Strong Leaders understand the "Reset Button"
When it comes to Leadership, Mike Mackay of Canada Basketball once told me there are three things an individual needs to be able to do in order to lead:
1- Lead Yourself
2- Know when to follow
3- When you are not leading, give energy to those who are
When I reflect on those rules, I can't help to think about how deep they are. Let me explain.
1- Lead Yourself
Live your life honorably. Being perfect is not what I am saying here. What I am saying is when the mistakes come, be resilient about them. Own the mistake first of all, see how to never repeat them and move on. Far too many people out there blame others or blame the situation and cannot seem to let it go. Although in most cases a person's success depends on the endorsement of others, at the end of the day it is all about how you have set yourself up to be successful. Control what you can and live in the moment. When things do not go the way you want, understand it, then hit the reset button and move on.
2- Know when to follow
How can an individual know what good leadership is if they have never followed before? Even in circumstances where the leader is not very good, you can still learn. Every day is a new day filled with new challenges and choices. That alone is a reset button. Pay attention to the people around you. Pay attention to what they do and try to figure out why they are doing it.
3- When you are not leading, give energy to those who are
Often times, leaders feel like they are on an island. What I mean by that is, they feel like nobody cares about them or the things they need to get done on a daily basis. I very often hear people talk negatively about their leader and very seldom hear them speak highly of him or her. Why is that? I am not saying brown nose, but I am saying support. If you don't agree with something that is going on, then have that one on one with the individual. But every chance you get, support him or her. By doing this, you help that individual hit their personal reset button.
So as you can see, I don't mention anywhere that to be a good leader, you need to have a people who follow you. I think if the three rules are well executed on a daily basis, having followers will happen on its own. Now having said that, I think one more rule needs to be included:
4- Know your stuff!
If you do live by the first three rules and you do get that group of individuals migrate to you because of it, the experience will be short lived if you do not know the insides and outs of whatever it is your should know. By instinct, people will not stay long with someone they perceive as a fake. By showing the people you are leading how much you know about your domain, you reset their button as it restores faith in what you are doing.
My two cents on the topic of life's reset buttons :)
Tuesday, 6 November 2012
Thursday, 13 September 2012
Sweat Academy Year #1
Just about 3 or 4 years ago, I had the thought of trying to offer something to our higher level basketball players with respect to their development outside their season. But because of my busy summer schedule, it never seemed to be the right time to put my thoughts into action. Michael Macdougall also wanted to do something for that age group but we couldn't have the right timing for it. In addition, I felt that I needed to study up a little more toward training higher level athletes and to continue to build on my techniques to breakdown skill set in order to build it up even stronger. It is not that I didn't think I could do it, it is more a detail thing. My one year with the Moncton Miracles of the National Basketball League of Canada as an assistant coach has allowed me to grow tremendously. Thanks to Coach Bell, Coach Evans, Coach Chapman and Coach Njoku, I was able to bounce ideas off them and try some things out with our players on a daily basis for 5 months.
So this year, with the help of Michael Macdougall and Andre Doucet we went for it. Mike and Andre believe in development as much as I do when it comes to basketball skill. No system, no offense or no defensive scheme can beat TALENT. Training is the road to talent. But one cannot be random about the training. Training for the higher levels needs to be very specific. The higher level players can shoot the ball, handle the ball and pass the ball. BUT, there is a part of their game that for whatever the reason, they don't shoot it well, or they don't handle it well or they don't pass it well. This is the specificity to their training that is required. Most players do not do this. Not because they do not want to. But rather, they are comfortable being who they are or they are unaware that they need to be more specific with their training. Anything different makes them feel vulnerable. Training outside one's comfort zone is not something you are born to do. It is something you must learn to do. That's where coaching kicks in for these guys.
