A Coach's Diary

An article written by Mike Myatt at Forbes.com inspired the article below.   You can see the article in its entirety here . Managers tend to blame their turnover problems on everything under the sun, while ignoring the crux of the matter: people don't leave jobs; they leave managers.   “Employees don’t quit working for companies, they quit working for their bosses.” Regardless of tenure, position, title, etc., employees who voluntarily leave, generally do so out of some type of perceived disconnect with leadership. Here’s the thing – employees who are challenged, engaged, valued, and rewarded (emotionally, intellectually & financially) rarely leave, and more importantly, they perform at very high levels.  Below are Myatt’s top 10 reasons talented people leave their organizations.   Below each reason, I have reworded it to match athletics and being a part of a team. 1. You Failed To Unleash Their Passions : Smart coaches align employee passions ...

The following article is an exerpt from Forbes.com .  It compares the characteristics of mental toughness needed to be a successful athlete with thr characteristics needed to be a successful business leader.  You can get the full article here . Flexibility If something isn’t going well or doesn’t turn out as expected, they remain flexible in their approach and look for new ways to solve the problem. Being Present Game-ready leaders are able to remain engaged, alive and connected with a situation when under pressure. They are constantly identifying the opportunities, challenges, and threats in the environment. Strength They find the strength to dig deep and garner the resolve to keep going, even when in a seemingly losing game. They focus on giving their best and fighting hard until the end, with persistent intensity throughout the game. Courage and Ethics Game-ready leaders do the right thing for the organization and the team. They suppress the temptation t...

Motivation Students Who Don't Care is a book written by Allen Mendler for educators of 6-8 grade math students.  While it was written for the classroom, I found some of its topics and techniques applicable to coaching as well. Emphasize Effort In trying to motivate the unmotivated student, you should first start with motivating effort.  Effort is where growth comes from which leads to success.  Without effort, growth is stagnant, and so is motivation.  This chapter addresses the importance of addressing effort first in unmotivated students and some tips on how to do so. - Most students who appear unmotivated or who have inappropriate behavior do not see themselves as capable and attribute success to ability rather than effort. - According to Carol Dweck’s research, many students believe that intelligence is a fixed entity and is the factor responsible for success or failure (cited in Azar, 1996). - Many students who fail just don’t try because they bel...