Jon Gordon Elephants, Vampires, and More

Have favorite authors. Some of mine include Michael Lewis, Doris Kearns Goodwin, and Jon Gordon.  

WHAT DO ELEPHANTS AND VAMPIRES HAVE IN COMMON?

What do elephants and vampires have in common?

They will both sabotage your team if you let them.

Elephants in the room are the issues that you have not addressed, and they will stomp on your morale and teamwork if you don’t…

— Jon Gordon (@JonGordon11) April 29, 2024

An elephant in the room is a serious but not fully addressed issue. That could be an unruly student in the classroom or a disruptive player on a team. Strong cultures manage the elephant in the room directly.

Vampires are mythical 'blood-sucking' monsters. Energy vampires metaphorically do the same, holding culture hostage to their needs.

Melrose hasn't had many of either. Miami Heat coach Erik Spoelstra reminds coaches, "there is always a pecking order." Every team has its 'alphas' who drive performance and leadership. 

From Jon Gordon

This reminds us of key points in team sport. 

1) Coaching is about relationships. Brad Stevens says, "coaches get more than we give." The best way to get respect is to give it. When asked about success as an actress, Helen Mirren said, "Always be on time" and "don't be an _______ ."

2. "Ego is the enemy." Live Bill Russell's quote, "my ego demands the success of my team." Russell's teams went 21-0 in elimination games. Some say he doesn't belong on the Mount Rushmore of basketball players. I agree. He belongs on the Mount Olympus of winners, winning 14 championships (2 NCAA, 11 NBA, 1 Olympics) in 15 years. 

3. Be positive. "You cannot have a positive life with a negative attitude." Bring your best to the team every day. The best players are those who make everyone around them better. Samuel L. Jackson says to bring "the best version of yourself" every day. 

Lagniappe. Contact. 

Lagniappe 2. Intentionality and hitting contact. 

Give What the Group Needs

Sport and life reward those who "complete" the needs of the group. Those who understand the needs of the group and deliver them cement their role. While excelling in that role, they earn the chance to expand that role.

The 2012 championship was filled with elite "role players" who made plays time after time. Exceptional teams get key contributions across the roster. 

1. Jen Cain - one of the best all-around players ever at Melrose who had an excellent career at Merrimack. 

2. Rachel Johnson - elite individual and paired blocker (with Kayla Wyland comprised "The Great Wall") who became the 'third hitter' necessary for a deep playoff run. 

3. Amanda Commito - exceptional back row defender and southpaw server who overcame injury to excel. 

In addition to being excellent players, all showed the character, maturity, and humility of superb young women. 

Lagniappe. 

“If you want to achieve anything great as a group, it’s not about giving the piece you want to give, it’s about giving what the group needs. The pathway to great achievement as a group is always giving what the group needs. Saying and doing it are two different things,” Kara… pic.twitter.com/H9t6zxIiog

— The Winning Difference (@thewinningdiff1) April 28, 2024

Basketball: Arrogance of Success

“The arrogance of success is to think what you did yesterday will be good enough for tomorrow.”@TeamCoachBuzz #GetBetter#TodayMatters pic.twitter.com/kYeu6BuTmE

— Bob Starkey (@CoachBobStarkey) April 28, 2024

You can only be as good as your self-belief. Excellent players have "plus" grades in at least two of three elements of skill, athleticism, and physical attributes. 

Work to understand psychology in life and sport. Consider the following: 

• Past behavior is the best predictor of future behavior. Organizations want high character players who work hard, buy in, and lead. 
• Prior performance doesn't 'transfer' to the future seasons. Every season begins at 0-0. 
• "It's always showtime." There is no entitlement. Established players had the qualities that allowed success. Excellent players bring an attitude of proving excellence every day. 

Lagniappe. The priority should be making the best play on the ball. 

"Don't Take Anything Personally"

"Don't take anything personally" is one of The Four Agreements. If someone gives negative feedback, "you're not a good player," that says everything about them and nothing about you. 

First, assess your inputs. Put in the mental preparation and study, the practice, and physical training. Get and give feedback with mentors. 

Next, assess your outputs (progress). The most important of these is impacting winning. Samuel L. Jackson explains that "every role is not for you." That didn't mean that his audition was lacking. When your best isn't good enough, circle back to your inputs. What adjustments are needed?

"Control what you can control" - attitude, choices, effort. Your attitude includes your confidence. Bill Parcells comment, "confidence comes from proven success" implies earning confidence. "Off days" happen, but energy and effort should be consistent. 

When you've done the work and have the receipts, you're entitled to self-belief. 

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Lagniappe. Tips on timing the quick set. 

MVB Graduates Go Places

MVB graduates go places. 

How you do anything reflects how you do everything. Focus, stay fully engaged and be coachable and you'll go places, too.

