This post was originally posted on Coach Starkey’s Coaching Blog Hoop Thoughts.

I think there are great messages in the post that you can share with your athletes to make a difference in your program, regardless of what sport you coach! I hope the examples can stimulate your thinking to come up with lessons from your particular sport.

WE CAN ALL BE GREAT TEAMMATES

Bob Starkey, Assistant Coach Texas A&M Women.

You can ALL be a great teammate. And great teammates effect teams in a special way!

BEGIN WITH THE END IN MIND

This is the second of Stephen Covey’s 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. We must first create the mental vision of what we want to physically become. What do you want to “see” when it’s over? Stephen Covey spoke of an exercise of picturing yourself at your own funeral, floating around and listening to what people were saying about you. What would you want to hear? Are you living the life you need to live for people to feel that way about you? Would your teammates come back for your funeral? What would they say?

I spoke about attending the two memorial services for Coach Don Meyer — on in Aberdeen, South Dakota in the area at Northern State University and one in Nashville, Tennessee in the arena in Lipscomb University. I spoke about the staggering number of players that return to pay their respects to Coach Meyer and the amazing things that were said about him. You can tell a lot about a person at the Memorial Services. Coach Meyer was a “great teammate.”

In fact, Coach Meyer always spoke about the importance of being a great teammate. He would tell the story of Mickey Mantle who with all his accomplishments prided himself most on being a great teammate. In fact, it prominent lettering, that is what is written at the top of his monument at Yankee Stadium — above all the other accomplishments.

So the first journey of becoming a great teammate is wanting to be a great teammate.

CHALLENGE OF BEING A TEAMMATE

The problem with being a great teammate, as with anything else special and important, is there are going to be inherited challenges and struggles along the way. We spoke to the teams about some of those challenges.

Being a great teammate is a full-time job!

You can’t be considered a great teammate if you are only fulfilling that role on a part-time basis. It is easy to be a great teammate when things are going your way — you are in the starting line-up…your shots are falling…coaching is calling your number. But can you be a great teammate when you are playing poorly? You can’t let frustrations and emotions effect how you handle your responsibilities of being a great teammate. What if you are a role player or coming of the bench? This has absolutely no bearing on your ability to be a great teammate.

It was at this point that we showed them this short video clip of Emmitt Smith speaking at his induction into the National Football League Hall of Fame.

After viewing the video we spoke about what we saw and heard. What we heard was one of the greatest running backs in the history of professional football get emotional talking about his teammate Daryl Johnston.

Think about some of the things Emmitt had to say about his teammate:

“You took care of me as if you were taking care of your little brother.”

“Without you, I know today would not have been possible.”

Daryl Johnston wasn’t scoring touchdowns…he wasn’t getting headlines in the newspaper…they weren’t showing highlights of him blocking on ESPN.

But it is incredibly obvious the impact he made on Emmitt Smith by being a great teammate — and in turn that impacted the Dallas Cowboys to greatness.

But the other part of that is that on his special day, when Emmitt would have been justified in talking about his own accomplishments, he had Daryl Johnston standup and then told the entire world the way he affected him and his teammates.

Emmitt Smith too, was obviously a great teammate.

You have to be a great teammate to everyone!

This is not friendship. You can’t just pick and choose who you want to be friends with in terms of being a great teammate. Remember, the first part of the word — TEAMmate. In fact, it is incredibly important that you are a great teammate especially to those who may not deserve because they need one the most. This will be challenging a lot of times — but it is essential in being a great teammate.

You have to be a great teammate everywhere!
It is not enough to be a great teammate on the basketball court at practice or during games — though great teammates always shine through during adverse situations on the court.

I’ll tell you where great teammates are needed — in the locker room. I fully believe that more championships are won and lost in the locker room than many realize. Coach Meyer would always ask the question: Do you know who is running your locker room? It’s a special place that is owned and operated by the players. Rarely are coaches there. After a rough practice or tough game who are the leaders and what direction are they leading? Do you have quality teammates in the locker room to keep the team focused?

You also have to be a great teammate away from the gym. The axiom that coaches should understand is that “they don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.” Great teammates understand this as well.

