefs had another rising star.
In 1981, running back Joe Delaney would earn AFC Rookie of the Year honors rushing for more than 1100 yards despite only starting 10 games.
Unfortunately, he would go on to play only two seasons in the NFL.
But Joe didn’t have a contract dispute. He didn’t get arrested for domestic assault. He didn’t have a sideline blowup with teammates or coaches. He didn’t get lazy and lose his explosiveness.
You may never have heard of the former second-round draft pick out of Northwestern State University in Louisiana since he only played two seasons … but it wasn’t because he was a bust.
Adrian Griffin was hired as the head basketball coach of the Milwaukee Bucks just two years after the Greek Freek (Giannis Antetokounmpo) led the team to an NBA World Championship.
His path to becoming the head coach was less conventional than we’ve come to expect, but there are some lessons from Adrian’s story that we can learn from.
Riley Gaines (12x All-American and 5x SEC Champion swimmer) appeared on the “Success is a Choice” podcast. Together with host Jamy Bechler, they discussed her storied career and her current work with the Independent Women’s Forum advocating for women’s sports.
Follow Riley on Twitter @Riley_Gaines_ and Instagram @RileyGBarker
The “Success is a Choice” podcasting network consists of different episodes, series, and interviews that provide education, insights, and entertainment on a variety of topics. The network is run by leadership expert, author, and speaker Jamy Bechler.
– – – –
The Success is a Choice podcast network is made possible by TheLeadershipPlaybook.com. Great teams have great teammates and everyone can be a person of influence. Whether you’re a coach, athletic director, or athlete, you can benefit from this program and now you can get 25% off the price when you use the coupon code CHOICE at checkout. Build a stronger culture today with better teammates and more positive leaders.
If you like motivational quotes, excerpts, or thoughts, then you’ll want to check out Jamy Bechler’s book “The Coach’s Bulletin Board” as it has more than 1,000 positive insights to help you (and those around you) get motivated and inspired. Visit JamyBechler.com/BulletinBoardBook.
Please check out our virtual sessions for parents, coaches, students, and administrators at FreeLeadershipWorkshop.com. These sessions are free and cover a variety of topics.
– – – –
Please consider rating the podcast with 5 stars and leaving a quick review on Apple podcasts. Ratings and reviews are the lifeblood of a podcast. This helps tremendously in bringing the podcast to the attention of others.
Thanks again for listening and remember that “Success is a choice. What choice will you make today?”
– – – –
Jamy Bechler is the author of five books including “The Captain” and “The Bus Trip”, host of the Success is a Choice Podcast, professional speaker, and trains organizations on creating championship cultures. He previously spent 20 years as a college basketball coach and administrator. TheLeadershipPlaybook.com is Bechler’s online program that helps athletes become better teammates and more positive leaders while strengthening a team’s culture. As a certified John Maxwell leadership coach, Bechler has worked with businesses and teams, including the NBA. Follow him on Twitter at @CoachBechler. To connect with him via email or find out about his services, please contact speaking@CoachBechler.com. You can also subscribe to his insights on success and leadership by clicking here.
The legendary football coach George Allen was the first to say, “What you do during the offseason determines what you do during the regular season.”
Success during the regular season doesn’t just happen because we want it to. Wishing is not a strategy.
Whatever we want for our athletes, coaching staff, or team during the regular season must be built in the offseason. Games and matches might be contested during the regular season, but athletes and teams are made in the offseason.
Will Roleson is today’s guest on the “Success is a Choice” podcast, hosted by Jamy Bechler. Will is the Associate Executive Director of the College Sports Communicators (formerly CoSIDA). Before working with CoSIDA, Will was an Associate Commissioner with the Horizon League and Sports Information Director at Kent State University.
Connect with Will Roleson …
✅ CollegeSportsCommunicators.com
✅ Linkedin.com/in/will-roleson
✅ Full Bio: CollegeSportsCommunicators.com/staff.aspx?staff=3
Clark Kellogg is one of the most respected voices covering college basketball today. The CBS Sports analyst was once a top college basketball player at Ohio State University, where he earned All-Big Ten Conference honors and won the Big Ten Most Valuable Player award in 1982.
After his junior year at Ohio State, he declared for the 1992 NBA draft and was selected eighth overall in the first round by the Indiana Pacers, and named to the NBA All-Rookie first team in 1983 after averaging 20.1 points and 10.6 rebounds. But his NBA career was cut short after just four seasons due to knee injuries, and he was forced to retire in 1986 at the age of 25.
Clark began his broadcasting journey with ESPN in 1990, and in 1993 he moved to CBS Sports, where he has worked since. In March 2010, Kellogg played a game of H.O.R.S.E. against U.S. President Barack Obama. The game, called “P.O.T.U.S.” for the occasion, was won by Obama.