Lagniappe. Always follow your coaching strategy and alignment.  

"Toughness"

Many MVB players have read Jay Bilas's Toughness as a group. Toughness, both physical and mental, helps players overcome personal and "professional" crises.

Literature and film celebrate toughness crises. Upton Sinclair's The Jungle depicts the struggles of workers focusing on working conditions in slaughterhouses. The Karate Kid shares an East Coast transplant seeking dignity, balance, and success in California. 

You define how toughness applies to your MVB experience.

1. Toughness is a skill. Sports grow skill and will. Just as you improve your skills, you grow your resilience. 

2. Toughness reveals itself in performance in showing up, competing at practice, and bringing energy to yourself and teammates. 

3. MVB players show toughness under adversity when playing from behind and when not at your best. Sadie Jaggers' playoff match against Billerica coming out of a sickbed was a great example of toughness. 

4. Players show physical and mental toughness during jousts and blocks at the net, going to the floor to keep the ball up, and having the courage to hit when the situation arises.    

5. Green Bay Packer coach Vince Lombardi said, "fatigue makes cowards of us all." The will to condition yourself and the discipline to eat and hydrate properly, to get eight hours of sleep, and 'actively recover' show toughness. 

6. Toughness is a habit. The players who engage every day academically and in their extracurricular activities manifest toughness. "How you do anything is how you do everything." 

Part of the MVB experience includes modeling excellence, setting high standards, and "leaving the jersey in a better place." Make toughness your brand. 

Lagniappe. 

Jim Harbaugh said, "Absolutely, you can improve and become better at toughness. It's a talent, but it can be acquired, too. I think of it like building a callus."

Toughness is not a talent, it's a skill.
• It's mental.
• It's physical.

You build toughness through… pic.twitter.com/GJsldVemdn

— Coach AJ 🎯 Mental Fitness (@coachajkings) April 25, 2024

Suggestions for Being a Great Teammate

Tom Izzo said, "Championships and great seasons are won in locker rooms."

Great teams have great teammates.
• They own their roles.
• They care about each other.
• They commit to each other and the team.

A great team isn't made up of individual superstars, it's made up of… pic.twitter.com/DIVqV8eGqB

— Coach AJ 🎯 Mental Fitness (@coachajkings) April 24, 2024

Choose to be a great teammate. Make it a priority. Have joy in preparation, practice, and competition. Celebrate the experience and your teammates.  

Lagniappe. 

Derek Jeter asked Bruce Bochy after a World Series Championship. “How come everybody that comes up here doesn’t talk about themselves? All they care about is the team and all they want is to win for their team? How is that?”

Bochy: that’s how you win.

~ via @CoachJoshLynn

— Coach the Coaches (@WinningCoaches) April 22, 2024

Lagniappe 2. Harsh reality that great players adopt...can you be feminine and the beast. MVB greats navigated that conflict. 

“Everybody wants to be the beast but everybody doesn’t want to do what the beast does,” Nick Saban
🎥 @SupremeLending pic.twitter.com/1TXIK4QfXN

— The Winning Difference (@thewinningdiff1) April 26, 2024

 Lagniappe 3. Don't allow the little things to go unnoticed. 

DEATH BY 1,000 CUTS
KILLS MORE CULTURES
THAN A FATAL BLOW:
🩸 showing up late
🩸 taking plays off
🩸 sloppy practices
🩸 poor execution
🩸 skipping reps
🩸 grumbling about roles/PT
🩸 eye-rolling when coach talks
🩸 not holding people accountable#CutsKill#CultureWins

— Jeff Janssen (@janssenleader) April 22, 2024

Metaphorical Dog Days

Your 'dog days' haven't even arrived. Excellent players aren't made in September through November. Jump ropes and jump boxes, trips to Hartford or Hershey, to the gym and to the weight room are separators. Kettlebells not kettle corn create champions.

How do you stay motivated, focused on the horizon? Easy answers don't exist.

Chart from Simply Psychology 

If our character exists by the time we're six or seven, then 'autocorrect' our mindset. Reject a 'fixed mindset' of 'that's the best I can do' and adopt the growth mindset of "I love challenges, I can be better, I will be better." 

Warriors coach Steve Kerr promotes an organizational philosophy of mindset, mentors, and culture. MVB has a mindset of achievement, a learning culture, and exceptional mentors in Coach Scott Celli and his coaching staff. 

Make the dog days your future halcyon days. 

Lagniappe. Be on top of the ball.

 

 

Hold the Mayo

"Hope springs eternal." Last night the Patriots selected quarterback Drake Maye with their first choice.

Nobody knows how any draft choice will do. Coach Jerod Mayo, discussing the quarterback situation said, "it's about competing and it's about going out there every day striving to get better." 

