A Coach's Diary

The first and most important step to making a change in your life is finally being tired of yourself.  You have to be so tired of where you are in life, the mistakes, the doubt, the lack of action, the excuses, etc that you are willing to do what it takes to make a change. Being tired of yourself has to come from within; everybody around you can be tired of you, but until you are tired of yourself, it won't matter. Once you are ready to start making changes, you have to be willing to be completely honest with yourself in every situation.  You have to make a commitment to growing yourself in all aspects of your life; success can't live in one part of your life and be exempt in others.  When you can honestly assess yourself in all aspects of your life, you can start to accurately see your strengths and weaknesses and you can see where and how you need to grow. When you start being completely honest with yourself, you have to completely eliminate ex...

How Joakim Noah went from being the teenage hot dog vendor at ABCD All America camp to being an NBA All-Star and the emotional leader of the Chicago Bulls by   JONATHAN ABRAMS  ON OCTOBER 15, 2014  Noah’s performance at ABCD put him on the radar for a Division I scholarship, but many coaches were still hesitant. “People had a hard time seeing what position he’d be,” McNally said. “He wasn’t a 3. He wasn’t a 4. He wasn’t a 5. He’s just a really good player. Some people had a hard time getting their mind around that.” Noah took recruiting visits to only Florida and Virginia. “And Duke was calling,” McNally said, “but he didn’t really see himself as a Dukie.” After Poly Prep, Noah did a postgrad year at Lawrenceville, a New Jersey boarding school just outside Princeton. Again, Noah stunned coaches with his work ethic. “I’ve been coaching for 26 years and just about every team, you think of a guard, if not the point guard, as the guy who brought out the best in eve...

Like a modern-day Ford Motor Co., the American archetype that pioneered efficient assembly, the Spurs stick rigorously to their system, achieving unparalleled quality by focusing on the fundamentals of their game. In the vein of Steve Jobs, the Apple Inc. founder and taskmaster who pressed for total commitment to product innovation, Spurs coach Gregg Popovich demands complete buy-in to the collective from the individuals on his team, disdaining highlight reel dunks in favor of unselfish ball movement. If they were a publicly traded company, the Spurs might already have notched its place in “Good to Great,” the 2001 best-selling management book by Jim Collins. He cited 11 “great companies” and used seven characteristics that boost a company from “good to great.” They included such characteristics as humble leaders driven to do what’s best for the company, adding talent and find the right role for them as well as promoting a culture of discipline. The Spurs can check all those bo...

"So if you’re just brutally honest with guys, when they do well, love them and touch them and praise them and if they do poorly, get on their [butt] and let them know it and let them know that you care. And if a player knows that you really care and believes that you can make it better, you got the guy for life.” - Greg Popovich Read more:  http://www.businessinsider.com/gregg-popovich-is-the-best-coach-in-the-nba-2014-10#ixzz3GdE6h87N

A Lesson In Changing/Establishing Culture "When it's time to change the culture of a team, your players have to hear it, see it and understand what you're trying to do," said Krzyzewski, the coach of the U.S. national team since 2005. "But to really make change stick"—and when he describes this, he drags out the word really—"they have to feel it. "To do that," he said, "you have to create moments." "We knew we had ask our players for a new level of commitment than was expected previously and we had to get them to realize we weren't going to win international competitions doing things as we had," said USA Basketball national team managing director Jerry Colangelo. "We needed them to see themselves not as basketball players but as representatives of our country, doing our service, our piece. We had to get them to feel patriotism and selfless service." "I think we've helped our players become b...

When the leader is clear and consistent about his philosophy's core values, it frees everyone up to do their best.  It frees top leadership to treat its middle managers in a whole new way.  When everyone understands the vision, the goals, and the overall system, they don't need the top boss always telling them what to do.  They can figure it out for themselves.  And for the middle managers, the is means that instead of being mere instruments for relaying instructions delivered from on high, they can get creative and share their own ideas.  Once they have the chance to find their own voices, their identity is now at the forefront.  The door then opens to competing not merely for the next promotion but to maximize their own potential.  Imagine how much energy this generates.  When everyone gets to contribute his maximum effort, it is transformative for the whole organization. Taken from Win Forever by Pete Carroll

The following article was taken from Pete Carroll's book, Win Forever.   At USC  Pete Carroll introduced "Three Rules," which became foundational elements for our program. Rule 1:  Always protect the team Rule 2:  No whining, No complaining, No Excuses Rule 3:  Be Early Rule 1: Protecting the Team This rule is about each individuals conscience and it holds everybody in the program accountable to the program and to each other.  Every decision is important and every decision can either hurt or help you, your teammates, and the team. Rule 2:  You Either Do or You Don't - There Are No Excuses Self-talk can be powerful and ultimately can create anticipated outcomes.  The language of the culture reflects the attitude of the culture.  If you're a culture of complaining and excuses, your actions and performance will reflect it. Rule 3:  Being Early Requires Being Prepared Being early is all about being discipli...