The 10/50 Rule For Improvement

We spoke to our team today about what we call the 10/50 Rule For Improvement.  The message we want them to understand and apply now and throughout their lives is that they must control the controllables.  We want them to play to their strengths and work daily to minimize their weaknesses.  Thus, the 10/50 Rule
10--Improve the things I do well by 10%.
50--Decrease the negatives by 50%.

First, they must dig deep and self analyze. Then we left them with the following thoughts:
•There are certain things within my control.
•Everyone has the ability to reduce what they do negatively towards an outcome
•No one has to do anything incredible
•Everyone knows what they can get better at, and what they need to do less of.
•Do what we are asked to do 10% better.
•Don't let the things that keep you from doing what you need to do occupy your mind.
•Make it happen before it happens.
•It takes work, not luck.

Lessons From The Movie "The Miracle"

On Friday, we brought our team back after practice for some "film".  As they filed into the film room with their notebooks, we showed the movie, "The Miracle".  Many of our players had not seen the movie.  Listed below are some notes I made from the movie:

1. It's your time...so go take it
2. Great moments are born from great opportunity
3. The average age of the 1980 team was 21
4. "The legs feed the wolf"
5. Be prepared to go through pain
6. You don't have enough talent to win on talent alone
7. It's a family.
8. The important thing is that the 20 players know in 20 years that they left everything on the ice.
9. Don't defend them, attack them.
10. Can't be a team of common men, the common go nowhere.
11. Represent yourself and your teammates
12. It's one thing to be young and promising; it's another thing to be good.

Satchel Paige on Facing Adversity

"Never let your head hang down.

Never give up and sit down and grieve.

And don't pray when it rains if you don't pray

when the sun shines."

Brian Tracy's Thoughts On Using Lists To Plan

Plan Every Day in Advance


Your mind, your ability to think, plan and decide, is your most powerful tool for overcoming procrastination and increasing your productivity. Your ability to set your goals, plan and take action on them determines the course of your life. The very act of thinking and planning unlocks your mental powers, triggers your creativity and increases your mental and physical energies.


Your ability to plan well, in advance of beginning, is a measure of your overall competence. The better the plan you have, the easier it is for you to overcome procrastination, to get started , and then to keep going.


One of your top goals at work should be for you to get the highest possible return on your investment of mental, emotional and physical energy. The good news is that every minute spent in planning saves as many as ten minutes in execution. It only takes about ten or twelve minutes for you to plan out your day, but this small investment of time will save you at least two hours (100-120 minutes) in wasted time and diffused effort throughout the day.


When you consider how helpful planning can be in increasing your productivity and performance, it is amazing how few people practice it every single day. And planning is really quite simple to do. All you need is a piece of paper and a pen. The most sophisticated Palm Pilot, computer program or time planner is based on the same principle. It is based on you sitting down andmaking a to do list of everything you have to do before you begin.


Make Your Lists a Habit


Always work from a list. When something new comes up, add it to the list before you do it. You can increase your productivity and output by 25% or more from the first day that you begin working consistently from a list.


Make out your list the night before, at the end of the workday. Move everything that you have not yet accomplished onto your list for the coming day and then add everything that you have to do the next day. When you make out your list the evening or the night before, your subconscious mind works on your list all night long while you sleep. Often you will wake up with great ideas and insights that you can use to get your job done faster and better than you had initially thought.


The more time you take to make written lists of everything you have to do, in advance, the more effective and efficient you will be.


Types of Lists


There are different lists that you need for different purposes. First, you should create a master list on which you write down everything you can think of that you want to do some time in the future. This is the place where you capture every idea that comes to or every new task or responsibility that comes up. You can then sort out the items later.


Second, you should have a monthly list that you make up at the end of the month for the month ahead. This may contain items transferred from your master list.


Third, you should have a weekly list where you plan your entire week in advance. This is a list that is under construction as you go through the current week.


Finally, you transfer items from your monthly and weekly lists onto your daily list. These are the specific activities that you are going to accomplish that day.


As you work through the day, tick off the items on your list as you complete them. This activity gives you a visual picture of accomplishment. It generates a feeling of success and forward motion. Seeing yourself working progressively through your list motivates and energizes you. It raises your self-esteem and self-respect. Steady, visible progress propels you forward and helps you to overcome procrastination.

