Providing Insights on Leadership and Success. Coach Bechler is a John Maxwell Leadership Team Member.
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.
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.
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.