Unlock and Unleash Their Potential

The best coaches and teachers that I have seen have a special ability to unlock the potential in their athletes and their students.  

If we want to unlock potential in our athletes, we have to be able to unlock them as people.

We have to believe in them and believe in their potential, we have to value them as people, and we have to understand that though their backgrounds, culture, knowledge, and skillsets might be different than ours, they bring value that we too can benefit from.

To unlock our athletes and their potential, we have to believe in them from the second that they walk in the door.  We have to believe that inside of them is a world of infinite potential, and it has to be our mission to connect with them, to discover their strengths, to help them realize that potential, and to help them bring it to life.

We have to take their success personally.  We have to believe that much of their success is in our ability to connect with them, our ability to inspire them, and our ability to teach them and build their capacity, skill, and decision making.  

Some athletes are self-motivated and internally driven to learn, improve, and to succeed.  Others depend on us to identify, nurture, and unleash their potential.  

They have to do the work, but we have to help light the fire so that they are inspired to do the right work the right way with the right attitude and mindset.  We need to have the ability and the confidence to encourage those who need the inspiration to explore the frontiers of their potential.

We need to be an oasis that inspires our athletes and their learning and potential to flourish.