I gave the example of Temeka Johnson, a point guard I had the privilege of coaching at LSU. She was a great leader and great teammate. The day before our first official practice, she would take the incoming freshman out to dinner. She would then proceed to tell them what practice was going to be about…what was difficult about it…what did the coaches expect…what did their teammates expect.

No one told Meek to do this. I didn’t even find out about this ritual until after she graduated from one of those players she took to dinner. That’s a great teammate.

KEYS TO BEING A TEAMMATE

We then spoke to the teams about three key ingredients of being a great teammate.

#1 Listening
We talked about listening with the intent to understand. Be a detective when you listen — search out clues in which you can help a teammate or file something away for later.

#2 Vision
You should be looking for what you can do to help. A big part of being a great teammate is “Servant Leadership” — look for opportunities to serve.

#3 Sacrifice
We talked about how Tim Duncan had took a pay cut to help the front office sign some better players to make the team better. Lebron James and Dwayne Wade has done the same as well. All three are wearing championship rings because of that sacrifice. Peyton Manning has done the same in football at both Indianapolis and Denver.

But it doesn’t have to be about money. I told the story about when I was coaching Shaquille O’Neal and he came to meet with the coaches and volunteered to move to the bench to allow one his teammates to start. He thought it would help his teammate’s confidence which would lead to him playing better which would lead to our team being better. Shaq said, “Don’t worry about me Coach, I’ll give you the same thing whether I come off the bench or start.”

I then asked the teams if they would be willing to do that. Would they care enough about their teammate and the success of their team to give up their starting spot? I asked them, “What if your coach came asked you to come off the bench? What if he said ‘you’re playing great but if we start Sally it might get her jump started and then you would give us great energy when you came into the game.’” Would you respond by saying “Coach, whatever is best for the team,” and then enthusiastically except your role or would you say “Coach, whatever is best for the team,” and then mope and complain to anyone that will listen.

BENEFITS

The benefits of a culture of a great teammates is success for the team first and foremost. But there is always reciprocal benefits that individuals achieve. Tim Duncan sacrifice part of his salary to make his team better. And he was rewarded with a championship and bonus money. Awards go in large part to teams that win.

We did not have time to show Kevin Durrant’s MVP acceptance speech but what an amazing example of being a great teammate. He made it sound like the entire team had won the MVP (which in true teams is the way it happens).

To quote Bill Parcells: “Individuals play the game…teams win championships.”

We also spoke of the UNBUNTU — a phrase that was a rallying cry utilized by Nelson Mandela as a rallying cry for South Africa as they battle apartheid. Doc Rivers made it a team mantra when leading the Boston Celtics to a World Championship.The phrase means simply: “I am because we are.”

It takes maturity for an individual to understand this. “I am because we are.” There are no individual champions. Even in individual sports there are coaches, mentors, parents, supporters, strength coaches, etc.

As John Wooden would say, “it takes 10 hands to make a basket.”

CULTURE

Are you a teammate or just on the team? That’s the question you need to ask. A team full of teammates is special. They play are certain way. As Coach Don Meyer would say: “Even when they lose, they win.”

At this point, we showed the teams the following video on the San Antonio Spurs. We told them you are doing to see some great passing…some excellent shooting…you’ll even so a few great dunks. But pay attention to the intangibles. Watch their body language. Watch how the talk to each other — touch each other — interact with each other. Notice their eye contact with each other.

When the video was completed we asked some questions.

How close knit do you think this team was? Could see how that transferred to the court and how they played?

But then we made sure that they understood this — the Spurs don’t always get along. They are a family. They have arguments and disagreements — just like everybody. But because they care about each other, because they have a culture of being great teammates, they can quickly find solutions, put things behind them and move forward for the betterment of the team.

I then closed by simply reminding them that they all had the power to choose to be a great teammate and if they can become one it becomes contagious and others will follow. Then when you have a team of great teammates, special things can happen.

