Hey, Coach!  Be a Teacher

This post will be the first of a few that come from some ideas I wrote in my first two booklets A Head Coach’s Guide for Working with Assistants and The Assistant Coach’s Guide to Coaching. While those booklets were born out of some specific head coach/assistant coach issues I was facing with some members of a coaching staff for whom I was an athletic director, many of the ideas in them form the basis for good coaching principles in general. Today, I want to talk about the concept of how it is important for coaches to adopt the mindset of being a teacher.

Now I am not advocating that all coaches have to be actual schoolteachers to coach. While I have long maintained that the best job combination for a coach to have is to also be a schoolteacher, there are many great coaches who are not schoolteachers. We do not want to lose the good coaches that we have just because they are not classroom teachers in our schools.

What I am advocating is that coaches need to recognize that they are in the profession of teaching. Teaching is a critical component of coaching, and hence, coaches need to become proficient in all that they can when it comes to the art of teaching. The skills that a teacher learns in education classes and then learns by getting up in front of a class and teaching are the skills that a coach needs to possess to be able to teach kids how to play their games.

One of the most important, yet underrated, elements of coaching is the ability to teach.  Don’t get me wrong – people involved in the higher levels of coaching for many years don’t see it as underrated.  But to the average fan or person out there, it is often overlooked as one of the keys to a successful coach.

This is especially true with young coaches and with new coaches.  So often, people who are fans of a sport will sit in front of a TV set or in a gym and think, “I could do that.  I played high school ball,” or “I played college ball.  I know more than that guy.”  That may be true, but what you know is of little consequence if you can’t communicate it clearly to the kids.

I have known teachers and coaches in my time who had a vast knowledge of the subject matter or sport they were teaching or coaching.  However, they were terrible teachers or coaches because they couldn’t get it through to the kids.  Either they failed to teach it so it could be understood, or they never established good relationships with kids, or they got frustrated too easily when the kids didn’t pick it up right away, or some other reason in a long list of problems.

I have also known teachers and coaches who had a limited knowledge of the subject or sport but who were excellent teachers and coaches.  They communicated well, established positive relationships with kids, understood that not all kids are going to “get it” at the same pace, and generally just worked well within the framework of the experience.

It helps if coaches have a bit of knowledge of some basic teaching methods and a bit of understanding of how people learn, especially kids.  Obviously, there are many teaching methods in the world.  The head coach needs to help the assistant learn what will work best for working with his kids.  From teaching skills to instilling discipline and commitment to team, how a coach teaches is of great importance.

A coach needs to know how to have “classroom management”; it’s just that her classroom is a court, field, track, or some other athletic arena.  She needs to be able to have the discipline and control necessary for a group of kids to pay attention and learn.  Also, a coach needs to know “teaching techniques” to be able to help kids learn the skills and concepts she is teaching.  She must have a variety of methods on hand to use to get the points across to the kids. While a coach needs to understand teaching techniques, she also should have an understanding of “learning styles.”  Coaches need to try to tap into the different ways that kids learn in order to maximize the chances for success.

Finally, coaches need to have some level of understanding of “educational psychology.”  There’s more to teaching and coaching kids than just explaining subject matter and X’s and O’s.  It helps to know the personalities of kids and how to deal with them.  It also helps to know how to be a counselor, for coaches end up counseling kids as much as anything else they do.

The roles of teacher and coach are intertwined in many ways. I have always called myself a “coach in the classroom, and a teacher on the court” as a way of showing that both roles are linked so strongly that you can’t really tell the difference between the two. However, as is the case with most things, the teaching and coaching must be done intentionally to create the experience we are seeking to provide the children in the different arenas in which we work.

 

About the Author of this Article

Scott Rosberg has been a coach (basketball, soccer, & football) at the high school level for 30 years, an English teacher for 18 years, and an athletic director for 12 years. He has published seven booklets on coaching and youth/school athletics, two books of inspirational messages and quotes for graduates, and a newsletter for athletic directors and coaches. He also speaks to schools, teams, and businesses on a variety of team-building, leadership, and coaching topics. Scott has a blog and a variety of other materials about coaching and athletic topics on his website – www.coachwithcharacter.com. He can be reached by email at [email protected].