Passing and Receiving

Passing and Receiving Thoughts:

•If you can't pass and catch, you can't play
•Every pass is a shot, every shot is a pass
•Make a bad pass and you've taken away a shot
•Good pass= Right person, Right place, Right time

Coach Meyer Thoughts on Internal Leadership

Internal Leadership Thoughts And Components:

•Understand the importance
•You can be the greatest leader but if you don't have players who can lead internally, you will have problems.
•Warren Buffett ◦ Gave away $41 billion to Bill Gates charities because he thought Gates could do a better job.
     ◦He told Tom Osborne 3 things that he looks for when hiring:
          ■Work ethic
          ■Intelligence
          ■Character
     ◦The first two, without the last will kill you.

•Leadership emerges. You can pick captains, but you can't pick leaders.
•Nurture the kid that emerges as a leader.
•Wooden's Essentials on Internal Leadership ◦Less self, makes you selfless
     ◦Good leader praises team after a win as if he hadn't been involved with their sucess.
•Don't draw attention to yourself. Don't be like the guy who coughs just before he puts the coin in the collection plate at church.
•Can't be like the coach at the athletic banquet that said, "These boys did a nice job too."
•Do not measure youself in comparisoin to others, but rather on the quality of your efforts to improve--Wooden

Discipline & Passion Precede The Process

We spend a great deal of time teaching our team to be process vs result oriented.  However, as John Maxwell notes in his "Maxwell's Minute" that no process is strong enough to give us discipline and passion.

Discipline and Passion do not come from the process, they come from the soul.  We must go inside of ourselves to find those two words--Am I a person that wants to make a difference? In my life? In my family's life? In the lives of others?

Go inside find the answers and make the words active in our lives...Then the process will work for you.

Courage

"Courage is no more than Stubbornness

and I've got plenty of that.  It

means getting up each day and doing what

you have to, going on when

circumstances get you down,

pushing ahead when others

hold you back."

--Lamar Dodd



The Desire To Win

From the book Wooden:

"Players fifty years ago wanted to win just as much as players today. Foot soldiers a thousand years ago wanted to win the battle as much as combat troops today. Athletes today have no greater desire to win than athletes at the first Olympic games. The desire then and now is the same.

The difference is that everybody worries about it more today because of the media and the attention they give to the question of who's winning and who's losing.

Did I win? Did I lose? Those are the wrong questions. The correct question is: DID I MAKE MY BEST EFFORT? That's what matters. The rest of it just gets in the way.

In classical times, the courageous struggle for a noble
cause was considered success in itself. Sadly, that ideal has been forgotten. But it is well worth remembering.

The Desire To Win

	From the book Wooden: "Players fifty years ago wanted to win just as much as players today.  Foot soldiers a thousand years ago wanted to win the battle as much as combat troops today.  Athletes today have no greater desire to win than athletes at the first Olympic games.  The desire then and now is the same. The difference is that everybody worries about it more today because of the media and the attention they give to the question of who's winning and who's losing. Did I win?  Did I lose?  Those are the wrong questions.  The correct question is:  DID I MAKE MY BEST EFFORT?  That's what matters.  The rest of it just gets in the way. In classical times, the courageous struggle for a noble cause was considered success in itself.  Sadly, that ideal has been forgotten.  But it is well worth remembering.

Is there really VISION without COMMUNICATION??

"If a tree falls in the woods and no one is around......

Similarly, if a leader has a "Vision" but doesn't (can't) communicate, is there really a vision?



Coaching is such a great job because of all the variety that the job brings. As a coach you have the opportunity to meet and talk with so many people and learn from such different sources. I'm fortunate to talk daily with business leaders, coaches, career coaches, ministers, managers and the list goes on. It's always interesting the topics tend to be very similar in all aspects of leadership. The following are some thoughts and questions from conversations with different people at different times but you can see how they likely apply to us daily.

While discussing these thoughts and questions, there were very few answers. And each question generally leads to another.

