X's & O's of Building Character

Every season as a high school coach, I had a very similar trajectory. I always started the season with the goal of building character first in my athletes, doing the right things, and coaching kids up on the court and off the court to be better athletes and better players.

Then, we start to win and I feel the pressure to keep winning, and sometimes the character piece takes a back seat to the winning.

Then I see a video like the one above and quotes like the one below and I get back on track and back to doing things the way that they should be done.

We signup to coach. We want to teach our kids how to play, we want to compete, and we want to win through the process. But if we want to get the most out of the game, our players, and ourselves, we will use the sports that we coach to build character.

There is a real, huge relationship between building character and performance.

Building character is just like building muscles. When you work on it and put consistent demands on it, you build muscle and character. If you want more character, you can have it. You just have to organize your life and invest in character for it to shine.

Character matters! When character in action happens, highlight it. 

Here are some ways to develop character:
- Have a theme for the day
- Have a theme for the week.
- Have each player select a character muscle that they are going to work on for the day. Have your players write down and define that character muscle, and have them reflect on what they did well and what they can do better.
- Find ways to leverage adversity. When bad things happen, teach how using that character muscle will help them get through the adversity.
- Display articles and quotes that drive home the importance of character. Feed that character muscle to them all of the time.
- Encourage players to bring in quotes and articles.
- Have former athletes come in and talk to them about character and how building character affects them in life.

The most important thing that we can do is be a great example. Be THE example. Be a great role model for the character strengths that you want to teach others. Be the strength that you want your players to embody, and do so most importantly in difficult times when people and the team and you are struggling. Your players are watching you. They watch you like a hawk. You can say one thing publically, but they know the truth is manifested in who you are under duress. Someone is always watching. Your character as a coach is always under display.

When you are building your character, they will feel it. You don't need a PhD in character to teach it. You just need to be committed.