Scott is also a member of the Proactive Coaching speaking team. Proactive Coaching is dedicated to helping organizations create character and education-based team cultures, while providing a blueprint for team leadership. They help develop confident, tough-minded, fearless competitors and train coaches and leaders for excellence and significance. Proactive Coaching can be found on the web at www.proactivecoaching.info. Also, you can join the 200,000+ people who have “Liked” Proactive Coaching’s Facebook page at www.facebook.com/proactivecoach. Scott can also be reached through Proactive Coaching at [email protected]

By Scott Rosberg

There is power in the words we speak. Our words carry great weight for those to whom we say them. However, the words alone are not what make them powerful. It is our intention, our tone, our inflection, and our desired outcome of speaking those words that give words their greatest power.

Words spoken or written on a page but independent of each other do not carry nearly the same weight and power as they do when they are put together into sentences. The way we string together certain groupings of words into sentences give meaning, life, and strength to the words. It is critical that we choose our words carefully and wisely in all instances. Many of us have uttered things that we wish we could go back and “rewind the tape” so as to not say what we said. But our words cannot be unsaid; our actions cannot be undone. While we can augment, tweak, clarify, apologize, and re-state, we cannot “un-state” the words we have stated.

Therefore, it is important that we choose our words wisely. As teachers & coaches, it is absolutely critical that we “watch what we say” and “how we say it,” especially to the young people in our charge. We must always keep in mind that children are taking their cues from us.

While it is true that actions often speak louder than words, our words still speak very loudly. Kids are constantly listening to what we tell them (even when we feel like they haven’t heard a word we said!). Be careful what you say to and around them. You never know what they are picking up. Kids have a funny way of reminding you of something you said days, weeks, months, or even years later. They will talk about what you said at halftime of a game 10 years ago, and you will not even recall saying what they tell you that you said.

The other issue with that is the difference between your intended message, the actual message, and the received message. These three messages can end up being quite different from each other. I might know what I am trying to say. However, my words may come out different than the way I am thinking it. The person to whom I speak it filters the message through his/her own ideas to determine what was meant. My intention might be quite different from the final perceived message of the person to whom I spoke. Or I may have intended a message for one person, but there were others there who picked up a completely different message.

Have you ever had a parent question you on why you said a particular thing to their child, and your response was, “I never said that.”? This happens all the time. When you “rewind the tape” to consider where the miscommunication happened, think about the words you chose, your inflection, your tone of voice, and your body language. Maybe you thought you were saying a certain thing, but what came out was not exactly what you thought you were saying. Then consider what the child’s state was during the conversation. Was s/he focused & attentive? Did you get confirmation from him/her of their understanding of what you said? These types of miscommunication are common, but they can be reduced by just being more in tune with your own communications and how your audience is receiving them.

We must always keep in mind our intention with the communication we are about to have with our players. Am I saying this to serve my needs or to serve their needs? Are the words I am about to speak going to help build up these young people or tear them down? Am I creating a positive, trusting relationship with these words, or am I destroying the trust that I am trying to create? Keep these questions in the back of your mind as you are building relationships with your kids.

Our tone of voice and our body language play a major role in giving power to our words. Just as words have more power when they are strung together with other words to intentionally give them power, our tone of voice and our accompanying body language give added power to our words.

We must be careful that our tone is conveying the intended consequence in the receiver. The exact same words said in different tones of voice can mean very different things to the receiver of those words. Listen to yourself and to your players utter the simple exhortation of “Come on!” Is it said as a positive form of encouragement, or as a desperate cry for help or condemnation, or even a sarcastic dig? The tone of voice says everything in a statement like this. Be careful that your tone conveys the right message.

Also, your demeanor when you say the words can create a certain feeling and response. As the leader of your program, you need to be the face (and body) your team needs to see. A scowl on your face with your shoulders back and your hands clenched will convey a very different meaning than a smile while seated. Whatever you are trying to convey, recognize that your facial expression and your body language play a huge role in how your words are interpreted.

Children learn many things in a variety of manners from the teachers and coaches in their lives. We need to constantly be considering our words, our tone, and our body language when we are communicating with the young people in our lives. We are not only giving them a message for the moment in which we are speaking to them; we are also instilling in them the ways that they will communicate with others as they make their way through life. Never forget that there is great power in your words.

For more great info on the concept of the power of our words, check out the DVD “The Power of Your Words by Bruce Brown of Proactive Coaching. Bruce gives a powerful presentation that will resonate with coaches, teachers, and parents. You can find “The Power of Your Words“ at Proactive Coaching’s website – www.proactivecoaching.info.