• I believe that without communication, there is no vision.
• Nothing is gained when a leader focuses and prepares their vision, if the vision isn't communicated to the people/ team/ staff that must carry out the vision.
• A vision is only as good as its execution.
• Leaders depend on their "team" to claim and seize the vision.
• There can be no sustained effort or intentionality if the team/ players, etc are unsure or unaware of critical elements of a leader's vision.
• A vision, a dominant aspiration can't be a "secret". But we often see a lack of communication and the process needed to execute is missing because the team/ staff, etc. is unaware of details, events, etc. that are part of the vision.
• The question becomes, "Why?"
  • Why isn't essential information about "vision" not communicated?
    • Lack of preparation?
    • Lack of clarity in the process?
    • Lack of trust?
    • Lack of competence?
• Is there Vision with poor communication?
  • Does the manner of the communication of a vision affect the vision of an organiztion?
  • Does the manner/ mode of communication affect the trust, loyalty and passion of a team's process of the vision?
• When staff, players, etc. are aware of a lack of communication what should be the process of correcting the issue? Who's responsibility does communication rest with?
• Is silence acceptance?
• A vision is more than a simple statement written for a policy and procedures manual. It must have an emotional attachment to drive a team, company, etc.
• Proper communication about a Vision generates enthusiasm and brings energy.  And poor communication will drain energy.
• Without proper communication about vision--a team, staff, etc. will tend to fill in the "gaps" with what they thought...As opposed to what really "is".  Which leads to a lack of clarity and another vicious cycle begins.
• We talk with our team about "clutter".  We define clutter as anything that we think about or deal with that doesn't take us closer to our vision.  If the vision isn't communicated clearly and intentionally--then everything we do can essentially become clutter.  Because it's not taking us to our "vision".
• General MaCarthur said, "Don't give orders that can be understood, give orders that can't be misunderstood."
• Without clear communication, we are certainly in jeopardy of giving orders that can be misunderstood.
• I don't believe that, "less is more" when it involves the clarity and intentionality of a vision of a team.
• It's the trust, faith, clarity and intentionality of a vision that drives teams to greatness.

Mental Toughness Thoughts

This afternoon I was going through a notebook I have on mental toughness and came across the following.  I'm not sure where the notes stem from, just a collection of thoughts:

1. Mistake Management--you will never outperform your own self-belief system.
2. The great ones are great because of how they react to mistakes
3. Players need a mental toughness routine
4. Self-Talk is either your best friend or your worst enemy
5. What would show up if your self-talk was projected onto a big screen for all to see?
6. Law of Dominant Thought--brain/ body doesn't distinguish between do/ don't

"You Can't Fake Leadership"

Sally Jenkins wrote a fascinating article on Leaderhsip (Followership) (click on the highlighted text to read the article).  I encourage you to read the entire article.  Below are some key points I took away from her observations:

1. Leadership isn't about domination, it's about persuasion.
2. Leadership only works when people find you credible and grant you their cooperation.
3. Leadership is more than charisma and talent.
4. The study of Leadership should be on the followers, not the leader.  Therefore, the study is on "Followership".
5. Followership--Followers want four things:  (a) Integrity  (b) Confidence  (c) Decision-Making  (d) Clarity
6. What Followers Do Not Want:  (a) Irritability  (b) Moodiness  (c) Untrustworthiness  (d) Indecisiveness  (e) Needless Micromanagement  (f) Excessive Authority--Followers see these things as incompetent.
7. Leadership study of the number of flight errors of a crew correlated to the personality of the captain.
8. Crews led by captains perceived as agreeable, self-confident and emotionally reliable made the fewest errors.
9. Crews with captains considered arrogant, hostile, passive-aggressive or dictatorial made the most errors.
10. Leaders lose their teams when the followers withdraw their consent to be led.
11. Red Auerbach--"You don't motivate teams, you motivate players, one by one, by building relationships."
12. A leader is worth nothing without voluntary commitment, because the followers are actually more in charge of the outcome.
13. Ever aspiring leader should ask, "Would people choose to follow me?"

Organizational Secrets of the New England Patriots

•Respect opponents. Do not undermine your competition.
•It's leadership..not luck.
•Humble ownership. Top management sets the right direction.
•Consummate leadership is the key.
•Coachable players and staff.
•Look for overlooked talent.
•Focus on value; performance.
•Expectations. Past performance is no guarantee for future results.
•Everyone is a coach. Every member of an organization needs to take a lead.
•Being competitive is not a bad thing.
•The best marketing is a good product.