MVB tryouts start in a little less than four months. How you use that time is your choice.

I wrote this to a former player of mine, "What I think life teaches is that others will value your output. Yet, what is more important for your family, your hopes and dreams, is your input." 

Lagniappe. Recovery into defense is vital to keep balls alive. 

 

Finding Your Way

Coach Dean Smith is a HOF Legend.

He led "The Carolina Way."

Here are some insights from Coach Smith that shed some light on his greatness. pic.twitter.com/zbV9O4k6IW

— Greg Berge (@gb1121) April 25, 2024

Progress by studying teams, players, and coaches. Coach Dean Smith earned a degree in Mathematics from Kansas while playing college basketball for a National Championship team.

He was a pioneer in studying basketball analytics and was best known for coaching Michael Jordan, and for his commitment to social justice, including integrating ACC basketball. 

Study the list about some of Smith's principles. As he would say, "A lion never roars after a kill."  

Themes - Stick to Your Process

This is a huge problem in our world today.

- You cannot skip the process.
- You have to accept the struggle.
- You have to find joy in the journey.

There are no shortcuts. And if you have this mindset and approach to life, you will go far.

No Deposit - No Return! https://t.co/hKQtnXPq7N

— Greg Berge (@gb1121) April 23, 2024

Rick Pitino wrote a book years ago called Success Is a Choice. MVB has enjoyed remarkable success by choosing commitment, consistency, and culture.

Spurs' Coach Gregg Popovich teaches, "pound the rock," meaning you can't skip steps. You have to hit the rock a hundred times until it breaks. 

Geno Auriemma's UCONN women started practice with two laps with nobody cutting a corner. Champions don't cut corners. 

Success in volleyball converges with success at home, school, and work. "The magic is in the work." 

Your predecessors have done this. You can and you will.

Lagniappe.  

Relationships Are Coaches Top Priority

In 1985, the UCONN A.D. told the women's basketball team that he would get them the best woman coach he could find. They asked for the best available coach. 

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Learn to Love This

Thirsty for success? Learn to love this.  

“Find out how to love practice, enjoy it, love it, love the grind…and ask yourself, are we in?or are we out? Every single day,”
Dave Roberts
Master the fundamentals with an enthusiastic spirit.

🎥 @BaseballBros pic.twitter.com/BEQqAiDE5p

— The Winning Difference (@thewinningdiff1) April 24, 2024

Don't think "have to." Think "get to."

Lagniappe. Dumbell only exercises to improve strength and ultimately spike touch.   

 

Elevate Your Communication

All opinions expressed in the blog are solely my own.

Apply knowledge across all domains. Expressing sorrow or apologizing reflects maturity. But sometimes, it lowers us.  

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This thread points out that "thanks" amplifies our voice.

Better to say, "thank you for working hard at practice," than "I'm sorry for making practice so tough."

Tell your parents, "thank you for supporting my extracurricular activities," instead of "I'm sorry for having to drive a couple of hours to a tournament."

You matter. Better communication is consistent with the first of The Four Agreements, "Be impeccable with your word." 

Find ways to grow.

Lagniappe. Write it down. Be thankful. Plan the day. Highlight your days. Improve your plan and plan your improvement. 

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Talk and Touch

ELO (Electric Light Orchestra, Xanadu)

ELO - early, loud, often. Talk matters. The sport differs but the concept does not. Talk adds value. Talk energizes. Talk intimidates.

MVB has the Queen of Talk. She alone is not enough. 

Lagniappe. Communication is a skill.  

WINNING TEAMS TALK AND TOUCH

This is an ELITE LEVEL SKILL!
IF YOU HAVE IT, YOU ARE ON YOUR WAY TO JOY AND WINNING 🏆

Celebrate - Communicate
Direct - Correct

GET A WORD!
YOUR WORDS CREATE YOUR WORLD 🌎

🏀 GET AFTER IT 🏀 pic.twitter.com/1yQ2RY5FoL

— Ganon Baker (@GanonBaker) April 23, 2024

Department of Redundancy Department

Excellence intersects skill, game understanding, physical and mental toughness.

Look at the past three MVB "Triple Crown" winners - Elena Soukos, Gia Vlajkovic, and Sadie Jaggers. All had exceptional athleticism - quickness, vertical jump, strength (attack). Nobody becomes elite as an  'average' athlete. 

Keep training simple:

- Sprint to get faster
- Jump to get powerful
- Lift to get stronger & build resilience
- Condition to repeat outputs over & over
- Play your sport to build task specific skills

You don’t need gimmicky drills.

You need consistent & well planned training.