About the Author of this Article

Scott Rosberg has been a coach (basketball, soccer, & football) at the high school level for 30 years, an English teacher for 18 years, and an athletic director for 12 years. He has published seven booklets on coaching and youth/school athletics, two books of inspirational messages and quotes for graduates, and a newsletter for athletic directors and coaches. He also speaks to schools, teams, and businesses on a variety of team-building, leadership, and coaching topics. Scott has a blog and a variety of other materials about coaching and athletic topics on his website – www.coachwithcharacter.com. He can be reached by email at [email protected].

Scott is also a member of the Proactive Coaching speaking team. Proactive Coaching is dedicated to helping organizations create character and education-based team cultures, while providing a blueprint for team leadership. They help develop confident, tough-minded, fearless competitors and train coaches and leaders for excellence and significance. Proactive Coaching can be found on the web at www.proactivecoaching.info. Also, you can join the 200,000+ people who have “Liked” Proactive Coaching’s Facebook page at www.facebook.com/proactivecoach. Scott can also be reached through Proactive Coaching at [email protected].

These are some of the notes presented by Tennessess Assistant Coach Dean Lockwood that apply to all sports.

How to Be a Great Assistant Coach

Know and Understand Yourself

Take some time to think about and write out answers to these questions:

1) Why did I get into coaching?
2) What do I love about coaching?
3) What do I dislike about coaching?
4) What are my present and future goals?
5) Why am I in coaching now?

Know This Profession

1) Job security
2) Stress
3) Scrutiny/criticism
4) Time-consumption
5) Things beyond your control that impact success
6) Limited flexibility/autonomy (as an assistant)

Features

1) Teach life lessons and impact people
2) Working at what you love
3) Competition
4) Each season and team is a new journey
5) Keeps you “young at heart”
6) Help people/teams mature, develop, and win

Non-Negotiables

1) Loyalty
2) Integrity
3) Passion for work/commitment to excellence
4) Love for people/your team
5) Love for your sport

Approach

1) Support Head Coach and team mission
2) Reinforce program values, principles, and standards
3) You are always representing your Head Coach and your program–realize the power of your own example
4) Take pride in and fulfill your role
5) Check your ego at the door–be careful of your pride, it’s not about you
6) Servanthood–pour into the lives of others
7) John Maxwell’s 3 things everyone asks of leaders/staff:
A. Do you care about me?
B. Can I trust you?
C. Can you help me?
8) An assistant’s overall tone should be positive
9) It’s all about TEAM
10) Make the “Big Time” where you are

Communicationan

1) Use we/us/ous instead of I/me/my
2) Must have honesty in all interactions
3) Treat ALL staff as colleagues/peers/equauls–Head Coach is your boss, others are co-workers
4) Never talk to anyone (other than the Head Coach) about another staff member unless it is positive
5) DO NOT talk whenever the Head Coach is talking
6) NEVER undermine the Head Coach (Disagree in private, support in public)
7) Find out what the Head Coach needs from you
8) Pick your times to discuss certain things with the Head Coach–be aware of “Mind Space”
9) Don’t just point out problems…present some solutions
10) Be a buffer without being a crutch
11) Do not allow players to play you against the Head Coach or other staff
12) Don’t “write checks you can’t cash” (don’t overextend your authority)
13) Look for legitimate ways to encourage and complement
14) Verbally and non-verbally convey to players: “We believe in you.”
15) Check for consistency
A. Are we doing what we are saying?
B. Are we reinforcing it?
16) Develop positive relationships with other staff, department members, administrators, and faculty

Execution

1) Be at ALL presentations by Head Coach to team
2) Pith in–help other coaches/staff members when you can. Share burdens, nothing is beneath you. Everyone has a role
3) Make the job of the Head Coach easier–take on tasks that help the Head Coach focus on the team and recruiting
4) Anticipate–what does the head coach and team need? (See the need and fill it)
5) Share material and resources
6) Share information: team issues should be out in the open
7) Bring these every day: Energy & Encouragement–be a battery charger–your passion and energy should inspire others.
8) Time management: invest time where it matters most. Recruit, teach, develop, graduate, help team win
9) Attention to detail: Little things matter
10) Continually develop, hone, and evolve teaching skills (Your position group, phases of the game, within systems)
11) Teach every day (be demanding without being demeaning) Pete Newell-“The game is over-coached and under taught” Coach Lombardi “Blocking and Tackling”
12) Laws of learning: instruction, demonstration, imitation, repetition, correction, repetition
13) 33 years has taught me: Simplicity of the game and execution of fundamentals
14) Learn and use your program’s terminology
15) Be available for extra work/shots/film with players
16) Watch video of your team (Self scout)
17) When watching scouting video look for ideas and concepts that you can steal for your team
18) Program organization: Play book, Drill book, Criticals (Special Situations), Team notebooks, game notes
19) Game Management
A) Bench demeanor 10% emotional–90% analytical
B) Bench comportment of team
C) Staff interaction (positive, analytical, team-oriented, never allow players to hear anything negative about team or player coming from you
D) How do you need to feed information to Head Coach (How does Head Coach process info?)
E) MUST know/be aware of fouls, timeouts, possession arrow
F) Leave officiating issues to the Head Coach
20) Post game breakdowns
A) Watch game tape
B) Take emotion out of it; analyze what happened and how and why it happened
C) Know what hurt your team; know what was effective for your team
D) Notes/charts/stats
E) Suggestions for next practice/game/moving forward (support with video clips often)