--Taken from James Lavin's book Management Secrets of the New England Patriots

Jeff Goins On 5 Ways To Connect

Jeff Goins on connecting and networking...Here's how to begin:

1. Quit hiding behind your work. Schedule some time in your day, week, or month for socializing. This is an investment.
2. Use social media as the means to an end, not the end itself. Reach out to people on Twitter and Facebook and ask to meet tem in person.
3. Take a stranger out to lunch or coffee... and pick up the bill.
4. Sign up for meetups, mixers, and conferences.
5. Start doing favors for people without expecting anything in return.

Strongholds That Keep Us From What We Want

Strongholds are the things that keep us from what we want.  Dr. Kevin Elko lists three Strongholds that hold us back in our lives.

3 Strongholds In Our Lives:

1. COMFORT--we always want to be comfortable.  Can't get what I want because there's discomfort out there.
2. APPROVAL--want everyone to like me.
3. NEED TO BE RIGHT--This will keep you from Peace & Happiness.  It's fighting because they're "right".  We must let go of the need to be right.  Pick your battles--big enough to fight and small enough to win.  If there's nothing to be gained, then there's no reason to fight.  Don't get sucked into another's need to simply be right.  If I win the argument, what did I win?  We all know people that challenge you to go nowhere.  Keep your focus to being a blessing to others instead of simply trying to be right.

Key To Coaching

Coaching is an art not a science. The key is finding a different way to reach every kid on our roster.

We are teaching kids how to play basketball and how to live their life. We're not coaching basketball, we're coaching kids.

Great Advice From Coach Gene Stallings

I have been fortunate to hear Coach Stallings speak several times.  While at one of his events he signed his book and said that this was the best advice he could offer to any coach.

John Maxwell's Thoughts On Results

In our Game Day Team Meeting we shared John Maxwell's, "Minute with Maxwell" and his thoughts on results.  We talked about Results from the perspective of our Process.

"Amazing that some people are surprised that

they aren't getting some positive return

out of their laziness..."

A few thoughts that we shared from Maxwell to the team:

1. Work Hard & Work Smart
2. Make a list of the things you want to see accomplished at the end of the game, the results you would like to experience.
3. What will you INTENTIONALLY do tonight that will give the results you desire to the at the end of the game.

Wooden & Walsh On The Process

The following was taken from an interview that Steve Jamison did about writing about these two coaches.

 Bill Walsh said the score takes care of itself. And he really meant that. In our conversations, he explained how he placed his emphasis on doing things the right way. His primary focus when he took over the 49ers was not on telling everyone when the team would win the Super Bowl. He talked a great deal about his expectations for everyone in the organization. He wanted players, coaches, and staff members to focus on executing the details of their roles.

John Wooden has some maxims on this topic that I really like. He says, “Little things make big things happen,” and “There are no big things, only an accumulation of little things done well.” He never said, “We will win a championship this year,” or “Our goal is to go undefeated.” He never talked like that. He never announced an audacious goal such as winning a national championship. He focused on doing the right things right now.

Good Player, Great Player, Superb Player

GOOD PLAYER, GREAT PLAYER, SUPERB PLAYER


Positioning, Anticipation and Technique give Quickness; Therefore, you can always get quicker.

A Good player knows where he is on the court.
A Great player knows where everyone is on the court.
A Superb player knows where everyone is on the court and what everyone is going to do.

If It Doesn't Serve, Don't Say It

We talk to our team about focusing on the words they speak.  Words have power.

From the book, "Rolling Thunder, an American Indian medicine man":

• "People have to be responsible for their thoughts, so they have to learn to control them.  It may not be easy, but it can be done.  First of all, if we don't want to think certain things we don't say them.  We don't have to eat everything we see, and we don't have to say everything we think.  So we begin by watching our words and speaking with good purpose only."

Marshall Thurber, successful realtor in San Francisco, agreed with his staff to only speak with good purpose.  That is, "If it doesn't serve, don't say it."