This article was written and contributed by Scott Rosberg

Last week I wrote about 5 team themes that I have used with my teams through the years to help develop our program’s culture. If you missed that post click here to read it. Today, I am going to talk about five more of the themes I have used through the years. Also, if you are interested in more themes & quotes or more information on establishing team themes with your teams, I highly recommend you pick up a copy of Bruce Brown’s book 1001 Motivational Messages & Quotes at the Proactive Coaching website.

Perseverance

Perseverance is about staying the course when things get tough.  It is having the mental toughness to fight through difficult circumstances. It is having the ability to recover quickly enough from some mistake to get oneself back on the road to success. As you make your way through life, understand that there will be problems along the way.  Don’t let the problems stop you from moving to where you want to go.  Get back up quickly, dust yourself off, and attack your situation with the same determination that you had before your setback.  Not only will you be showing perseverance, but you will also be another step closer to the goal you are seeking.

“The man who wins may have been counted out several times, but didn’t hear the referee.”

H.E. Jackson

Winning & Losing

Too often young people and people involved in athletics focus way too much on the scoreboard as a determiner of success. While the scoreboard is there for a reason and winning the game is a goal of competition, there is so much more to success than just winning a game. With all the teams I have coached through the years, I tried to instill in them a focus on many more things that determine if we were successful: how hard we played, how smart we played, how well we played together, whether we achieved our potential.

People often compare themselves to others.  I tried to instill in my players the idea that they should compete against a vision of their best selves and that we should compete against a vision of what we could be as the best team we were capable of becoming.  Every day that you wake up and get out of bed, you will be moving one way or the other – toward success or failure.  The choice of which direction you go is one that you make every day.

“Success is peace of mind that is the direct result of self-satisfaction in knowing you did your best to become the best that you are capable of becoming.”  John Wooden

Adaptability

The ability to adapt to the various situations one finds oneself in is important in all aspects of life. In athletics, it is critical to team and individual success because athletic endeavors are fraught with adversity, and the adversity comes in many forms. On any given day, in any given situation, a person may have to deal with a myriad of problems and dilemmas that could affect his or her focus on the task at hand. The ability to adapt to problems is crucial to getting through those problems and growing from them.

Another important part of adaptability is the idea that people need to adapt to each other and to the teams or groups they are part of. When people are selfless and they give up a part of themselves for the good of others, they are showing their adaptability to something bigger than themselves. Everyone, including the leader, needs to have the flexibility to adapt for the good of all. When all members of a team, group, or family understand the importance of maximizing their strengths while giving of themselves selflessly, anything is possible.

“The art of life is a constant readjustment to our surroundings.”  K. Okakaura – Japanese Author

Courage

Courage is oftentimes a misunderstood word, and it is especially misunderstood by young people. So often, people believe that courage is something that is dramatic or newsworthy, like running into a burning building to save a baby. While that certainly is a courageous act, courage occurs in many other instances in life that are not anywhere near so dramatic, and yet can be almost as important for the people involved.

True courage is often seen in the everyday elements of life, the decisions that people make on a regular basis. These decisions can be those that are made alone or in groups and teams.  As we explore the concepts of courage, we start to see that courage is all around us, and there are many moments that provide opportunities for us to display courage. Choose to live courageously every day by making the right decisions that affect everyone in the best way possible.

“Courage doesn’t always roar.  Sometimes courage is the little voice at the end of the day that says I’ll try again tomorrow.”  Mary Anne Radmacher – Author

Leadership

A leader needs to learn to lead in a variety of ways.  Leadership is not about telling other people what to do. The best leaders realize they are there to serve those they lead.  Leadership is about helping others to realize the potential they have, and then helping them to rise up to that potential and achieve what they are capable of. But leadership does not have to come from one person in an organization. In fact, the best organizations have multiple leaders at multiple levels. In athletics, while the head coach is the ultimate leader, there are assistant coaches who lead as well. Then there are players who have natural leadership tendencies that allow them to lead their teammates. Finally, sometimes, certain players are bestowed the title of captain, giving them a responsibility to lead the members of the team.

However, any and all members of a team can be leaders, no matter the organization and no matter who the individuals are in that organization. It is critical for the ultimate leaders of the organization to recognize the importance of letting the natural leadership of various individuals within the organization come to the forefront.  It is also important for the leader to sometimes recognize that he or she has to cultivate that leadership to come forward.