Growth

1) Pat Summitt: You never arrive in this game. You are always learning and improving
2) Don Meyer: Get all the good ideas, but you can’t use all the good ideas
3) Growth is intentional. Become a better teacher and communicator
4) Continue to increase your value: recruiting, teaching, scouting, etc…
5) Be a lifelong learner
A) You can’t give away what you don’t have
B) The same principle that applies to your players applies to you-KEEP GETTING BETTER
C) Read, observe, listen
6) Seek out mentors and people who can help you learn and grow
7) Success is “rented” and the rent comes due every day
8) Realize that the one certain thing is change and uncertainty… things will change often in this profession
9) Talk to Head Coach about you long-term goals and aspirations (But always do a great job where you are. When the team wins–everyone wins)
10) Appearance and presentation
11) Leave it in better shape because you were there: Make it better. James Naismith
12) Take time to “Sharpen Your Saw.”
13) Be thankful and appreciative. Enjoy the journey

PGC/Glazier Basketball Clinics is a preferred partner of The Coaching Toolbox

This post is the third part of an article that Washington women’s coach working on to detail his move from assistant coach to head coach. The article is entitled “418 Mistakes Later” and he is still adding to it.

I know that he is much harder on himself than he should be, but the points he makes are lessons to consider for all coaches, not just head coaches.

Here are links to the first parts of the article:

Coaching Mistakes We All Make Part 1

Coaching Mistakes We All Make Part 2

I GOT OUT OF ALIGNMENT BETWEEN PROCESS AND RESULTS

When you get your opportunity to be a head coach after years of being an assistant coach, you have a mountain of ideas on who you think you want to be. You have been watching your mentors for years making mental notes of ways you want to be like them and ways that you don’t want to be like them. You have been attending clinics hearing speakers filing away bullet points of this you are going to do some day. You have observed, studied, researched, and compiled. You have most likely put together some form of portfolio for a hiring committee that details everything you have been thinking about. Probably took it to Kinko’s and had it bound even. It’s yours, but is it YOU?

I am not saying any of the above is a bad idea. But, I am saying, be careful of who you say YOU ARE, before you know who you are.

My biggest mistake in this area was talking about Process, process, process but in many causes becoming reactionary to Results. When that happens it alienates the people you are trying to lead.

You can’t preach process then turn around and speak about results. The very second you do this, the process loses its punch.

It’s okay to be results driven. It’s okay to be process driven. It’s not okay to teeter back and forth between the two.

If I had to do it all over again, I would have been a little more patient in announcing to the world who we were and what our identity was going to be. My mental image that had been conjured up over the years simply wasn’t doable in the timeframe that I had all worked out in my mind.

I didn’t understand how time consuming things can be. I didn’t understand how long it takes to assemble a staff. I didn’t understand budgetary issues. I didn’t understand many aspects of the position of being a Head Coach. As a result my alignment between process and results was often a blurred line. Creating confusion and uncertainty among the people I was trying to lead.

Don’t give you team three goals that they need to achieve to win a game, then lose your mind in the locker room afterward only to realize later that night they had met all three. Don’t set standards that are met yet don’t produce results. Don’t celebrate good results that were not reflective of the process. All these things are easy to do because of human nature. And are very easy to do as a young head coach.

Be patient in deciding who you are and who you want your program to be. But when you decide, stick to it and don’t get out of alignment with your team, your staff, your administration, and your loved ones.