Seth Godin On Productivity & Taking Action

Productive Magazine recently interviewed Seth Godin. Below are some of Godin's thoughts on productivity:

1.  I focus very much on the things that have leverage and try very hard to avoid things that are stalling.
2. I focus on things I can do well and do them with leverage and passion and don't let the resistance slow me down.

Productive Question to Godin--"So, if you are busy and and you have so many things to do, how do you balance your family life?  How do you find time for the ones you love?"

Godin:--"You know it's funny.  People never say, "how do you find time to have lunch or dinner? or how do you find the time to sleep?"  We are not talking of life-lunch balance.  So I'm not sure I'm interested in conversation about life-work balance.  I think you have to have the discipline to have the life you want to have. And if you are stealing from one part of your life in order to make the other part work, you are going to pay for it."

Winning The Games Within The Game--Baseline Out of Bounds

We try to cover some special situations every practice in a 5 minute period.
A game situation to cover is Baseline out of Bounds and Sideline out of Bounds.
In the breakdown the defense has to get a deflection on the inbounds pass or they do push-ups, etc.

Great Leaders Do Not Avoid Small Duties

There is an incident told of the Revolutionary War, about an officer who ordered his men to cut down some trees which were needed to make a bridge.  There were not nearly enoubh men, and work was going very slowly.  Up rode a commanding-looking man and spoke to the officer in charge, who was urging his men but doing nothing himself.  "You haven't enough men for the job, have you?"

"No, sir.  We need some help."

"Why don't you lend a hand yourself?" asked the man on horseback.

"Me, sir?  Why, I am a corporal," replied the officer, looking rather affronted at the suggestion.

"Ah, true," quietly replied the other, and getting off his horse he labored with the men until the job was done.  Then he mounted again, and as he rode off he said to the officer,

"Corporal, the next time you have a job to put through and too few men to do it you had better send for the Commander-In-Chief, and I will come again."

It was George Washington.

The Battlefield of the Mind

It's been said, "The mental is to physical as 4 is to 1." The longer we coach, the more we know that to be true.  I recently listened to Dr. Jason Selk, Director of Mental Training for the St. Louis Cardinals talk about their mental training.

One statement made me really stop and think about our team's mental training.  Selk said that players will not, "outperform or underperform their self-image very long."

Self-image is largely determined by how we talk to ourselves.  Therefore, to increase performance we must help our players improve their self-image.

Adversity is assured for all of us

ADVERSITY IS ASSURED FOR ALL OF US.

I recently read Don Yaeger's new book: Greatness:  The 16 Characteristics of True Champions.
I've included some of his thoughts on adversity.  As a coach/ parent it's the toughest thing to teach how to respond to.  Below are some great thoughts on attacking adversity in our lives.

• The truly Great use adversity as fuel.
• The truly Great find opportunity in the worst of times.
• Adversity, be it in life, health, business or any other realm, can be the distinguishing factor between a successful leader and an unsuccessful one.
• Transform disappointments into Great success.
• Adversity is one of the most potent forces in life, one that can bring out your best or your worse.  Ultimately it's up to you.  How will you handle obstacles?  Will they be roadblocks or springboards?
• Think about one or two of the most difficult challenges of your life, and count how many positive things ultimately came out of the experience.
• Our reaction to adversity shapes our character, clarifies our priorities and can fuel our path to Greatness.

Transcending Ordinary Effort

Ordinary effort is when you're comfortable. That's mediocrity. A lot of athletes work within their comfort zone, physically and technically. They don't feel like they are going to lose control, or pass out from fatigue. But when you practice within your comfort zone you are not preparing yourself for a game. In a game situation, the other team is trying to take you out of your comfort zone. So, as soon as they do, you're in unfamiliar territory. You panic. You make a mistake, or lose the ball.

The challenge for you as an individual athlete is to find a way to elevate your environment. That's not easy. It's tough to keep yourself on edge independently. But this is what separates the truly great players apart. It is their capacity to do what Dorrance calls "flame on"--to hit a button and just ignite.

Take your practice to the most intense level and then your improvement is going to be remarkable. It will separate you from the ordinary.