“Leaders are chosen to serve; there is always trouble when a leader forgets this.”  Unknown

These two posts have been just a small sampling of the kinds of themes you can use with your teams and just a glimpse of some of the ideas you can talk about with your teams when discussing them. Each of the themes in these two posts is in my gift book for graduates, Inspiration for the Graduate. There are also many more quotes in support of each of the ten team themes covered in the book. Also, the first page is set up for you to write your own personal message to the graduate. The cost of the book is $7.95 plus shipping, or you can get a 10-Pack Bundle for just $70.00 plus shipping. To order Inspiration for the Graduate or to download a free PDF of the Introduction and First Chapter of the book, just click here.

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]

 

This article was written and contributed by Scott Rosberg

For quite a few years now, I have established and taught team themes with my teams. Whether it be our team’s core covenants, John Wooden’s “Pyramid of Success,” or just random life lessons that I believe are important to discuss with our kids, we have had some kind of focus each week throughout the season. This week I am going to talk about five of the themes I have used, and next week I will pick five more to discuss. All ten of these themes make up ten sections of my gift book for graduating seniors called Inspiration for the Graduate. The book covers each theme in more detail, and there are many more quotes to support the themes.

Work Ethic

No matter where you go or what you do in life, you must have a strong work ethic. Whether you are continuing your education, you are going into the military, or you are joining the work force, the ability to work hard is going to be crucial to your success. Athletes are expected to give their best effort every day to help their team have its best chance at success.

Most often when we think of work ethic, we think of some physical labor. But along with the physical part of having a strong work ethic comes focus, initiative, and attention to detail. When you develop strong work habits, you can accomplish so much more in life, both individually and as a team.

The harder you work, the harder it is to surrender.”  Vince Lombardi – Professional Football Coach

Discipline

Discipline is having a focused attention and effort.  It is doing what needs to be done, doing it the proper way to accomplish the task at hand, and doing it that way every time one is working to accomplish that task.  Sometimes, though, there is no task – there is just living your life. When speaking of discipline in this situation, one has to have the discipline to live one’s life as she should in order to be all that she can be.

Discipline is a choice. One who has discipline has chosen to do all that is necessary to succeed, whatever that entails. The disciplined worker shows up at the job site on time, knows what needs to be done and does it without being told or reminded, and sees the job through until its completion.  Discipline carries people and it carries teams to heights unattainable without it.

 “Discipline helps you finish a job, and finishing is what separates excellent work from average work. Discipline yourself, so no one else has to.” Pat Summitt – Women’s College Basketball Coach

Poise

Most of us think of poise as controlling one’s emotions while maintaining a calm demeanor and a self-assured dignity.  The person with poise can maintain a sense of composure when things are not going well or not going as planned.

While this ability is extremely helpful for individuals to be able to achieve their goals, it is crucial for success in any team or group setting. When teammates see others reacting to stressful situations with poise, it gives the rest of the team the confidence it needs to deal with the situation.  Conversely, when teammates see one another displaying anger, temper, or frustration, it ratchets up everyone’s anxiety. Be a person who shows poise in the midst of chaos.  Be the face your team needs to see.

“Losing your head in a crisis is a good way to become the crisis.” C.J. Redwine – Author

Enthusiasm

Enthusiasm is a critical component of anyone involved in any worthwhile endeavor, and it is critical to success for someone to possess enthusiasm for whatever they are involved in.  From school to sports to work, those with enthusiasm bring more to the experience, both for themselves and for others. Enthusiasm is catching.  When people on a team or in any group see and hear others displaying enthusiasm, it spreads to all involved.

When people choose to be enthusiastic, they up their own output, and they help spread excitement to others in the organization.  Put your heart and soul into all you do and let it show to the world around you.  You, and the people who you touch in your life, will be glad you did.

