How do you cultivate a dynamic personal brand?  Many coaches think that focusing  on personal branding is unnecessary.  They shy away from engaging in personal branding–viewing it as self-promotion.  However, the reality is that we all have personal brands, whether we focus on them or not.  We should be aware of how others view us, and how it may help or harm our ability to succeed on and off the playing field.  The following three questions can help you assess your personal brand.

1. What do I want to be known for?  Think wide and deep.
2. What results do I want to deliver through my coaching efforts? It’s not only about wins and losses.
3. How do I want others to describe me?  Consider your legacy.

An Introduction to the Introverted Leader

Several years ago, Susan Cain, a Harvard Business School professor, delivered one of the most well-received Ted Talks of all time. Today the YouTube video counts more than 18 million views of her talk on introversion. Cain wrote her 2012 book “Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking,” which has sold two million copies worldwide. With the Ted Talk and book, Susan Cain has single-handedly triggered a deeper awareness of and appreciation for the many facets of introversion.

She’s introduced a myth-shattering perspective that has transformed the way we view introversion and introverts.

On the surface, introversion looks a lot like shyness; both effect social interaction, but for differing reasons. The shy find socializing difficult. On the other hand, an introvert simply prefers to spend time alone. Introverts are collectors of thoughts, and solitude is where the collection is curated and rearranged to help them make sense of their thoughts.

Far more than we are consciously aware of, we live in a society dominated by extroverts. Susan Cain’s research points out that the American culture glorifies extroversion. Sports stars and movie stars are highly paid and followed, and social media thrives on people exposing their innermost thoughts and feelings. Extroverts are highly visible in most settings and situations. Bold personalities are rewarded.

Cain writes, “We’re told that to be great is to be bold, to be happy is to be sociable. We see ourselves as a nation of extroverts—which means that we’ve lost sight of who we really are.” In fact, she notes, one-third to one-half of Americans are introverts. So if you’re not one yourself, she often advises audiences,

“You’re probably raising or managing or married to one.”

New to the Second Edition of Coaching for Leadership!

We are pleased to announce a new chapter to the second edition of the best-selling Coaching for Leadership. The chapter, The Big Shift: Unlock Your Team’s Potential by Creating Player-Led Teambuilding, connects the previous edition of this book to its origin, as well as to the future of team sports.

The new chapter sets forth a practical and applicable agenda for change and improvement. The reader is introduced to seven vital elements of change; seven shifts of traditional mental models that lead to the new core principles necessary for creating a player-led team culture. Click here for more information about Coaching for Leadership

About Cory Dobbs, Ed.D.

Cory Dobbs is the founder of The Academy for Sport Leadership and a nationally recognized thought leader in the areas of leadership and team building.  Cory is an accomplished researcher of human experience. Cory engages in naturalistic inquiry seeking in-depth understanding of social phenomena within their natural setting.

A college basketball coach, Cory’s coaching background includes experience at the NCAA DII, NJCAA, and high school levels of competition.  After a decade of research and development Cory unleashed the groundbreaking Teamwork Intelligence program for student-athletics. Teamwork Intelligence illuminates the process of designing an elite team by using the 20 principles and concepts along with the 8 roles of a team player he’s uncovered while performing research.

Cory has worked with professional athletes, collegiate athletic programs, and high schools teaching leadership and team building as a part of the sports experience and education process.  As a consultant and trainer Dr. Dobbs has worked with Fortune 500 organizations such as American Express, Honeywell, and Avnet, as well as medium and small businesses. Dr. Dobbs taught leadership and organizational change at Northern Arizona University, Ohio University, and Grand Canyon University.

This article was written and submitted to me by Björn Galjaardt. The article has application to coaching regardless of the sport that you coach.

With a flirt to water polo…

Who didn’t hear about Vince Lombardi’s quote; ‘Winning is not everything, but the will to win is’? Months or years of effort to achieve a certain goal, fueled by a driving will. But how do we create a will to win (process), rather than the focus on the outcome of winning itself (product)?

Correcting automatically to achieve best performance.

