What Must Be Done

“Knowing what must be done does away with fear.” - Rosa Parks

A great quote from one of the strongest people our country has ever known, it almost seems silly to think about it in a basketball context. But if you want a fearless team they have to know what must be done. And if you want to be fearless as a coach, same thing.

The challenge obviously is that you never know how the game is going to play out, and strategy can change in a matter of seconds. But the more you prepare for those situations, the more fearless you will be. Chip Kelly used to say “Make your most important decisions in air conditioned rooms.” Go through the scenarios your team may face, and come up with the way you are going to play it before the game. Write it down, keep it in your pocket. Put together the line-ups and match-ups you think will be most effective. Have a plan, albeit a flexible one, as to what must be done.

But more importantly prepare your players to do the same. You want them to be problem solvers and decision makers, not hoop jumpers waiting for your command. The decisions need to be made in the heat of the action, with a split-seconds notice. The more you prepare them to make decisions, the more fearless your team will play.

If You’re In Control…

“Leadership is a matter of having people look at you and gain confidence, seeing how you react. If you’re in control, they’re in control.” - Tom Landry, former Dallas Cowboys coach

Believe in Themselves

“Outstanding leaders go out of the way to boost the self-esteem of their personnel. If people believe in themselves, it’s amazing what they can accomplish.” - Sam Walton, founder of Wal-Mart and Sam’s Club

I wonder how much as coaches we think about boosting the self-esteem of our personnel. Research has shown one of the most powerful motivating factors for leaders is to show your team that you are a fan. That you believe in them. Yet most traditional coaching approaches don’t prioritize encouragement or positive reinforcement.

Often we look at coaching through the wrong lens, one where we think our job is just to point out mistakes and change that behavior. Coaching is really about making your players and your team better, and while that does involve pointing out and correcting mistakes, the way you go about it can make a big difference in how much and how quickly your players improve.

Our job is to create the best environment for our teams to improve. Positive encouragement goes a long way towards establishing that environment. Our job isn’t so much to point out the mistakes and correct them, as it is showing them how to figure out the mistakes and how to get better from them. They have to know how to make the adjustments to get better, and we have to teach them that. Simply pointing out the mistakes and making them repeat the task falls short.

It’s easy to get so caught up in the intensity, the energy and the pace of coaching, where we feel a ton of pressure and never have enough practice time to get things done. We can become taskmasters, where we simply point out the negative and stay on it until they get it right. We often lose sight of the tone of practice, and ultimately what our players need from us to be really successful.

Go out of your way to boost the self-esteem of your players. If you take that approach my guess is you’ll get better long-term results.

Spreading Ideas That Work

"Leadership is the art of giving people a platform for spreading ideas that work." —Seth Godin

I’m struck by this quote from Seth Godin. How does it connect to the way you coach?

One of the mistakes we make about coaching is thinking it is about telling people what to do and getting them to do it. It’s about getting them to understand what to do, and teaching them the best way to go about it. We aren’t supposed to give them the answers to the test. We are supposed to show them how to get to the right answers during the test - on game day. We shouldn’t be coaching our players to jump through hoops, we should be teaching them how to solve problems.

Giving people a platform for spreading ideas that work. You likely wouldn’t use that description as a coaching approach, but it makes a lot of sense to me. There are a lot of ideas that work on a basketball court. And they change day to day and game by game. Because our opponents have a say in what happens as well. You aren’t staring at a math equation and trying to get the right answer. Your opponent is a complex equation that is constantly changing.

Give your players the platform to find - and spread - the ideas that work. It’s a great big picture approach to coaching. Don’t give them the answers, because the questions on game day are certain to change. Give them the ability to process the questions and find the right answers with their teammates.

Do You Respond or React?

When you are coaching your team, do you respond or react? Do you ever think about what will get the best out of your players?

I understand we work in an intense environment with a lot emotion involved. But most of the time the way we act is based on what we are feeling. We don’t like a call, we yell and scream. A bad turnover and we get visibly upset. Somebody misses a defensive assignment and everyone in the gym knows we are pissed off.