--Taken from The Vision of a Champion by Anson Dorrance

10 End of Game Situations: Thoughts to Consider

1.  Emphasize how often last-second offensive rebounds win games.
2.  With 3 seconds or less, try to create forward momentum for your shooter.
3.  Can your players deny the ball from opponent's best FT shooter?
4.  Practice denial when your only hope is forcing a 5 second violation.
5.  Can you inbound the ball to your best FT shooter when you know the defense must stop the clock?
6.  Find out the exact inbounding location before diagramming a last-second play.
7.  Insist that your players ask the referee, "Can I run the baseline?" when inbounding after a timeout.
8.  Who inbounds the ball for you in last second situations?
9.  Who throws the length of court baseball pass with 3 seconds or less?  Who catches?
10.  Who on the staff charts timeouts, fouls, opponent FT percentages & possession arrow?

Teaching & Learning

"Nothing has ever been taught until learned;

nothing has ever been learned until taught."

--Jud Heathcote

Direct Your Players In Their Interests, Needs & Ability

    Interest/ Needs/ Abilities—direct your players in this way. 

 How you will handle the team.

We are constantly looking for the best way to Teach/ Coach our team.  As we head into a new week of practice after a game and preparing for another--we look for the best way to communicate our message.

The first thing we must look at are the Interest, Needs & Abilities of each player.

This is critical because each player is at a different point in each of these areas.  So we must bring clarity to the situation.  Basically, asking "What are we trying to do here?"

We want the, "Next Best Action"..

To determine our Next Best Action, we look at those needs and then determine what is the outcome we desire..Then, what must we commit to accomplish this desire. Next, is simply what's the next thing needed to do to move toward that goal.

A few things that we do to meet the Interest, Needs & Abilities:

1.  Use film to Show, Encourage & Conclude with a Challenge.

2.  Individual reps of a situation or skill needed.

3.  Identify their ability to be able to master the skill.

Paul Azinger--Winning Strategy

I've been re-reading Paul Azinger's , "Cracking The Code".  The book details his process and strategy for building and coaching the Ryder Cup Team.  How to take the world's best individual players and get them in position to work as a TEAM.

As a coach, we must do this daily, monthly and yearly with our teams.  Here are a few take-aways:
1.  Control the controllables
2.  Trust and Empower
3.  Communicate with each player appropriately, based on their personality type.

Use these three items to foster camaraderie, creativity and fearlessness.

Coaching The Mental Game

We work to develop the 3 areas of skills daily with our team--
1.  Physical--strength and conditioning
2.  Skill Sets--specific to their position
3.  Mental Skills--dealing with adversity and anxiety which is mental toughness

In studying how a lot of our players are "wired" mentally, it was brought to our attention that many play the game on their heels.  Playing not to mess up.  Often, the players that we (as coaches) want to "carry/ lead" the team, simply aren't wired to do so.  This is something we have to work with.

One process we work with the players that "play the game backwards"; meaning that they are thinking in the past.  It's a 3 step process:
1.  Identify--the mistake or problem we want to correct
2.  Resolve--must help the player come to a resolution or they are still playing the game backwards.
3.  Put Them In The Right Frame of Mind--different manners depending on the situation--film after practice, talking to on sideline in practice, sitting next to a coach during a game.

This it tough to do.  We typically coach/ teach to our own personalities.  But much can be gained when you understand how your team is "wired".

Jon Gordon On The Best of the Best

The Best of the Best by John Gordon

I had the opportunity this past week to speak to the Atlanta Falcons football
Team. As I prepared for these talks I thought a lot about what I should say that would benefit them.
After all, I would be talking to people who have reached the pinnacle of their industry.
What could I say that they haven't heard before? I realized that there was nothing new I could say.
They have heard it all. We all have. But what I could do was say it in a way that would inspire them towards positive action. My job was to help the best of the best get even better. This inspired a series of thoughts about what makes someone great in their field of work. I realized the best of the best, whether you are a sales person, teacher, athlete, nurse, entrepreneur, etc, share a number of similar characteristics. Here are three. I hope they inspire you to be your best.
1. The best are always striving to get better.
When I was speaking in Dallas in June, Zig Ziglar was in the front row and to my surprise he was taking notes. Wow, I thought. Here was one of my heroes, eighty years old, and he's still learning and growing. Any speaker could have been up there and Zig would have had his note pad and pen ready. How about you? Are you striving to get better? Are you a life long learner?