In 1974 Tim Callwey wrote about certain principles in which an individual uses non-judgmental observations of critical variables, with the purpose of being accurate about these observations. If the observations are accurate, the person’s body will adjust and correct automatically to achieve best performance(1). Below I summarised these principles of the ‘inner game’ and provided some thoughts. Triggering and shifting a thinking process in relation to process and product and having a deeper understanding in, what I think should be called, the (w)inner game.

• Self 1+2. Listen to your subconscious mind. Everyday actions are imbedded in our subconscious mind. Our conscious mind will tell us what to do and how to do it (eg. look at the ball, bend your elbow). Often we only listen to our conscious mind. However, in our subconscious mind we already know what we are doing and we doing it perfectly fine (eg. thinking, walking). By trying to listen to our subconscious mind (self 2), we can actually lead our conscious mind (self 1) and let it eventually take over.
• Quiet. Be quiet and observe. Instead of focussing on the result of the action, look at the action and process that action. That is where the bus stops. Not thinking about the how to react, will refocus the mind on what is actually happening. Be non-judgmental, only note what happens. Sport example; the ball bounces. Focus on how it bounce, what speed, where, etc. Don’t anticipate, no further actions required.
• Act the part. Ask for qualities. How would it look like when a certain action is perfectly executed? What are the motions and emotions? Express it and literally perform that. Repeat until you can match the quality. Business example: the body language, the smile and posture for the connection with audience when presenting.
• Challenges. Embrace challenges. Be excited. A challenge is an opportunity to show your skills or qualities. A challenge is where you could meet your flow. Flow is where challenge meet skills. Adapt and adjust qualities till you acquire the skill needed for the challenge. Break challenges down and build up qualities to reach a balanced level.

• Don’t fight. Improve what you are good at. Don’t fight bad habits, work with them. Convert thinking into a challenge. Example: I am going to create a new technique. I am going to be excited to learn it. How can I make it work (better for me) to perform. Note the difference; I am not good at this or I will give it a go.

Currently ‘positive coaching’ and ‘leader vs boss’ are hot topics. Observe the principles above. There is a correlation between process and product and how it changed managers, leaders and coaches. Focus on the do’s, matching skills with challenge and adjusting these accordingly. This is relevant in Sport and Business, although the principles aim to improve body movement, it has the same result. The mental and physical outcome are changing positively to achieve best performance.

Focus on the do’s, matching skills with challenge and adjust these accordingly.

The principles so far have described the (w)inner game, however what is the difference between (w)inner game and outer game? Basically: the outer game are all the external factors that could shift the focus from the (w)inner game. Perhaps I brand it the (w)outer game, way outer game, since performances decline when you allow to let outer game influences come closer to your conscious and subconscious mind. Sport examples; the score, opponent, the exclusion earned and the venue (in Rio 2016, the colour of the water). Business examples; deadlines, competitors, market changes, and IT-support. Below a comparison of where inner game and outer game could fit. Included is a mixed array of desired attitude and mindset examples.

Finally, compiling the information, the main question can be answered. How can we create a stronger will to win? The direct answer will be: by applying the principles above. Performance can be enhanced by growing potential and minimising interference(2). There need to be a focus on improving the individuals process and centralise the journey to the goal. Fueling the importance of the will to win. An olympian once said; “Climbing a hill can be much more excited than reaching the top. The journey of becoming an olympian was more challenging than becoming an olympic champion”.

Using the principles above as a guideline I draw the following conclusion. The goal, winning, works as a milestone (by-product). The journey, will to win, works as a vehicle (main-product within the process). Focus on what is happening, perfecting this and make it a habit of the subconscious mind. Base actions on facts and be excited for challenges. Don’t waste your time fighting bad habits and outer game influences.

#innergame #winnergame #will #win #winning #goal #process #product

(1) Gallwey, W. Timothy (2000). The Inner Game of Work New York: Random House. p. 27.

(2) Gallwey, W. Timothy (1974). The Inner Game of Tennis (1st ed.). New York: Random House.