Leadership Lessons Being a Girl Dad: Keep Showing Up and Just Keep Coaching

Being a girl dad (times three) is the hardest, most rewarding, and most challenging leadership and coaching job I've ever had.

When I had my first daughter, I asked my dad, "What am I supposed to do with a girl?"

I'll never forget what he said: "Just show up, and they'll tell you what to do."

That's what I've tried to do, but the hardest part is that you never know what you're going to get.

When they were young, they listened to everything I said and followed just about everything I told them to do. But when they became preteens, everything changed. And when they became full-blown teenagers, all bets were off!

But the teenage years are so important. How can you abandon my guidance and leadership now? What am I supposed to do?

Keep showing up the best I can.

That's what coaching and leadership are all about. You can have a vision and a plan, but you have to execute WITH other people. And that requires patience, consistency, discipline, and a willingness to keep showing up.

• Do you have the discipline to show up ready and do your job every day?

• Can you inspire and coach others to do the same?

• Do you have the competitive stamina to keep coaching the same things over and over again until they stick (especially when they're rolling their eyes, actively ignoring you, or talking back)?

Legendary basketball coach John Wooden once wrote:

"Success is peace of mind which is a direct result of self-satisfaction in knowing you did your best to become the best you are capable of becoming."

No matter what you're leading or who you're coaching, keep showing up the best you can.

Find peace in knowing you've done the best you can with what you have and what you know, while continuously looking for ways to get better.

Keep showing up.