I’ve always said this and believe it to be vital to effective leadership - coaching is not about what you feel, it’s about what your team needs. Very often, those two things are diametrically opposed. You see something you don’t like and you get emotional about it, and you’ve got to let everyone know. You are in charge here and that was unacceptable! It’s reasonable to feel that way, but in the moment is that what your team needs from you? Do they need a high level of emotion - especially negative emotion - when they just made a mistake? In that moment, they need to be coached. They need to move on to the next play. What’s the best way to help them do that?

Admired Leaders had some great stuff recently on the difference between reacting and responding. Read it below. What does our team need from you?

Admired Leaders:

There is a world of difference between reacting and responding to situations, people, and events. 

Reaction is an emotional and reflexive act that is largely unconscious and always impulsive. People are hardwired to react when triggered by something that bothers or scares them. Reaction operates from instinct rather than thought.

In contrast, responding is thoughtful and deliberate. It is a highly intentional and rational decision. A leader decides how they want to respond.

Whenever a leader reacts instinctually, offering raw and uncensored remarks, they become suspect. When those spontaneous retorts are imbued with disappointment, hurt, anger, or frustration, the leader’s credibility comes into question. Strong reactions often escalate whatever negative feelings exist for any of the parties involved. As a rule, reacting rarely leads to positive outcomes. 

Leaders who decide when and how they will respond, as opposed to react, take ownership of the situation and the people involved. Through responding, they purposely shape the trajectory of the exchange and influence how people might positively navigate whatever is at issue. Learning to harness the power of responding over reacting is something good leaders work hard at. 

The best leaders make a conscious commitment to respond more and react less.

Leaders can never positively influence a negative situation with a bad reaction. Responding with just the right message can make an enormous difference. Good leaders respond and leave reaction to others. 

Sunny Wicks - UWGB

Some great stuff on culture from Sunny Wicks at Wisconsin-Green Bay.

https://x.com/CoachSundance/status/1751971291257540953?s=20

Team Leadership

Your team’s leadership is your responsibility.

If you are struggling through a bad year and one of the reasons is your team lacks the right kind of leadership, that is on you. Not every great team has natural leaders, who speak up, take control and are capable of lifting everyone else around them. You have to provide the leadership you want from your team.

Leadership is a skill. While I do believe certain people have natural leadership instincts, leadership can be taught and developed. If leadership is important to your team, then you have to teach and develop it. Wherever your team lacks leadership, you have to fill the void. Figure out what your team needs, and if you can’t teach them how to do it, you provide it.

Certain teams require a more hands on approach from the head coach. It doesn’t mean they can’t be great teams. It’s just a matter of you figuring out what your team lacks and finding a way to give it to them.

Don’t let a lack of leadership be the reason why your team has a bad year. To me, that’s an excuse for many head coaches, when really it should be a void that they fill. If your team needs better leadership, provide it for them.

Appreciation

How much do you tell your players you appreciate them? Perhaps the most powerful leadership approach you can take with your players is to be a fan. It’s one of the keys to motivation. Too often as coaches we think our job is to teach, demand, yell, scold and correct. We fall into a trap where we don’t appreciate the good things we see every day, because we take them for granted. We come to expect them.

To get the most out of your players, they need to know that they are appreciated - and they need to hear it from you.

From Admired Leaders on appreciation:

Here’s a surprising fact that many leaders don’t understand: If people aren’t told or shown that they are appreciated and valued, they will presume the opposite. 

This is true even for top performers who receive the highest compensation and enjoy the most influence on the team. Unless a leader explicitly tells people they are appreciated, over time they will come to feel undervalued and taken for granted. 

To many leaders, this doesn’t make any sense. Team members, who are highly rewarded, included, and treated specially shouldn’t require the leader to say it out loud, right? Showing is more powerful than telling, or so we have been taught. So why would self-secure, mature, and clearly effective team members need the leader to confirm their value through simple expressions of appreciation? 

The answer is strikingly simple. 

In a world of profound uncertainty, overt ambiguity, competitive jealousy, and constant change, people seek validation. Everyone wants to know where they stand, especially in the eyes of those they respect and who have the authority and social position to validate them. 

They desperately want to know that the leader appreciates who they are, what they do, and how they contribute to the team’s success. An appreciative leader confirms exactly what team members desire most—a stamp that acknowledges how important they are. 

