Celebrate What You Are Good At

Constructive criticism is a big part of our job. We have to evaluate what we see in front of us and figure out what needs to improve. It's natural to focus on the negative - what we have to work on. The stuff we are doing well - yes, great job, well done, but if we don't rebound the ball better we aren't going anywhere. We don't have to teach or coach as much with the stuff we are doing well. The stuff we have to improve on, that's where coaching comes in. We are naturally focused on where we need to get better.

The challenge is this can lead us down a negative path that is not very productive. We focus so much of our attention on what we aren't good at, and we forget to appreciate what we are doing well. We were great defensively when I was coaching at Rhode Island College, the main reason why we were consistently at a championship level. We coached it hard and our kids bought in to a defensive mindset. We held them accountable on that end in ways they probably weren't used to.

As our success continued, I came to expect it. And I stopped appreciating it. When we had a great defensive possession, someone took a charge or made a great hustle play, we didn't celebrate it. That's what we are supposed to do. But you better believe our guys heard about it when we missed an assignment. The result was a negative tone at our practices, and in an odd way it grew the more success we had. The more we won, the more I focused on what wasn't right, and the more they heard about it. I stopped appreciating and celebrating what we were good at.

Over time I started feeling a lot of pressure on myself, almost as if everything had to be perfect. It didn't feel right. I started grinding my team in a way that wasn't productive and the environment in our gym wasn't very fun. I would watch film and see our guys making these big time defensive plays and realize I wasn't appreciating their effort. At one point, one of my captains talked to the team after a game about the tone at practice, and how he needed to do a better job to create a more positive tone. I realized he was talking to me.

I am a much better coach when I appreciate what we are good at instead of focusing so much on what we need to get better at. Celebrating the positive didn't always come naturally to me. I felt that we worked at it, drilled it, and we should be good at it. I wanted to expect success, which we did. But that doesn't mean we couldn't celebrate it.

My players have always responded a lot better when the good things they did - no matter how small or routine - were celebrated. Don't forget to celebrate what you are good at, no matter how much success you are having. It will make you a better coach.