A Great Read for Coaches

Here's a book I highly recommend you include on your reading list called The World's Most Powerful Leadership Principle, authored by James Hunter. Mr. Hunter shares his insights on leadership based on his work as a leadership consultant with corporate America over the past two decades. It's amazing how much his advice relates to the sporting world.

To give you a feel for the book, I have included some quotes along with my remarks below them...

Hunter writes:

Remember, the leader always leaves his or her mark. The only question is what type of mark is left behind. Are people better or worse off because the leader was there? Larry Bossidy, former CEO of AlliedSignal and coauthor of Execution: The Discipline of Getting Things Done, puts it this way: You won't remember when you retire what you did in the first quarter of 1994, or the third. What you'll remember is how many people you developed. How many people you helped have a better career because of your interest and your dedication to their development... When confused as to how you're doing as a leader, find out how the people you lead are doing. You'll know the answer.

What kind of mark will you leave on your players? Many of you have been privileged to play for a coach who made an indelible mark on you. National championship North Carolina men's basketball coach Roy Williams got into coaching because his high school coach Buddy Baldwin made such an indelible positive mark on him that he wanted to share that with others. Coach Williams says - "Coach Baldwin gave me the idea of what confidence could do for somebody. In fact, because of his influence, he is the reason I decided to become a coach."

Are you building your players confidence to help them develop as athletes and people? Are they markedly better than when they first joined your team?

Hunter writes:

No matter what product or service your organization produces, you are in the relationship business. Have you figured this out yet? It took me twenty years to understand that all life -- all business is -- is a series of relationships.

Coaching too is all about relationships. Sure you need to know the mechanics and strategies of your sport. But if you cannot effectively relate with your players and staff, if will be very difficult to recruit, motivate, refocus, challenge, or connect with them. Assess the relationships you have with each of your players, staff, support staff, administrators, and most importantly, your family. Look to strengthen those that need strengthening and seek to repair any that have been damaged or neglected.

Hunter writes:

We should never think we are doing anyone, except ourselves, any favors when we do not hold people accountable and push them to be their best... I find so many managers who are afraid to demand excellence because they fear it will drive people away--at least that is the excuse given. Excellence drives mediocre people away just as mediocrity drives the superstars away.

Whether as coaches or captains, effective leaders hold themselves and others accountable. You must establish and maintain high standards for your program--on the court, in the classroom, and in the community. Do your players always hustle on and off the court/field? How do they conduct themselves when the calls aren't going their way? Where do they sit and how do they present themselves in the classroom? How do they represent you and your team on campus and in the community? All these seemingly little things add up over time to make a big difference. When people don't meet the standards of your program, you must remind, encourage, and insist that they do. Letting your team's standards slip and erode will cause big problems for your program and frustrate those who are doing the right thing - and sooner or later drive them away.

Hunter writes:

The most successful organizations I have encountered understand and work diligently to meet the deeper needs that human beings all share. I believe those deeper human needs include:

1. A need for great leadership.

2. A need for meaning and purpose.

3. A need to feel appreciated, recognized, and respected.

4. A need to be part of something excellent (special).

5. A need to be part of a caring community.

Take a moment to honestly evaluate your team/program/athletic department/school on each of these five areas.

1. Are you providing great leadership? Are your coaches, captains, athletic administrators, principals, headmasters, presidents, etc. all providing the great leadership that people deserve, need, and crave? Just as you want your athletes to dedicate the time over the summer to develop into better players - so too do your athletes want you to dedicate the time to continually develop into a better leader.

2. What is your individual and group's purpose? Are you just playing games or are you teaching people skills that will prepare them for the game of life? I challenge you to not be just a coach of success, but rather a coach of significance. What you teach your athletes must transcend mere sport skills. Further, give your program a bigger and more noble purpose beyond just winning games. Remind your players that they are ambassadors and must represent the team/school with class and effectively connect with the community.

3. A person's deepest craving is the need to feel appreciated, said psychologist William James. Do you feel like all the time and effort you put into building and maintaining a program is truly appreciated by your players, parents, fellow coaches, athletic director? Just as you can sometimes feel underappreciated and overlooked, so too can your players, fellow coaches, and support staff. Be sure to thank people often for the big and little things they do to make your program go.

4. Do your athletes feel like they are part of something special - something that is bigger than themselves? They want to be part of an exclusive group that others admire. Create a special sense of tradition in your program. Michigan softball coach Carol Hutchins has each of her players research and connect with the former players who wore their jersey number. This bridges the past and present players of the program and reminds the current players that they are a part of something that is bigger than themselves.

5. People need to be a part of caring community. Great teams are like family. They don't always agree and like each other, but they do care about each other. They support and stick up for each other through thick and thin. Have you created a sense of community on your team where people care as much about each other as they do wins and statistics?

These are just some of the great ideas that Hunter discusses in The World's Most Most Powerful Leadership Principle. While they may not be terribly new, the insights serve as excellent reminders of what it takes to be successful. As Samuel Johnson once said and Hunter alludes to in the book - people need to be reminded more than they need to be instructed.

To order the book, visit http://www.jameshunter.com