“The successful man has enthusiasm. Good work is never done in cold blood; heat is needed to forge anything. Every great achievement is the story of a flaming heart.” Harry Truman – President of the United States

Confidence

Confidence comes from a few different sources. It takes preparation and success to have confidence become a part of one’s character. The truly confident person is prepared. He realizes that any future success is only going to occur by preparing properly for the chance to create the outcome he seeks. He realizes that, while hope and prayer have their merits, the only sure-fire way to create the best chance at success is to prepare for it. The truly confident person carries himself with a quiet, peaceful inner confidence that says, “I have prepared well for this, so I know that I can perform well.”

The other quality that breeds confidence is success.  Those who have experienced success before generally feel confident that they can achieve it again. Interestingly, these people’s confidence may carry over into other areas of their lives where they have not had success before, but because they understand the importance of preparation for success in one realm, they can see its value in all of the realms of their lives.  But again, it all comes back to preparation.  The prepared person is a confident person.

“Confidence comes from being prepared.” John Wooden – College Basketball Coach

This is just a small sampling of the kinds of themes you can use with your teams and just a glimpse of some of the ideas you can talk about with your teams when discussing these themes. The next post will cover another five themes that you may want to consider discussing with your teams.

Each of these themes is discussed in my gift book for graduates, Inspiration for the Graduate. There are also many more quotes in support of each of the ten team themes covered in the book. Also, the first page is set up for you to write your own personal message to the graduate. The cost of the book is $7.95 plus shipping, or you can get a 10-Pack Bundle for just $70.00 plus shipping. To order Inspiration for the Graduate or to download a free PDF of the Introduction and First Chapter of the book, just click here.

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]

This article was written and submitted by retired High School Coach Dave Millhollin. I am always looking for good information to share. If you have an article, drill, play, or anything else that you would like to have posted on the Coaching Toolbox, feel free to contact me.

Building Great Teams Part 2

By Dave Millhollin

Editor’s note: This is part Two of Two parts for this article. Here is the link to Building Great Teams Part 1

Positive Reinforcement, Recognition and Praise

Through our team building process, we stress the significance of each individual role and emphasize the importance of each individual player’s contribution to our team. We try to create a climate of mutual respect and equality. We stress the idea that no one player is any more or less valuable to our team than any other player. We encourage our players to recognize each others’ contributions and praise one another both privately and publicly. We create a shared value system where each player appreciates the contributions and hard work of every one of his teammates. It is a wonderful thing when after a big game we have our leading scorer emphasizing the otherwise overlooked contributions of a player who barely played in the game but got a key rebound or dove after a loose ball. Or even better, after an exhausting and difficult practice session to have one of our players who does not see much playing time in games speak up and recognize his teammates’ efforts that day. Our players recognize the importance of all the “little things” that each player does to help our team be successful. They not only hold each other accountable, they give each other praise as well.

When it comes to the chores and duties we give our players, (sweeping the floor, cleaning the locker room after games, carrying gear bags, etc.); every player receives the same treatment.

Preventative Troubleshooting and Being Prepared

One very important part of our team building process is Preventative Troubleshooting. We normally start this discussion during summer team camp and re-visit it during one of our early season meetings. We make a list of things that could happen that might get in the way of us achieving our goals (things that could go wrong). For each thing that we list, we come up with strategies on how we should prevent them and how we will handle each thing if it should occur during the season. One of the core beliefs in our program is the philosophy of Being Prepared. We not only want to be prepared for competition on the court, we want to be prepared to handle anything that happens with our program.

Team Covenant and Individual binders

Everything generated from our team and individual meetings is put in final written form into what we call our Team Covenant. The coach and every player signs the Covenant and it becomes the guiding document for our season. A copy of the Covenant as well as all our schedules and game scouting reports as well as any other pertinent documents are kept in binders that we issue to each of our players at the beginning of the season. Players keep their binders with them at all team functions. Quite often we have our players scout their opponents; they keep their own written scouting notes in their binders. We are firm believers in writing things down, doing things on purpose and staying organized. These are beliefs and skills that we want our players to take with them as they go forward in life.

Outside Support and Guest Speakers

In order to support and enhance our program, we call upon guest speakers to speak to our players on relevant issues. We are very selective on who we ask to address our players, we seek guest speakers with similar values to ours. These guest speakers have been very significant in the development of our program; for example, one season we called upon a motivational speaker to address our team while we were in another city at a December tournament. The speaker discussed the importance of Belief and Trust in the development of a team. Those concepts fell right into place with our team because at the time we were in our “Identity development process”. As a result our team incorporated “Belief and Trust” into their identity statement. Guest speakers are a very important part of our team building process each year.

