A Coach's Diary

I was watching the second installment of the Geno Project on ESPN last night, and Geno made a quick comment on The Law of Sacrifice from John Maxwell's book, The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership.  He didn't address the book or the law directly, but his statement about the leadership growth from a freshman to a senior in his program and the amount of responsibility that comes with it alludes to it. As a freshmen, Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis had one job: to come in a score.  Now, as a senior, she is counted on to do so many things on top of that.  Its not easy to do, but it is part of the growth of becoming a leader - the added responsibility of having to do your job on top of helping others be successful at their job as well.

The following excerpt was taken from The Carolina Way by Dean Smith . It was important to know how to treat each player because the players were not all alike.  If I was critical of one, he might go downhill for the rest of practice. After criticizing him, I tried to find a reason to praise him, although it wouldn't be false praise.   At best false praise results in short-term benefits.  How are work ethic and self-esteem enhanced through false praise?  They aren't .  I waited until he did something well, even if it mean waiting for days. It was wasn't good teaching to allow mistakes to go uncorrected. Some players responded to my criticism by getting angry and playing better.  Each player responded differently.  It was up to me to find out the best way to deal with each on an individual basis. During my one-on-one meetings with the players I asked each one if it would bother him if I criticized him in front of his teammates.  I told h...

The following post was borrowed from Sanyin Siang at Forbes.com via Bob Starkey. Coach K combines discipline and a consistent approach to the skills and fundamentals of winning along with leveraging the most important asset in his organization - his people.   All good coaches do a great job of teaching the fundamentals and teaching the game itself.  The great coaches understand the importance, and unpredictability, of managing your people.   Coach K still uses many of the same drills he used as the head coach at West Point years ago, but he also knows how to adapt, not only to his people's technical capabilities, but also to their range of talents, passions, how they can grow, and how they relate to one another. Simply put, Coach K understands that just as much, if not more important than the 'basketball' is the importance on understanding that each person is different, with different personalities, learning styles, and agendas for playing b...

I slammed the book shut, stunned. It had been six months since I'd been fired as the head coach of the New England Patriots.  I was reading a book by the legendary basketball coach John Wooden. It took him sixteen years to figure it out, I told myself.  But once he did, he absolutely knew it.  After that, he rarely lost, and he went on to win ten of the next twelve national championships.  It seemed he won forever. I reached for a pad of paper and started writing.  What Coach Wooden had done that so impressed me was to pull together his own vision, philosophy, and belief system into a detailed plan for winning.  Once he had it, he went on, year after year, to build teams that were almost unstoppable.   I needed to come up with a plan of my own.  I need to develop my own winning philosophy and design a plan for implementing it. For the next few days, and weeks, I started to write about who I was, where I had been, where I wanted to go, ...

A Leader's Lasting Value Is Measured By Succession What do you want people to say at your funeral?  A leader's lasting value is measured by succession. Every person leaves some kind of legacy.  We have a choice about legacy we will leave, and we must work and be intentional to leave the legacy we want. 1 - Know the legacy you want to leave 2 - Live the legacy you want to leave To have any credibility as a leader, you must live what you say you believe. There are 7 major areas of influence in society: religion, economics, government, family, media, education, and sports.  I am constantly striving to reach and gain credibility in more of the others.  I try to do that by building bridges, relating to people on a heart-to-heart level, and seeking ot give more than I receive. John Maxwell 3 - Choose who will carry on your legacy Things eventually go away, but legacy lives on forever through people.  Succession is one of the key responsibi...

To Add Growth, Lead Followers; To Multiply Growth, Lead Followers Leaders are naturally impatient; they want to move fast and to see their visions fulfilled.  They delight in progress.  Good leaders quickly assess where an organization is, project where it needs to go, and have strong ideas about how to get it there.  The problem is that most of the time the people and the organization lag behind the leader.  Because of that, leaders always feel a tension between where they and their people are and where they ought to be.  I have experienced this tension my entire life. If you develop yourself, you can experience personal success. If you develop a team, your organization can experience growth. If you develop leaders, your organization can achieve explosive growth. You can grow by leading followers.  But if you want to maximize your leadership and help your organization reach its potential, you need to develop leaders. Leaders Who Develop Lea...

When To Lead Is As Important As What To Do And Where To Go It has been said that managers do things right while leaders do the right things.  The Law of Timing says that leaders do more than that - they do the right things at the right time.  Understand the importance of timing in how you act and interact with those you lead. Timing is often the difference between success and failure in an endeavor.  Be proactive as a leader and be ready to take on the necessary action without a delay. If you stay ready, you won't have to get ready. When the right leader and the right timing come together, incredible things happen.  Leaders have to have a good sense of timing and must follow through at critical, important moments.  "There comes a special moment in everyone's life, a moment for which that person was born.  That special opportunity, when he seizes it, will fulfill his mission - a mission for which he is uniquely qualified.  In that moment,...