Producers

We all want to get the most out of our players. We them all to be hard workers, great competitors, leaders and great teammates. We establish a culture for our team, we set standards, and we want all of our players to live up to them.

But every player has different strengths and weaknesses, and not all of them are going to fit the mold we set for them. We get frustrated when certain players don’t give everything they have - they aren’t leaders, they aren’t vocal enough, they don’t seem to care as much as we’d like them to care.

I’ve learned that certain players are simply producers. They are talented and they help the team by putting up numbers, but they don’t always do it the way we want them to do it. They don’t always play hard. They may not be the best competitors. Maybe they are a bit selfish. They aren’t perfect, but when the lights go on they are good enough and they produce. They help the team.

Producers are valuable but they can be hard to coach. A lot of the time they are just relying on their talent, not giving everything they have. We spend a lot of time trying to get them to change. We want them to compete harder, to care more. We want them to be vocal and lead the team, to be great teammates. But not everyone has that in them. Some players just want to play.

You can get very frustrated as a coach trying to change these players. We want them to care more, we just know they can give more, and it bothers us. But as we continually harp on them about the things they aren’t doing, they are still producing. Maybe not as much as we think they can, but they are helping the team. And we are trying to turn them into people they are not - they’ll never be the best competitors, the tone setters, or the leaders. They won’t carry your culture. But they will be productive players.

The best way to handle producers? Let them produce. Stop trying to get more out of them from an approach or leadership standpoint. You are only going to frustrate yourself, and probably get less out of them as players. Just tell them to produce. I’ve had many conversations with these players over the years, where I’ve had to say “Look, I’m not going to get on you to be our hardest worker, our best competitor, or our leader. But what you have to do is produce. You have to bring it every day and be our leading scorer and rebounder. That is your job, that is how you help this team.” They may not do it the way you want, but give them the room to be productive.

If you find yourself banging your head against the wall with a player who is productive but not quite giving you everything you want, take a step back. Maybe the best thing you can do is just get them to be their best. They may not be leaders for you, but they can’t take a day off from doing what they do best. They are producers. Accept that fact, and get the most out of them.

“Where They Have Not Been…”

“The task of the leader is to get his people from where they are to where they have not been.”

Henry Kissinger, former U.S. National Security Advisor & Secretary of State

Great Simplifiers

“Great leaders are almost always great simplifiers, who can cut through argument, debate and doubt to offer a solution everybody can understand.”

Gen. Colin Powell, former U.S. Secretary of State

Mission

One of my favorite stories about having clarity of mission and a shared purpose involves JFK visiting Nasa (although, depending on where you read it, this story may or may not have actually happened. But it illustrates a great point.

In 1962, President John F. Kennedy visited NASA for the first time. During his tour of the facility, he met a janitor who was carrying a broom down the hallway. He introduced himself to the janitor, then casually asked the janitor what he did for NASA. The janitor replied “I’m helping put a man on the moon, Mr. President.”

The point is that everyone at NASA, regardless of role, was on the same mission. They shared the same purpose. It’s a great thought process for any high-achieving organization. What are we all doing here? What is our mission? I think we all try and take care of the support people who help our programs on a daily basis - managers, equipment room, managers, and bus drivers. We want to make sure they feel like they are a part of the team. But do they know the impact they have on the mission?

When I was at Rhode Island College we used to host a big time recruiting event in our gym every year in February. It was always on a weekend when we played away so they could have the gym all weekend. One year we were playing up at UMass-Boston and a bunch of coaches I knew were in Rhode Island to watch the tournament. One of them was asking around to see if I was there, and he had a conversation with someone who worked in our equipment room.

Our equipment guy told him we were up in Boston but would probably be back by 6, we had a game. And he asked if we won the game, and our equipment guy was like “I’m sure they did. They are a championship team. You should see the way they play. They really compete for each other. They are very hard to beat.” He went on to talk about how much respect he had for our staff and players and how well respected our program was on campus.

When I saw my buddy he pointed him out and was like “I don’t know who that is, but that guy is definitely on board. He is all in on you guys.” That made me feel pretty good.