Team meals and Road Trips

People ask me quite often what we use to motivate our players and my answer always shocks them when I say “food”. Food is very important; especially for teen age boys. They always seem to be hungry. Prior to every game we have a team meal together; this gives us a chance to fellowship together and enjoy each other’s company prior to every game. We also use these team meals to go over our pre-game goals and scouting reports. Our players appreciate our team meals and show their appreciation by working hard on the court for us.

Overnight road trips are another important part of our program. These road trips give us a chance to focus on basketball and on developing our team in an atmosphere free from distractions. These road trips are some of our players most memorable experiences. They help to develop team unity and chemistry.

Community Service and Social Consciousness

Every year our players volunteer their services working with youngsters in basketball clinics and summer camps. This experience helps our players develop a sense of responsibility and leadership to their younger peers. Also each year our team selects community service projects to support. This year we donated money to support a local family that needed money for funeral expenses for a deceased loved one. In supporting community service projects our players become more aware that “there is more to life than basketball” and it helps them develop a social consciousness.

Parent and Adult Volunteers and an “Attitude of Gratitude”

Our program depends on a lot of volunteers to raise funds, operate the scorer’s table, provide transportation, take stats, video tape games and do dozens of other things in order to run a comprehensive basketball program. In being involved in community service activities, our players begin to identify with the people who volunteer to support them and their basketball program, consequently this identification helps our players develop grateful attitudes. We do not want our players to take anything for granted.

Being on teams can be some of the most important experiences of our lives. Our goal while we were at Ponderosa was to provide significant team experiences for the young men of our basketball program. As believers in the expression: “Good things don’t happen accidentally”; we attempted to create a systematic approach to Team Building. Being a teammate is much more than just “making a team”. It is a process that builds character, creates life-long friendships, and provides important lessons that can be used throughout our lives.

We hope this discussion of our team building process will be helpful for you and your organization.

© David V. Millhollin, 2006, revised 2014 (Posted with permission)

This is part 2 of the article.For the first part, click here: Building Great Teams Part 1

About the author of this article, Coach Dave Millhollin In fourteen years at Ponderosa High School, Coach Dave’s teams won 260 games (.665). From 2000 through 2009 Ponderosa won 207 games over a ten year stretch which included four SVC Conference Championships and two CIF Section final four appearances. Over his 27 year Boys Varsity Coaching career, Coach Dave posted 391 wins, produced 20 college basketball players and was named SVC Coach of the Year four times. At Ponderosa, Coach Dave’s teams were #1 in California in team defense five times and in 2008 Ponderosa was the top defensive team in the Nation among shot clock states. Over Coach Millhollin’s last five seasons (2005-6 through 2009-2010; 136 games) Ponderosa averaged a composite 50% total field goal percentage, 58% two point field goal percentage and 32% three point field goal percentage. Since retiring from High School coaching in 2010, Coach Dave has been actively involved in coaching Jr High level School and AAU teams as well as and running instructional basketball clinics from the primary grades through the College level.

An Interview with Dr. Cory Dobbs, President of The Academy for Sport Leadership

Q:  Why do you find it necessary to add the role of Leadership Educator to the practice of coaching?  Aren’t coaches already modeling leadership for their student-athletes?

A:  Let me explain by telling you a story.  I recently met with a “brand” name coach and his staff to discuss leadership education.  The coach is highly recognized as a top coach in his field.  I opened our conversation by asking him “Are you a world-class coach?”  He looked at me with an unassuming grin.  So I said “The world certainly sees you as a world-class coach.”  His staff chuckled but agreed.  “So let’s check that box,” I said.  “And,” I declared, “would you agree that coaching is teaching?”  He and his staff vigorously shook their heads to imply a definitive “yes.”

“Now,” I continued, “are you a world-class leader?”  Again, he looked at me with a humble smile.   I asked his staff for a thumbs up or thumbs down vote of agreement.  All thumbs were pointed upward.  “Check that box too” I announced.