2. The best do ordinary things better than everyone else. (Chuck Noll).
There really isn't anything new when it comes to success principles. It's not about doing anything different. It’s about closing the gap that is bigger than the Grand Canyon-the gap between knowing and doing. The best take action. They execute and excel in the small things that create big results. They know that to be the best you must do a hundred simple things 10% better than everyone else.

3. The best stay positive.
Every individual and team faces negativity and challenges but the best rebound with positive energy, resilience, hope and faith. The best stay positive and don't let adversities and obstacles sabotage their individual and team success. The best don't let naysayers and energy vampires keep them from their goal. The best teams get on the bus together, stay positive and move forward with a shared vision, focus and direction. –

3 Areas That Coaches Build

Three Areas That Coaches Develop and Build
1.  Build Vision
2.  Build People
3.  Build Accountability and Responsibility

4 Things Leaders Work To Provide Their Followers

4 Things Great Leaders Work To Provide Provide Their Followers

1.  The opportunity to LEARN
2.  To help them to grow in RESPONSIBILITY
3.  The opportunity to CONTRIBUTE to others
4.  The chance to be RECOGNIZED

Talent Is Overrated

In Geoff Colvin's book, Talent is Overrated he concludes that there's no magic.  A lot of times there's this misconception that people are just given this talent, that they never had to work hard to get where they are.  Their common denominator, he says, is the willingness to submit to "that grueling, grinding, not-fun task, and to do it over and over.  That's what successful people do."

Attacking Problems

"For every 1,000 hacking at the leaves of a problem, but 1 is hacking at the root."--Thoreau

Thoreau's Definition of Success

Thoreau's Definition of Success:

If one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours.

4 Skills For Our Student-Athletes To Leave Our Program With

The workforce just like the court is very competitive.  It takes more than just a college degree.  Graduates must have a skill set to take to the work force.  The more of the following skill sets they can offer the more valuable they will be.

We work with our Life Skills, Academic and Career Counselors to make sure our Student-Athletes leave our program with at least one of the following skills to enter the workforce with:

1.  The Ability to "Fix" something.
2.  The Ability to "Solve" a problem.
3.  The Ability to "Sell" something.
4.  The Ability to "Create Value"

Mental Skill Development

We work in 3 areas of Skill Development for our players:
1.  Skill Sets (that are specific to on the court)
2.  Physical Sets (strength, agilities, quickness & conditioning)
3.  Mental Skills

We all talk about Mental Toughness.  We understand that it comes down to how players handle adversity and anxiety. Anxiety beyond butterflies is what gets a player.

First, we have to look at mental energy.  This is the ability to sustain thought.  To concentrate. Especially in something that they do not like.

Next, it's key to realize that one person's anxiety, may not be another's.

Muscle memory originates in the mind.

Thoughts on Efficiency

All the greats know how to keep it simple. Efficiency is crucial. Below are a few thoughts on efficiency as we prepare for our practices for the rest of the pre-season.


•Review production of each player and the team.
•Keep specific stats of areas emphasized.
•Spend time and energy on things needed to produce.
•It's not about making plays, it's about eliminating poor judgment, carelessness and a casual apporach.
•Chart and track the things that are important to you.
•As a coach, it's not what we Know, it's what they Execute.

Protecting Your Confidence

As coaches, we hear about our player's confidence constantly. We must be aware of their confidence. Bill Parcells said, "Confidence comes from demonstrated ability."

One of the things that we often see with players that are having confidence issues is that their focus is off, not their confidence. They choose not to focus on the areas where they have demonstrated ability.

Their minds are cluttered with things outside their control, or they are pursuing things, skills in which they haven't demonstrated ability.