I HAD NO IDEA HOW TO MANAGE A STAFF OR HOW TO “MANGAGE UP”

Going from “being on a staff” to “having a staff” overnight is one of the greatest challenges I faced. It’s also an area that now, almost two years in, I continue to struggle with. It’s hard. My situation was particularly challenging because five of my staff members were co-workers, equals, and colleagues the day before my hiring was announced.

One day you are 100% focused on doing everything in your power to make your boss look good, do their job better, do their job easier, and being ready to do whatever is asked. Your world is focused on doing What You Do. The next day, you ARE the boss and your actions and decisions effect the lives and lives of families for other people.

As an assistant my actions reflected only on me.

As an assistant my decisions only had repercussions on me.

As an assistant my accountability was to one person.

As a head coach your actions reflect on numerous people… the people who hired you, the people who work for you, they people who you lead.

As a head coach your decisions impacts a pyramid of people that cascades down and down and down.

As a head coach you are accountable to more than one person. You have many people ‘UP’ the ladder now that you are accountable to.

The learning curve for making this adjustment is expected. Most people will give you some free passes as you learn to navigate the waters for the first time. But it’s NOT LONG ENOUGH… trust me.

You can read all the leadership books you want to. You can seek advice from mentors. You can have a plan. All that helps for sure, but nothing can actually prepare you for the daily dealings that you have signed up for until you live them.

So, with that said, I say, read everything. Have a plan. Talk to your mentors… AND then expect to get it wrong some. Don’t expect it to work perfectly. Be adaptable earlier than I was. Don’t be rigid. It’s NOT a my way or highway situation. It can’t be. There is a great book called YOU CAN’T FIRE EVERYBODY that I wish I had read before I made the move.

You have to surround yourself with people that you trust and trust you. This way there is an understanding that you are both working through the process of figuring it out. While there will be mistakes made on both sides, you can survive it all and in time will begin to thrive. It will become very obvious who believes in and who is faking it. You will learn valuable lessons along the way that will shape your identity and the culture that surrounds your program.

You need to know what inspires each member of your staff. From your “chief of staff” to your volunteer, you must have full understanding what inspires them to be a coach and drives them to excel in a profession that we all know can grind you down. Just like your players, each of them will be unique. You can’t treat them all the same. For some it’s good old money… incentives. Others it’s future jobs and responsibilities. Others it’s the being a part of the here and now. Other’s will be inspired by the intrinsic rewards being a part of team provides. Some day I am going to write up a FIVE LANGUAGES OF COACHING in reference to the great book by Gary Chapman THE FIVE LANGUAGES OF LOVE (which is a must read for anyone in any kind of relationship.) Until then, just be aware that what inspires you, doesn’t inspire everyone.

Sure you can get a staff of people that are inspired by the same things you are, but that is dangerous. Then you have YES people who may not tell you when you are wrong and when you are making these 418 mistakes!!!

Managing UP is a term I picked up from some reading. It’s how you communicate with the people who hired you and the people who hired them!!!

These are the people who believed in you most. They wouldn’t have hired you if they didn’t. It’s imperative you keep them in the loop. It’s imperative you tell them things FIRST before they hear it from someone or somewhere else. People UP the ladder hate surprises. Don’t YOU hate surprises from your players? Well, you are one of their players!!

It’s okay to show them vulnerability. My direct supervisor told me from Day 1 it’s okay to be a little scared…. It’s a big deal to be a head coach and if it doesn’t cause you a little anxiety, then you aren’t really the person for the job and don’t have a full understanding of what is at stake!! That message drove me. And while I didn’t make many mistakes in this area, I put it on here so that you don’t either.

I fully believe that this is what allowed us to survive my 418 Mistakes and actually find a way to win 20 games, keep our players off the front page and on the sports page, and raise our team GPA to unprecedented success.

While this wraps up the 12 categories I mentioned in the beginning, it segues nicely into the fact that WE DID ACTUALLY DO SOME THINGS RIGHT!!!

That may become an off season project.

Until then, I hope this piece will help a variety of people. I hope it will help long time head coaches as well as young assistant coaches who may simply file this piece way for “their day”.

And yes, I do have a list of Mistakes I am making in year 2. For those of you scoring at home that lists stands at 57. Yes, I have made a few twice but only a few.

Some of the new ones of have been BIGGER while others are smaller.

Needless to say, making mistakes is part of the profession we are in. We are the ones who choose a profession where we invite people to (in fact beg them at times) to come into our workplace and watch us work. Can you imagine 250 or 2,500 or 25,000 coming into an insurance man’s office and watching him settle a claim. Or a surgeon preforming open heart procedure in front of that many people AND being broadcast on the Pac 12 Network!!!