“Okay,” I said as I headed towards my home territory.  “Are you a world-class leadership educator?”  The grin on his face slipped into a look of bewilderment.  “Well,” I said cunningly, “if you’re a world-class coach and a world-class leader shouldn’t you be a world-class leadership educator?”  Puzzled and disoriented, the brand name world-class coach didn’t quite know how to respond.  I continued, “How do you go about developing team leaders—or in my world team leadership?”  After uttering something he asked me to explain to him just what leadership education is and how one goes about becoming a leadership educator.

A leadership educator is no different than, let’s say, a professor of management—someone who teaches management.  A leadership educator teaches leadership.  However, this role seems a little strange for many coaches.  Few engage in a planned program and curriculum with the deliberate intention to build team leaders.   Rather, most simply leave it to the seemingly natural growth of the individual.  Oh, let’s not forget that a rigorous development program can be time consuming and emotionally demanding.

“Coach,” I said, “we can’t check that box can we?”  I then began to teach: “The role of leadership educator requires a different mindset, skill set and involves very different actions from the one’s you’ve been practicing for a lifetime.”  The coach quickly acknowledged that a huge gap exists between what he and his coaching staff are doing and what they could do to develop team leaders.  He then asked if I would work with him and his staff to develop their knowledge, skills, and abilities to be high-performing leadership educators.

Q:  A leader in every locker sounds a lot like “Everyone gets a trophy.”

A:  First, there’s a big difference between welfare and well-being.  When everyone gets a trophy it’s often like a government handout—it’s freely given, no strings attached (and just as likely not to have been well-thought through as it does have extraordinary potential as a long-term positive of participation if done right).  However, when a coach is concerned for the total well-being of her student-athletes, she is delighted to have everyone on the team maximize the experience; which includes learning how to lead.

In a recent workshop a coach asked me if the idea of a leader in every locker is like a trophy for everyone.  I held back, but then I injected my research and organizational framework into my response.  I let the coach know emphatically, it’s just the opposite.  I had to first help the coach see beyond her flawed mental model of leaders are born, the driving factor behind such thinking.

The notion of a born leader appeals to our belief in intelligence, charisma, and other personal traits as attributes necessary for leadership.  Most of us have been taught since childhood, at least implicitly, that we are either a leader or a follower—mostly followers as we can only have one class president.  This plays on an almost universal theme that some people must be given the role of telling us what to do; it fits with our sensibilities that we are better off by granting some people power and agency.

To be sure, my experience—countless number of workshops plus working alongside coaches—is that in most cases coaches are cynics when it comes to the idea that everyone has the ability to lead (though anticipating the critique of this claim I’m compelled to ensure I don’t imply all are equally motivated to learn to lead).  For those of us who do not want to simply dismiss people as not capable of learning to lead—especially those who’ve had few role models in their lives—the concept of leadership development is a significant step forward.

The idea that leaders are extraordinary people with special gifts is an assumption many coaches have embedded in their minds—baked into the cake.  Most coaches operate from a paradigm—a set of assumptions about how the world works—that makes it difficult to understand why the virtues of a leader in every locker far exceed the verifiable inefficiencies of the team captain model.

What I’m advocating is this: when a coach assumes the role of leadership educator, it is to teach leadership to all his or her student-athletes.  Why in the world would you not want to teach leadership to all of your players?   And why in the world would you not want your players to develop a leadership mindset, skill set, and act like a leader?

Beginning with the end in mind, when you deploy a leadership learning system you are creating a learning organization.  When coaches honor the need to personalize learning for each student-athlete, they then create a dynamic learning environment in which everyone is learning in action and by reflection.

However, if a coach doesn’t think it’s worth his or her time, then it’s likely they are acting from what Stanford professor Carol Dweck calls a “fixed mindset.”  A coach that acts from this perspective will do little to stimulate interest and commitment to personal leadership development of the student-athlete.  Such a mindset places little value in teaching leadership.  After all, they reason, either the athlete is a “natural” leader gifted with the “right stuff” or they’re not.  This thinking suggests only a few athletes on any team are capable of leading.  Such thinking makes no sense.