The mission and the purpose of your program should be shared by everyone involved with your team, even in a supportive role. Define what the mission is - what are you trying to accomplish - and make sure everyone knows it. And it should involve more than just “winning championships” because winning is a moving target. Of course we all want to win, but if your purpose is just a result it will be shallow. You can’t control the outcome, only what you put into it. Our guys talked about winning championships, but I reminded them the result depended on a lot of things out of our control. So when we talked about championships we talked about being at a championship level every day, not just winning or losing.

“Championship level, everything we do.” That became our mission. That’s what we were trying to do. And it was shared by everyone. You want everyone on board with what you are trying to do.

Find a simple and accessible mission for your program, that sets a high standard for all of your daily habits, and make sure everyone around your team knows what it is. A clearly defined mission for all is an integral part of elite, sustainable success.

Commitment To Loyalty

Does your loyalty to a specific player or players impact the decisions you make for your team? I’ve been guilty of it as a head coach. I don’t know if it’s just “loyalty” to a player, or if it’s simply that I liked certain players and wanted to see them succeed. I felt because of the way they operated every day they deserved success. But that doesn’t always translate to the best decisions for the team.

This is from Admired Leaders on how loyalty to a person can undermine what’s best for the organization.

However, loyalty can undermine a decision critical to the health of the enterprise. When leaders factor in loyalty to people in their decision-making, they are often seduced to think differently about what is best for the team or organization. They justify a bad or poor decision by elevating the loyalty they have for a particular person affected by that choice. 

Unfortunately, no matter how virtuous loyalty to others is, when it comes to major decisions, allowing loyalty a big seat at the table will likely produce a poor choice. 

I’ve always been skeptical of loyalty as a critical factor in personal or team success. I just feel like it’s a moving target, and a definition that can be manipulated to fit a certain narrative. I understand the value of being loyal to people who you can trust, and people have have been really good to you. But when does that loyalty run it’s course? When I’m running a team, I have to be loyal to that team over any individual. Well, the reality is their are many decisions that are in the best interest of the team, that come at the expense of an individual who has been very loyal to you.

In my second year as a head coach at Rhode Island College, one of our returning seniors got hurt in the pre-season and couldn’t practice. He was a former first-team all league player, someone who struck fear in the rest of the coaches in the league. He had played for me as a junior and had a solid year, and we won 19 games. But coming back for his senior year he was hurt, and we had a sophomore who had played some as a freshmen and was very talented. The sophomore got the time when he was out, played very well, and our team had success - getting off to a good start and beating a division I team in the pre-season.

When the senior came back from his injury, what was I supposed to do? Give him his job back? Some of our discussions as a staff and with players on the team that I spoke with revolved around being “loyal” to the senior. So does loyalty mean as a veteran you get to keep your job forever? From his point of view, he could say he deserved my loyalty, because it fit his narrative.. But what if I thought the team was better off with him coming off the bench and the sophomore in the starting lineup? My job was to make the best decisions for the team, and I’m glad I’ve always been a little cold-blooded in that regard. The word loyalty just doesn’t resonate with me the way it does for many others, because I don’t really understand the blurred lines between loyalty and actually making the right decision.

(Friendly reminder, kids, when a coach says “you won’t lose your job to an injury,” that’s all well and good. But you might lose your job to the kid who is playing well while you are injured.” That’s just how team sports work).

I have been guilty of making the wrong decision, however, because of the way I felt about someone. There are certain players you just love and you expect to have success, and you keep giving them chances. You’ve got to fight that feeling as a leader. Make your decisions based on what is best for the organization. Loyalty may be a value that is important to you, but it shouldn’t lead you down a path of bad decision making. Figure out what your team needs, make the call based on that, and deal with the personalities separately.

Coaching Without Fear

“The opposite of fear is not fearlessness, but commitment. The highest form of commitment is an unparalleled focus on action rather than emotion.” - Laird Hamilton

It’s natural to think about the result. Every decision you make in a game can have significant consequences and affect the outcome. But the emotion that comes with that outcome can cripple your ability to make a decision.

