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This is a continuation of the Credibility in Coaching post, based on the same lecture and influences.

1. Don’t make stupid mistakes on purpose!
   - If it’s about you and not the team, you are making a giant mistake!
   - Don’t undermine the team’s trust! If you tell the team, “If you work hard, we’ll be out by five,” and the team is still working hard at 5:30, why should they trust you again?
2. Don’t make criticism personal.
   Never say, “Are you an idiot?” Talk about criticism in a positive way, explain that it’s there for the team’s improvement. Make sure your players know you’re trying to help them. At least once a week, remind the team that it’s about the we effort.
3. Avoid sarcasm, belittling, and embarrassment.
   Making fun of players, yelling at players in front of the team, the other team, or spectators is extremely belittling and embarrassing.
4. Don’t use profanity – not even for attention.
5. Evaluate yourself.
   - After every session, practice, or class evaluate how you did. What worked and what didn’t? Did you accomplish your goals?
   - At the end of every week, take time to review the whole week as well. Are you on plan? What have you discovered? What do you need to work on?
   - Ask people you trust. Your other coaches can provide valuable, honest feedback. If you ask your athletes, give them with anonymity (ie. suggestion box, survey). You can’t expect them to criticize you openly when you’re in charge.
6. Focus on the solution.
   How are we going to get there? We all know complainers and we know how we feel about them. Don’t be one! We want to know how to fix the problem. Choose a practical, realistic approach and do it!
7. How effective am I in getting coaches to lead?
   Your effectiveness is your credibility. If you back your team 100% they should back you 100%. If they don’t, you have a problem. If you have a credibility problem, you have a lost team. Don’t put your players in that position.
8. Be a transformer.
   You set the environment. The greatest thing about being a coach is you have the power to shape the lives and characters of your personnel and players.
9. Do you create fear or develop confidence?
   - Have you ever had a coach you feared? Did he do a good job? (Prob. not)
   - Do you inspire loyalty and allegiance or create antagonistic behavior?
   - Never say, “We have to man up.” Only idiots who lose focus say things like this. Be honest, say, “We need to work ___.” Noone on your team “has no heart” and everyone “wants to give their best try.”
10. Credibility
    - Don’t lie. Don’t turn away. Address the issue. You don’t have to seek out a confrontation, but be honest and stand up for what’s right.
    - Stay human. Stay consistent. Understand integrity. People have to believe in you. Back up who you are. If you don’t have integrity, you are not a leader, you are not a coach, and you cannot teach effectively. Sell who you are. Prove what you say. Build trust. Earn trust.
11. Cohesive Leadership
    We may not like our players every day, but we will show our players that we love them every day.
    “Even if I ride a player and she has a tough day, I make sure at the end of the day, she knows that I care about her. Coaching may be a business, but it’s not all business.” You never want a player to think, “He hates me,” or, “I hate him.” If it got to this, there’s been a big mistake and it needs to be fixed. It’s not your team. It’s not my team. It’s our team.

This is based on a lecture from Mike Perez’s Intro to Physical Education class. The material is a combination of Mike’s extensive experience as well as notes from a talk by Dr. Gregory Dell, Professor of Sport Psychology and Sport Ethics at Duke University (excellenceinperformance.com). If you’re in the South Bay Area, I highly recommend taking Mike’s course (PE.30) at West Valley College.

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Credibility in Coaching

1. Coaches need to understand players first as people and second as athletes.
2. Quality of Effort: The process is more important than the product. Aim to develop your players and help them do their best. The focus should be on effort and improvement rather than on the scorecard. Even from the competitive standpoint, building hardworking, self-improving attitudes is the best way to achieve results.
3. Good coaches improve all their players: Make it a we project. A good coach makes the least talented player feel as important as the most. Players who didn’t make the winning shot or didn’t even play in the game still helped the team during practice. That contribution should be recognized, thanked, and appreciated. This way each team members understands his or her responsibility and the entire team develops and grows stronger.
4. Communication: Take the time to be a good listener. Keep reiterating to players, “Let me know if you need to talk. We can sit down and have a word together.”
5. Be a consistent coach: The same rules apply to all people. People are different and have different needs and learning styles, so you can’t treat everyone exactly the same way. But when it comes to goals and punishments, you must be consistent. Ask your team to help you with this: have them hold you accountable and call you out when you aren’t consistent.
6. Be yourself… unless you’re a jerk… If you’re a jerk, change!
7. While 75-80 percent of success is in recruiting, once you get your athletes, don’t let the nuts and bolts make you lose track of the cultural chemistry. A group of top players can lose half their games if the right chemistry isn’t there. “My most talented team stunk: four Draft Picks, four 90+mph pitchers, seven Division 1 Players, and we lost half our games. Too many I’s and not enough we’s. You need the right chemistry.” Make sure each team member understands his or her responsibility and that it’s a team effort.
8. Once (or more) per month, have a topic for motivation: It could be a talk from you, a guest speaker, or fun off the wall activities. A cooler with some treats or a bowling night. (Note to coaches: If you give the talk, keep it under a few minutes, especially after a game! You’ve been there yourself. Don’t torture your athletes.)
9. Demonstrate passion about your job. Show you are committed. Show your enthusiasm. “I have the greatest job in the world. I’ve gotten to put on a uniform for 27 years.”
10. Caring: Talk, be consistent, and praise. Take the time to say “thank you” to individuals and to the team as a whole.
11. Confidence building: Be enthusiastic. Have a sense of humor. Be creative. Be passionate. Try hard to bring a joke. Show that you’re human. Laugh with the team and laugh at yourself. If you’re one of those serious types, make an extra effort here. Players will appreciate it.

This is based on a lecture from Mike Perez’s Intro to Physical Education Class. The material is a combination of Mike’s extensive experience as well as notes from a talk by Dr. Gregory Dell, Professor of Sport Psychology and Sport Ethics at Duke University (excellenceinperformance.com). If you’re in the South Bay Area and are serious about physical education and development, I highly recommend taking Mike’s course (PE.30) at West Valley College.

Also, feel free to subscribe to receive email or feed updates or follow @livetruly on twitter. ]]> http://www.livetruly.com/credibility-in-coaching/feed/ 0