Leadership is not an all-or-nothing ability, something you either have or don’t have.  As a form of social interaction, leadership can be developed when student-athletes and coaches put in effort, time, and practice.

The reality is the student-athlete (and the coach too!) has to work hard to learn how to lead, to develop a set of skills and competencies that will serve as a foundation for lifelong learning of leadership and team building.  Leadership can be learned, indeed it must be learned.  The key is that it must be practiced in order to facilitate the growth and development of the student-athlete.  Without practice, which requires time, effort, and energy, all you have is a potential leader.

Finally, in my Coach’s Guidebook: A Leader in Every Locker I make clear that most student-athletes are raised in sport to simply follow the lead of the coach; thereby making the participant a passive recipient of leadership.  After years of going along to get along the young athlete develops the habit of passive followership.  This is one of the biggest challenges of change we face as leadership educators.

Should everyone get a trophy?  Probably not (save for another day the issue of participation and achievement).

Should everyone get an opportunity to learn about leadership and explore how to lead?  Yes!  And to do so requires great effort on the part of the student-athlete.  The athlete is not given anything but opportunity.   Are all leaders equal?  No!  Everyone has a different starting line, but all student-athletes can learn to lead at some level.

Q:  In your workshops you urge, quite forcefully I might add, coaches to rethink their
thinking?

A:  I do this because every act of coaching rests on assumptions, generalizations, and get this—hypotheses.  That is, the coach’s mindset determines to a great extent how he operates.  It is very unlikely that a coach will change his or her ways of coaching until they look in the mirror and consider who they are and what they believe and why they believe what they believe.  Once they peel away the layers and recognize how deeply held beliefs and attitudes—such as only a few athletes are capable of leading—he or she can design a culture that maximizes the experience for everyone.

It’s a shame that many coaches are intimidated by the idea that embedded within every player is a potential leader.  There is great suspicion of how things will work if everyone is potentially a leader.  A common concern about a leader in every locker came up one day when I was talking with a group of coaches.  “How can you ask us to have all our student-athletes lead?” one coach said to me.  “Isn’t that opening Pandora ’s Box?”  Recall that when Pandora’s Box was opened, all the troubles of humanity flew out.  Is this how coaches imagine what might happen should everyone learn to lead and be given opportunities to lead?

I understand their concern.  They really have no reference point to relate the practice of teaching everyone leadership.  But when coaches and players learn for example, the 5 Steps of Team Leadership, the 8 Roles of Team Leadership, and The Coach as a Leadership Educator that I’ve created it all begins to make sense.  Something else we do is utilize a specialized vocabulary.  In addition to the 5 Steps of Leadership our program includes specialized terminology and unique constructs such as the eight roles of team leadership, leadership educator, followership and leadership orientation, and leadershift to cite some of the vital elements of our way of talking, thinking, and developing leaders.

The unnatural gap between the traditional team captain model and the reality that everyone can learn to lead at some level requires a monumental change program.  It’s going to take awhile, but over time coaches will discover new things about how it all works together to the advantage of the program and the players.

To find out more about and order Sport Leadership Books authored by Dr. Dobbs including Coaching for Leadership, click this link: The Academy for Sport Leadership Books

About the Author

A former basketball coach, Cory’s coaching background includes experience at the NCAA DII, NJCAA, and high school levels of competition. While coaching, he researched and developed the transformative Becoming a Team Leader program for student-athletes. Cory has worked with professional athletes, collegiate athletic programs and high schools teaching leadership as a part of the sports experience and education process. Cory cut his teeth as a corporate leader with Fortune 500 member, The Dial Corp. As a consultant and trainer Dr. Dobbs has worked with such organizations as American Express, Honeywell, and Avnet.

Cory has taught a variety of courses on leadership and change for the following universities:

Northern Arizona University (Graduate Schools of Business and Education)

Ohio University (Graduate School of Education / Management and Leadership in Sport)

Grand Canyon University (Sports Marketing and Sports Management in the Colangelo School of Sports Business)

Visit www.corydobbs.com to read Cory’s leadership blog.