I’ve felt it many times as a head coach. If I take him out, what if they go on a run? If we switch to zone, I don’t want them to hit a three. I have to put my veteran guys back out there, I don’t trust the freshmen. A big part of coaching decisions is assessing risk and reward, but if you are thinking too much about the results, you’ll never take the risk. You have to learn to make bold decisions to be great.

I love the above quote because I think it encapsulates the approach you need to have as a game coach. You don’t have to be fearless. You can have some apprehension about a negative outcome that might come from a decision. But you can’t let that emotion impact the right decision. That’s the challenge.

Your focus should be locked on what you need to do to win the game, not how you might feel if you don’t. The more you think about action and take away emotion, the more comfortable you’ll be with making a brave decision. It helps to prepare without emotion. Think about the scenarios you might face in a given game and what the best approach is for your team, and do it in a quiet moment by yourself. Make those decisions when you aren’t feeling the emotions of the game and you aren’t worried about a negative result. Preparing yourself mentally will allow you to make a brave call when needed.

Coaching without fear is not easy. The results are real, and it’s natural to think about what might happen. But prepare yourself ahead of time for the scenarios you might face, and think about the right decision for your team. When the time comes, take the emotion out of the decisions - as best you can - and think about the action necessary to help your team.

Developing Trust

Trust is an essential element of a high-performing team. But it takes a lot of time and a consistent approach to develop. Trust doesn’t come about just because you say it’s important. Trust is something built, more through what you do than what you say to your players.

When there is a power imbalance, as there is between a player and coach, trust starts with one question. Would you do it for me? Meaning, whatever it is you are demanding out of your players, would you be willing to do the same? Of course, you don’t have to do what your players ask of you as the coach. But to get them to trust you, they have to see that you’d be willing to do the same. That you are putting in the same amount of time, that you have the same work ethic, that you are willing to sacficie the same way you are asking of them.

Between the player and the coach, the question of trust might come down to “Are you making the same commitment you are asking of me?” As a coach to really earn their trust you have to model the behavior you want to see in them. Not only is it setting the right example, but it’s part of the foundation of trust for your team. They have to see it in you, so when things get hard and they don’t see a lot of reward, they believe you are in the trenches with them. They’ll trust you with the hard stuff when they see you are making the same commitment to the team.

What you do is so loud, they can’t hear what you say. You can talk to your team about the importance of trust all the time. But they need to see how you operate and the commitment you are willing to make for them in order for trust to fully develop.

The Other Team

Preparing for your opponent is important, but how much energy do you spend on the other team? Every minute you spend focused on the other team takes time away from developing your own players. I think many of us are guilty of spending too much time worrying about the other guys.

With the technology we have available today we have all the information we need on our opponents at our fingertips. It allows us as coaches to feel fully prepared and leave no stone unturned. But a lot of that is really about making us feel better as coaches, and not necessarily what our guys need to be successful. Our scout tapes get longer, we have more film sessions, we go over more plays. It makes us feel great to be really prepared, but we can also clog our guys minds with too much information.

“A cluttered mind equals slow feet.” - Stan Van Gundy

We spend a lot of time worrying about other teams running up the score, pulling their starters out when they are up, or pressing when the game is decided. I just don’t think it’s a valuable use of our mental capital. We spend less time working with our own players and building our team, and a lot of time worrying about stuff we cannot control.

Your players know exactly what your priorities are based on what you emphasize. They know if it’s about them or the other team. They thrive with the attention you and the staff give them to make them better. They love to feel that you are investing everything you can into them, to make them great.

Scouting and preparation are very important. Your kids absolutely want to know what the keys are to win and how to stop the other team. But the amount of time you invest in them versus the other team has an impact. Don’t get caught up too much in everything the other guy is doing. Invest as much as you can in your players and you’ll get better results.

Overweighing Loyalty

How important is loyalty in the decisions you make?

From Admired Leaders on loyalty:

Leaders sometimes make decisions they know are wrong. Even though their experience, values, and instincts confirm the decision is exceedingly bad, they go ahead and make it anyway. 

They talk themselves into the idea that they are doing the right thing, all the while knowing they aren’t. They willfully commit to a decision that will likely blow up and potentially destroy their credibility. Why would leaders, even good ones, make such a choice? 

That’s what happens when leaders overweigh loyalty to people when making a critical decision. 