Ok, so enough about that. Sweat Academy operates within the Greater Moncton area. In our first year, we have opened it up to the male side only. First we sent out invitations to every player playing or wanting to play at the CIS \ CCAA level (so to be clear, our clientele was limited to grade 12 up to 5th year post graduate). We sent out some invitations to players outside the area but that did not work out as well as we were hoping. However, with respect to the local players, we had 7 players sign up. One decided to commit to something else half way through our sessions so we ended up with 6. The positive in that is we only have 6 players recruited or currently playing at that level. So we hit 100% of our potential client list. I think it's pathetic that the largest demographic in New Brunswick can only produce 4 recruited players but that will be a topic for another day. I should mention that we had a player from the Fredericton area come join us for two weeks when we were at the Coliseum training out of there (our host facility is the old Kay Arena in Lewisville- now call the Crossman Community Center). Once the invited players informed us they wanted in, we then got in touch with their university \ college coach and asked for a priority list for their off season development. Baker of UNB, Morrison of Holland College, Starratt of MTA, Plato of MSVU and Baker of Acadia all gave very specific detail for us to work from. Then it was up to us to put a plan together for each of our players and execute it. Generally, the sessions looked as such:
1- Give them a mental focus before starting the physical part of the session (2 minutes)
2- Warm-up (10 minutes)
3- Footwork, ball handling and shooting (10 to 15 minutes)
*Here we did do some teaching but really, it is all about review. To work on good habits and make them stronger through repetition
4- Skill Development (30 to 40 minutes)
*This is where we put into action what each of our player's coach want them to get better at. For instance, we had one coach tell us that he wanted his player better at breaking down his man on offense in order to get in the lane and find the open teammate. He also wanted his player to be ready to shoot the three once he got the ball back and to be quicker laterally so that he can defend the ball better. So when we put the plan to help this player get better, we didn't work on all of those things each and every session. We worked on him one part at a time for 30 to 40 minutes. More on that later.
5- Application of skill (15 to 20 minutes)
*Usually done through 3 on 3, 2 on 2 or 1 on 1 play.
6- Plyometric workout (30 minutes)
7- Cooldown, recover and discuss about mental focus
So that was the template for each of our sessions and I do not foresee myself making any adjustments to it. We have no rest in between parts and we go go go. If the player needs to grab some water, they do it on their own but get right back to training. Same if they feel they need to eat. Grab a bite and get back in the training. After all, it's Sweat Academy and not At Your Leisure Academy :)
In a nutshell, I would say our first off-season session has been a success. For our second year, we are already working toward involving some of our sponsors a bit more as well as add the female side of things. Perhaps we will be planning a summer camp as well for JV \ Varsity players. We are currently also trying to set up some coaching clinics for our local Minor Associations. More equipment and coaches are also on our agenda for next off-season.
We will keep you posted.
Monday, 7 May 2012
It's the Parents!!!!
I cannot ignore this trend any further. Far too many good, qualified and passionate people are stepping away from coaching (and teaching) and for the wrong reasons; THE PARENTS! It is time for me to lash about this..
"It takes a Village to raise a Child"- Chinese Proverb
Although the above citation is a proverb, a good friend of mine told me that line about ten years ago and it stayed with me ever since. You see, I teach and coach for that exact reason. NOBODY can raise a person on their own. I certainly was not raised by a single person (even though my mother was on her own). I had many people around me when I was growing up. They are the reason why I got into coaching and why teaching as a profession made so much sense. I needed to pay it forward. Why is it that it seems the people whom understand this are the minority? Accountability, responsibility, a strong understanding of right from wrong and resiliency are virtues our youths today struggle a great deal with. How else is a person suppose to learn these essential virtues if said person is not left to figure it out \ deal with adversity on their own? Why can't parents today understand that some things they can teach, and some other things they can't. Someone else must do that job and when the time comes, to support the child in his or her efforts to solve their problem. No no no, today...parents solve that problem. And the child is handicapped in his or her development.