Here are 4 ways for players to protect their confidence:

1. Focus on the things that are working

2. Maintain a positive focus

3. Have multiple streams to feed your confidence. Look at the different ways in which you are demonstrating ability.

4. Be grateful for what is working (the areas you are demonstrating ability).

Andy Andrews--"The Buck Stops Here"

Andy Andrews shares 7 decision we must choose to make in our pursuit of greatness in his book The Traveler's Gift. The first decsion we must make:

THE BUCK STOPS HERE
1.  Your future is what you decide it will be.
2.  Our thinking creates a pathway to success or failure.
3.  Outside influences are not responsible for where you are mentally, physically, spiritually, emotionally, or financially
4.  Your thinking dictates your decisions. Decisions are choices.
5.  The words, "It's not my fault should never come from our mouths"

3 Thoughts On The Use of the Dribble

3 Thoughts On The Use Of The Dribble

1. Misunderstood

2. Over-used

3. Best decision you can make when you receive the ball is to SAVE the dribble.

The Mirror Principle--Leading Yourself

Learning to lead yourself is one of the most important things you will ever do as a leader.
Leading yourself means that you hold yourself to a higher standard of accountability than others do.

LOOK IN THE MIRROR
The "Mirror Principle"--The first person we must examine ourselves. If we don't look at ourselves realistically, you will never understand where your personal difficulties are coming from.

Most people use two different sets of criteria for judging themselves and judging others. We tend to judge others according to their actions. It's very cut-and-dried. However, we judge ourselves by our intentions. Even if we do the wrong thing, we let ourselves off the hook if we believe our intentions are good. That's part of the reason we allow ourselves to make the same mistakes over and over again before we are willing to make real changes.

KEYS TO LEADING YOURSELF
1. Learn Followership--learn to obey. Only a leader who has followed well knows how to lead others.
2. Develop Self-Discipline--It's said one day, thta Frederick the Great of Prussia was walking on the outskirts of Berlin when he encountered an old man walking down the street in the opposite direction.
"Who are you?" Frederick asked the old man.
"I am a king", replied the old man.
"A king!" laughed Frederick. "Over what kingdom do you reign?"
"Over myself," was the proud man's reply.

Each of us is a monarch over our own lives. We are responsible for ruling out actions and decisions.

3. Practice Patience
Leadership isn't to cross the finish the finish line first; it's to take people across the finish line with you.

TAKE ACTION:
In which of the 3 preceding areas--followership, self-discipline, or patience--do you most need to grow? What new taks or practice could yo take on to develop in that area? Give yourself a conrete goal and a deadline.

4. SEEK ACCOUNTABILITY
Accountability isn't just the willingness to explain your actions to others. It begins ling before we act. It starts with seeking and acccepting advice from others.

A HIGHER STANDARD
Leading yourself means that you hold yourself to a higher standard of accountability than others do.
Leadership is a trust, not a right. For that reason, you must "fix" yourself earlier than others may be required to.

Thomas Watson--"Nothing so conclusively proves a man's ability to lead others as what he does from day to day to lead himself."

What leaders do day-to-day always pays off in the long run. Success or failure isn't an event, but a process.

7 Qualities Elite Performers Share

Listed below from Juan Pablo Favero are seven qualities that elite, mentally tough players share. We are sharing this with our team today. The thoughts in the parentheses are specific thoughts for our players:
1. A strong desire to succeed (must first define success)
2. Positivity in the face of challenges and pressure (what does this look like?)
3. Controlling the "controllables" mentally (what are some examples)
4. A high commitment/ balanced attitude approach (what is your commitment)
5. A high level of belief in self and team (describe this)
6. Process oriented thinking (give an example for practice)
7. Positive communication and body language (give a situation and example)

Rick Majerus--How To Win 20 Games

Majerus teaches getting the following 4 items will lead to 20 Wins and a Conference Championship:

1.  No fast break baskets ever against.  Two people back.  One at basket and one at half-court.

2.  Hand up to contest every shot.

3.  Block out...No second shots.

4.  Talk...You cannot talk enough.  5 players talking.



Characteristics of Being Reactive & Living In Circumstnace

We talk a great deal to our team about being PROACTIVE in their lives--in the classroom, with the trainer, with their skills, nutrition, etc. Too often, we are all guilty of living in circumstance and not in Vision.

Listed below are some actions/ attitudes and thoughts of being Reactive:

• Reactive players/ followers respond after the fact to whatever life throws at you.
• Reactive people live their lives as a function of other people's weaknesses or circumstances that they believe they have little control over.
• Reactive people waste their precious time because they focus on the items they can't control.
• All things are created twice: First in the mind, then physically. Until our thoughts grow, out actions can't grow.