Loyalty is a virtuous value. Leaders who are loyal to those they lead display a commitment that builds trust. Knowing a leader is loyal creates a sense of security and reassurance. Team members and colleagues reciprocate that loyalty by protecting the leader from unfair criticisms and advocating for the ideas the leader believes in. 

Over time, loyalty allows leaders and team members to reaffirm their mutual commitment in the face of bad or challenging times. Loyalty is a wonder drug for preserving strong relationships. 

However, loyalty can undermine a decision critical to the health of the enterprise. When leaders factor in loyalty to people in their decision-making, they are often seduced to think differently about what is best for the team or organization. They justify a bad or poor decision by elevating the loyalty they have for a particular person affected by that choice. 

Unfortunately, no matter how virtuous loyalty to others is, when it comes to major decisions, allowing loyalty a big seat at the table will likely produce a poor choice. 

To make matters worse, everyone looking from the outside knows exactly what is going on. They conclude the leader is incapable of making a sound decision because of their attachment to a particular person. This conclusion undermines confidence in the leader and exposes them as biased and partial in a way that damages their long-term credibility. 

The best leaders always elevate what is best for the organization, the clients or customers, and the team before they consider their relationship with any particular team member.  While this is an exceedingly hard thing to do when loyalty is a primary value of a leader, as is often the case, it is what the job requires. 

The next time you observe or read about a decision that seems so obviously bad that is unfathomable why a leader made such a choice, consider that loyalty to a person probably warped the decision-making process. 

Do your best to commit more highly to what is best for the enterprise over what is best for any particular person when it comes to your own decision-making. Loyalty is a principled and noble value. But when it comes to making major decisions, loyalty will likely confound your thinking. Try not to let it.

The More I Listen

The more I listen to may players, the better I get as a coach. When we first get into coaching we think we should be talking all of the time. We think coaching is telling the players what to do. We coach them, and they play. They have to listen to us.

The reality is we aren’t training players to do what they are told. We should be training them to solve problems. If I knew when and how every situation was going to happen on the court, I could tell my players exactly what to do. But that’s not how sports work. We should be training our players to make the right decisions at the point of attack.

If we are going to do that, we have to listen. How am I going to know what my player saw, and why the made the decision they did, if I don’t ask them? I want to know what my players see, so I can understand why they made the decisions they did.

If I really want to get a pulse of my team off the court, I need to hear from my players as well. The idea that they should always be listening to me. just doesn’t work. I’m always amazed how much I can learn about my team by listening to my players. You will be as well, if you take the time to ask the right questions and actually listen to the response.

Solitude and Leadership

One of my favorite leadership reads ever, from William Deresiewicz, addressing the Plebe Class at West Point in 2009.

As a leader, are you just creating hoop jumpers? Are you allowing the room for your team leaders to think for themselves? Are you willing to be alone, to separate yourself, to come up with your own leadership approach?

Incredible stuff in here. One of the best.

Solitude and Leadership

Teaching Leadership

How do you teach your players to be better leaders? If leadership is important to the success of your team, you need to do more than complain about it. You better recruit it or teach it - or both.

Define it - Do you just talk about leadership with your players, or do you actually have a definition of leadership? Define what leadership means to you and make sure your players know exactly what that definition is.

Make sure it fits the context - Leadership is situational and contextual. Make sure it fits you and the ethos of your program. What worked for John Wooden at UCLA might not work for you at St. Mary’s High School. It has to fit who you are.

Connect it to behaviors - Your players will understand your leadership approach if it is connected to behaviors. Point out the specific behaviors that are examples of the leadership you want, and make sure everyone knows it. They need to know what leadership looks like.

Figure out who’s curious - The best leaders are curious about their teammates. They are capable of doing their job while they are thinking about others. Those are the players who can have the biggest impact as leaders. Don’t force a specific type of leadership on players who aren’t comfortable with it.

Give them space - Let them lead. Define it, show them the behaviors, and give them the room to take ownership. So often we complain about a lack of leadership on our teams when we aren’t giving them the opportunity to lead. If all we do is tell them what to do, they are going to do what they are told, and then wait for the next command. That’s following, not leading.