We choose this profession. We have to accept the scrutiny that comes with it. In fact, you must embrace it!
You’re not going to be perfect. You can try to be, but you’re not going to be.

While you certainly don’t have to keep a running list of your mistakes, I do think every coach can benefit from recognizing their faults. Moving on from their failures and rebounding from them improved.

Editor’s Note from Brian:  Not all of these ideas will apply to non-college level coaches, but there is a lot of good food for thought for coaches of all levels.

By Stephanie Zonars

“If she doesn’t get outside help, she won’t last.”

That was my friend’s closing thought about working with her head coach. She’s in a support role for a division I team and was lamenting the challenges of working with a coach who is unaware how her attitudes and behaviors impact the team and even athletic department.

The truth is, we all need help.

When I first started my business back in 2009 I hired a business coach to help me. It was one of my smartest moves.

I remember one time he called me while I was in the middle of something.

My tone was pretty flat when I answered.

He asked for permission to give me feedback. When I consented, he told me that potential clients want to work with people who are positive and enthusiastic, and added that I didn’t sound positive and enthusiastic when I answered the phone.

I’ve never forgotten that conversation. It helped me realize how much more I need to project enthusiasm in order for it to really show. I’m a work in progress, but getting better.

Projecting enthusiasm is a blind spot for me. Something other people see about me that I don’t see.

I know I have other blind spots (one reason why I just re-hired my business coach!).

You have them too.

The off-season is the best time to gain insight about blind spots. Here are three steps to get you started:

Acknowledge your need.

In the book Thanks for the Feedback, authors Stone and Heen denote the three types of feedback:

Appreciation: to see, acknowledge, connect, motivate, thank
Coaching: to help receiver expand knowledge, sharpen skill, improve capability
Evaluation: to rate or rank against a set of standards, to align expectations, to inform decision-making

One of the biggest mistakes coaches (particularly first-time head coaches) make is not realizing their need for coaching and evaluation soon enough.

Most coaches don’t get fired for a lack of strategic knowledge, but rather for leadership deficiencies. [Tweet That!]

Those gaps lead to culture issues, which result in fewer wins.

Washington women’s basketball coach, Mike Neighbors wrote a terrific article about the 418 mistakes he made in his first year as a head coach. In hindsight he realized, “I needed a better plan. I needed support. I needed help.”

Acknowledging your need and opening your heart and mind to feedback is the first hurdle.

Feedback is scary, humbling and sometimes it just plain hurts!

But when you remember that everyone on the planet has blind spots and that this one step alone can catapult your leadership, you realize it’s worth the discomfort.

Ask for feedback.

People avoid feedback conversations because they are uncomfortable.

Your boss may not bring issues up in an annual review, and your direct reports may hesitate to be honest with you for fear of damaging the relationship or even losing their job.

So even when you know you need and want it, it’s tough to get honest, helpful feedback in the form you desire.

That’s why you need to ask for the specific kind of feedback you want.

Penn State women’s basketball coach Coquese Washington uses a series of forms to gather that type of feedback for both her staff and herself. Staff evaluate themselves and one another, and assistant coaches also receive evaluations from position players.

Hands down, the most effective feedback tool I’ve used is a 360° review, which gives a leader input from all directions (superiors, peers, direct reports) as opposed to just her boss.

If you’re a head coach, you may not work closely on a daily basis with the AD to whom you report.

So while the annual review is helpful, feedback from people in the trenches with you every day is even more valuable. And, the anonymous process of the 360° lends itself to more honest input.

If you don’t already have a system in place to receive feedback, ask your HR representative or direct superior for tools available on your campus. Or find a consultant with those resources. Which brings me to my last point…

Find a consultant.

Willingly opening yourself for evaluation can leave you feeling vulnerable, with a natural inclination to become defensive about any less-than-favorable feedback.

Walking through the feedback process with an objective consultant will lead to even better outcomes.

A consultant will assist you in assimilating the feedback, looking for themes and implementing action steps.

After all, there’s no point in going through the process unless you are willing to hear what others observe and make some adjustments!

Acknowledging your need for feedback, asking for it and finding someone to walk with you through the process of interpreting it is paramount in your personal and professional development.

And the benefits you reap just might save you from the heartache of losing your job.

One Mistake That Could Cost You Your Job appeared first on Life Beyond Sport.