I recently thought about the number of years I have had the pleasure of coaching sport – almost all as a volunteer…my first gig was as a goaltending coach with a high school hockey team in Sudbury, Ontario in 1996.
Do the math…over that time I have taken numerous courses sport specific (soccer, hockey, baseball) and many more about the theory/art/new philosophies around coaching. As many coaches do I also read materials from coaching legends like John Wooden or the new generation of leaders like John O’Sullivan.
However, youth and kids never cease to make me laugh or surprise me. In soccer I had one girl share with our coaches she could only use her left foot in an emergency!! Huh? What???
Recently, due to covid we can only allow players in our soccer dome. Parents tend to think that their child will be uneasy without them watching…first night we get in, I have 9 energetic U9 boys…first words out of one of the most boisterous players “THIS IS AWESOME!!! NO PARENTS!!!”
Most importantly, as young players succeed the way in which their body/mental language changes can be inspiring. As a coach, I try to facilitate success, positive self reflection and put them in situations to learn and succeed. No matter what situations are thrown at me, I always want to learn from those experiences. I also want to look at what could be translated into my paid profession.
I think people will continually surprise you – in good and bad ways. Here are a few things that translate anywhere, that I have learned and tried to translate into the workplace…ps – this is not rocket science (because I am not a rocket scientist!):
- I think that the human spirit to succeed will drive people through any challenge – whether it is learning a new soccer move or learning a new job. When someone is dialed in you know it, so water, feed and provide sunshine to let them flourish!
- You may have heard this before, “boys must perform well to be accepted, girls must be accepted to perform well”. I am no researcher, but on the surface this is has been my experience, but it can also be true in the work environment. This only accentuates the need to have a player/person first attitude. Watch and learn how your team is fitting together, integrating and gelling. It is about them, not you.
- There is no better feeling than succeeding at a task or new skill. I am sure you have done it before, you mastered those Excel functions or a new piece of software…that feels great some days, it can be the pick me up to the next even more difficult task. This is no different for young players, they get that toe drag and beat a player, or pull a Maradona into open space…if you look you can see the player smile.
- Players will make mistakes, so will colleagues. When it happens how you as the coach addresses the mistake will go very far in how they perform on the next project task or free kick. Keeping their dignity intact and supporting them to succeed will only improve their performance. Tear them down, they will slowly seethe and pull away.
- Finally, as a coach you need a belief model, values and a philosophy you live and model. For me, I believe in making things fun, work/and training can be hard, but we can also laugh and enjoy each others quirks, ideas and individuality. I also believe in hard work. One of my favourite quotes is “hard work beats talent when talent doesn’t work hard”. One last one, I also consider fairness across the team – are we asking too much of people, would I do what is being asked, are they being treated equaling compared to others?
There are probably many more things that I have learned and could share, but this is my first blog and as my daughter says, I talk too much. I hope you enjoyed these thoughts, they are just mine and I felt it was time to start sharing some of them.
Do you coach? What have you learned that others could benefit from in the workplace and on the field! Love to hear from you and your experiences in and out of the workplace.