Let me give you a perfect example of a parent that did his job (but not at the start). A few years back, I had a parent approach me to talk about my decision to suspend one of my players (my MVP and his son) for 4 consecutive games. The player violated a team rule the last game of the prior season and I gave him a choice to serve the consequence at the start of the next season or have the consequence doubled if he ever repeats it again. The player, the next season, decided that he had the entire summer to mature and that he would refrain from violating that team rule. Our first game of the year, he violates it. Boom, I give him 4 games to think about it. Harsh...maybe. A lesson to learn...most definitely. So after 2 games of the suspension (we lose both games), the father approaches me and wants to tell me that my consequence is not reasonable. My player (his son) did not approach me to have this discussion. So problem #1 right there. I sat there and listened to the parent as he tried to convince me that his son learned his lesson and that we are losing games because he is not playing. I simply replied that his son did not learn his lesson because the lesson is not done yet. He still had 2 games to go. And that I had no problems losing games if it meant that my team was being built. He then informed me that his son was thinking of quitting the team. Without any hesitation at all, I replied to him that my teams are bigger than any one individual AND if he has a quitter for a son, that is his problem, not mine. The parent should have punched me in the face. Instead though, he got up and left. That player did serve his suspension and ended being an absolute monster for us the rest of the year. Today, he is a man and is coaching as well. I am willing to bet a large amount of money that whole period in his life was massive in shaping him. I did my job and the parent did his. I presented a great deal of adversity and the parent (although initially was not serving or supporting his son) supported his son in dealing with the situation which in turn, made that individual stronger. Today, if I do the exact same thing (and I would) I am thinking the punch in the face would be the result. Parents are different today. They can't seem to make that seperation (coaching \ teaching issues versus parenting issues).
I am the father of a 4 year old and my son is learning how to skate. Not easy to do at that age (and not easy to watch either). Now I am the furthest thing from perfect in the parenting world but I do know the difference between coaching and parenting. But while I observe the 25ish adults hovering over their child from the team benches, I can't stop but shake my head. Leave your kid alone!!! You see, I'm watching from a distance in the restaurant with a nice cup coffee in my hands. Once in a while, my son will look up and wave. Of course, I wave back but I also immediately point to his coaches. His coaches are in charge, not me. Do I agree with everything they are doing to help him improve? For the most part, I do. The parts that I do not agree with, I talk with my son afterward (as we eat out routine post skate brunch) to see if what he is does not like fits with what I do not like. To me, that is parenting. If he does not bring it up, then I certainly do not as well. A parent cannot control everything that will happen in their child's life. BUT, a parent can help the child control the ways he or she deals with the things he or she cannot control. And yes, I firmly believe that can happen at a very young age.
So parents, leave the coach alone. If your kid has a problem with how he or she is being used on the team, then parent them. Guide them to problem solve. Support them in dealing with the frustrations and discouragements. It is part of the game. It is not a part of the game to tell the coach how to coach his or her team. It is not part of the game to question what the coach does. Unless the coach verbally abused on a consistent basis (key words: consistent basis- cause sometime, a little harsh wakeup call is necessary...age appropriate of course) or physically abuses, you the parent have no business saying anything to the coach other than: "Thank-you for committing yourself to my kid". Be a parent and let the coach do the coaching!
Please click on this link to read a letter to parents from Mike Matheny (former Major League Baseball catcher and current Manager of the St-:Louis Cardinals) when he was the coach of a little league team
http://www.mac-n-seitz.com/teams/mike-matheny-letter.html?ref=nf&fwcc=1&fwcl=1&fwl
"It takes a Village to raise a Child"- Chinese Proverb
Although the above citation is a proverb, a good friend of mine told me that line about ten years ago and it stayed with me ever since. You see, I teach and coach for that exact reason. NOBODY can raise a person on their own. I certainly was not raised by a single person (even though my mother was on her own). I had many people around me when I was growing up. They are the reason why I got into coaching and why teaching as a profession made so much sense. I needed to pay it forward. Why is it that it seems the people whom understand this are the minority? Accountability, responsibility, a strong understanding of right from wrong and resiliency are virtues our youths today struggle a great deal with. How else is a person suppose to learn these essential virtues if said person is not left to figure it out \ deal with adversity on their own? Why can't parents today understand that some things they can teach, and some other things they can't. Someone else must do that job and when the time comes, to support the child in his or her efforts to solve their problem. No no no, today...parents solve that problem. And the child is handicapped in his or her development.
