An old article I’ve always liked about how Chris Haack, the golf coach at Georgia, sets his lineup. The players have to earn it, in competitive practice rounds, every week. https://www.golfchannel.com/article/college-central/uga-coach-makes-players-earn-their-playing-time
Motivational Interviewing
From Adam Grant’s book “Think Again.” In the early 1980 a clinical psychologist named Bill Miller was troubled by his field’s attitude toward people with addictions. It was common for therapists and counselors to accuse their substance-abusing clients of being pathological liars who were living in denial. That didn’t track with what Miller was seeing […]
Lead From Behind
“It is better to lead from behind and to put others in front, especially when you celebrate victory when a nice thing occurs. You take the front line when there is danger. Then people would appreciate your leadership.” – Nelson Mandela It takes great courage to lead your team from behind.
Nick Saban on Presence
From a recent article in The Athletic about how college football coaches hire assistants. Nick Saban nails it on the importance of presence for anyone who eventually wants to be a head coach. Saban goes, ‘Hey, let me tell you something. I’m not worried about what they know. Is he able to articulate what he’s […]
Tom House
King of Throws A really good New York Times article on pitching coach Tom House, who goes about teaching and coaching with a different approach. Tom House rebuilt Nolan Ryan and fixed Randy Johnson. He worked with Tom Brady and Drew Brees. At 75, he has reinvented himself (again) with an app that teaches young […]
Let Them Be Themselves
Not everyone is a natural, vocal leader. Not everyone shows great emotion when they play. Not everyone is naturally talking or engaging with their teammates on the court. Not everyone handles success and failure the same way. I had Arkansas coach Eric Musselman on my Dynamic Leadership Podcast and we talked about his approach with […]
Someone Else Is Open
Time and score rule: Someone else is open. Everyone defensively gets attracted to the ball. Smart took 3 dribbles before he got ripped. Look across the court.
Steve Jobs
“It doesn’t make any sense to hire smart people and tell them what to do; we hire smart people so they can tell us what to do.”
Transactional Relationships
I got my first head coaching job at Rhode Island College in 2005, and I was hired in September, after school had started. When I got the head job at the University of Maine in 2014, I got hired in May, after school had ended. I met with the team on campus during my interview, […]
4 Types of Leadership
Autocratic Leadership Autocratic leadership is a form of leadership where decisions are made by the leader alone. These leaders don’t consider their teams’ thoughts and opinions before making a decision or heading a new direction with training, processes, or otherwise. An example of an autocratic leader is someone who changes the schedules of several employees […]