Let me give you a perfect example of a parent that did his job (but not at the start). A few years back, I had a parent approach me to talk about my decision to suspend one of my players (my MVP and his son) for 4 consecutive games. The player violated a team rule the last game of the prior season and I gave him a choice to serve the consequence at the start of the next season or have the consequence doubled if he ever repeats it again. The player, the next season, decided that he had the entire summer to mature and that he would refrain from violating that team rule. Our first game of the year, he violates it. Boom, I give him 4 games to think about it. Harsh...maybe. A lesson to learn...most definitely. So after 2 games of the suspension (we lose both games), the father approaches me and wants to tell me that my consequence is not reasonable. My player (his son) did not approach me to have this discussion. So problem #1 right there. I sat there and listened to the parent as he tried to convince me that his son learned his lesson and that we are losing games because he is not playing. I simply replied that his son did not learn his lesson because the lesson is not done yet. He still had 2 games to go. And that I had no problems losing games if it meant that my team was being built. He then informed me that his son was thinking of quitting the team. Without any hesitation at all, I replied to him that my teams are bigger than any one individual AND if he has a quitter for a son, that is his problem, not mine. The parent should have punched me in the face. Instead though, he got up and left. That player did serve his suspension and ended being an absolute monster for us the rest of the year. Today, he is a man and is coaching as well. I am willing to bet a large amount of money that whole period in his life was massive in shaping him. I did my job and the parent did his. I presented a great deal of adversity and the parent (although initially was not serving or supporting his son) supported his son in dealing with the situation which in turn, made that individual stronger. Today, if I do the exact same thing (and I would) I am thinking the punch in the face would be the result. Parents are different today. They can't seem to make that seperation (coaching \ teaching issues versus parenting issues).
I am the father of a 4 year old and my son is learning how to skate. Not easy to do at that age (and not easy to watch either). Now I am the furthest thing from perfect in the parenting world but I do know the difference between coaching and parenting. But while I observe the 25ish adults hovering over their child from the team benches, I can't stop but shake my head. Leave your kid alone!!! You see, I'm watching from a distance in the restaurant with a nice cup coffee in my hands. Once in a while, my son will look up and wave. Of course, I wave back but I also immediately point to his coaches. His coaches are in charge, not me. Do I agree with everything they are doing to help him improve? For the most part, I do. The parts that I do not agree with, I talk with my son afterward (as we eat out routine post skate brunch) to see if what he is does not like fits with what I do not like. To me, that is parenting. If he does not bring it up, then I certainly do not as well. A parent cannot control everything that will happen in their child's life. BUT, a parent can help the child control the ways he or she deals with the things he or she cannot control. And yes, I firmly believe that can happen at a very young age.
So parents, leave the coach alone. If your kid has a problem with how he or she is being used on the team, then parent them. Guide them to problem solve. Support them in dealing with the frustrations and discouragements. It is part of the game. It is not a part of the game to tell the coach how to coach his or her team. It is not part of the game to question what the coach does. Unless the coach verbally abused on a consistent basis (key words: consistent basis- cause sometime, a little harsh wakeup call is necessary...age appropriate of course) or physically abuses, you the parent have no business saying anything to the coach other than: "Thank-you for committing yourself to my kid". Be a parent and let the coach do the coaching!
Please click on this link to read a letter to parents from Mike Matheny (former Major League Baseball catcher and current Manager of the St-:Louis Cardinals) when he was the coach of a little league team
http://www.mac-n-seitz.com/teams/mike-matheny-letter.html?ref=nf&fwcc=1&fwcl=1&fwl
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