— Keith Ferrara (@keithjferrara) April 20, 2024

Conditioning requires leaving your comfort zone. You have to go harder for longer with sprints, jumprope, or 'stadiums'. You don't have a cycle ergometer system to measure maximal oxygen consumption (complex measure of fitness). You can do a Cooper 12-minute run test and see how far you run in twelve minutes. You can do this on a track or a treadmill (easier). 

Lagniappe. 

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Lagniappe 2. Repetition is the mother of excellence. 

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Transformative

Coaches have potential to influence players both positively and negatively. Telling a player or team, "I believe in you," can make all the difference.

That doesn't mean that coaches should overhype players. But when we confirm our belief in a player, it can be transformative. Players remember genuine expressions of confidence in their work and progress. 

Coach Scott Celli and his staff practice transformative coaching in a variety of ways including expanding roles in season and moving players up from junior varsity during the season or postseason as appropriate. 

Transformative techniques:

1) "Speaking greatness." "That was great BUT" underperforms "That was great AND..." Kevin Eastman says, "you can't fool kids, dogs, and basketball players." 

2) Video. "Video is the truth machine." Showing players positive video shows proven success. And Bill Parcells says, "confidence comes from proven success."

3) Media recognition. 'Statistical leaders' get regular media attention. Noting players who get less 'ink' supports players who impact winning yet may be less well known. 

Lagniappe. Bill Walsh changed everything for John Lynch. 

Your words and belief in someone matters.
In 1994, John Lynch was a backup safety at Stanford. For 3 years, he'd barely played.

He wanted to quit, but that year, Stanford hired Bill Walsh as its head coach.

One call with Bill changed everything for John.

He called and said, "I… pic.twitter.com/QbZbeLHICw

— Coach AJ 🎯 Mental Fitness (@coachajkings) April 23, 2024

Levels of Accountability

Live three levels of accountability - hold your team accountable, be accountable to your coaches, and stay accountable to self.

Your hard work and communication shows teammates an example. It's not possible or appropriate in high school, but the UNC women's soccer team grades every player every day. If you finish 25th at practice, you cannot possible believe you will see the field on game day. 

Be accountable to coaches. Teaching translates, the attitude and culture translate. If you can't be coachable, understand the defensive rotation and find ways to execute well consistently, how can you play? 

Be accountable to yourself. What is your TODAY plan? What are you doing to grow skill, strategy, physical and mental toughness? Focus is a skill. Hard work is a skill. Resilience is a skill. "Professionalism" is possible for teens. 

Coach Don Meyer preached, "make practice hard so games are easy." 

If you practice accountability to team, to coaching and to yourself, you should fear no one.  

Standards Matter.

Standards are about “how” you do things.

- How you practice
- How you compete
- How you show up

UCONNs standards are why they win.

🎥 Alan Steinpic.twitter.com/QirdC9qEco

— Greg Berge (@gb1121) April 22, 2024

Lagniappe. Study the video of strong players and your own. "Video is the TRUTH MACHINE."  

Muffet Is no Nursery Rhyme

Former Notre Dame women's basketball coach Muffet McGraw is a straight shooter. She hired only women assistants because she said that women deserve the same treatment as men often get. In fact, less than half of NCAA Division 1 head coaches are women. 

Her teams won at the highest levels, including the NCAA championship. Hear her brief commentary.  

"I think the important thing that sports teaches is so many life skills.

You learn - how to handle adversity, how to sacrifice, you learn discipline...and a lot of commitment.

If you want to really be good, you have to be willing to make the sacrifice."@MuffetMcGraw pic.twitter.com/LcIpqulpMy

— The Winning Difference (@thewinningdiff1) April 20, 2024

Coachspeak repeats themes worth embracing. Commitment, sacrifice, work, sense of urgency are the stuff of winners.

Lagniappe. Diving.   

Find Inspiration, Try These Check-ins

Inspiration drives us, motivating actions that pay dividends. Seek ways to figure it out. 

I suggested two books to a patient, The Positive Dog and The Compound Effect. She said, "PD was garbage. Compound Effect was life-changing." That's why they sell vanilla and chocolate. 

"The grind" isn't for everyone, whether you believe in the controversial "10,000 Hours" or not. Public school, 180 days a year, 5 hours of real work a day, 900 hours a year. 12 years equals 10,800 hours. 

Suggestions for check ins: 

@JonGordon11

pic.twitter.com/babZJ9mWyz

— Jon Gordon (@JonGordon11) April 21, 2024

The Athletic Transformation Coach 

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@thewinningdiff1

“It’s exciting when you win and it’s exciting when you lose because the process should be exactly the same whether you win or lose. You go back and find things that you could have done better. The hardest thing is to face that stuff. It’s a really tough challenge,” Kobe Bryant… pic.twitter.com/XvEKjtipRN

— The Winning Difference (@thewinningdiff1) April 21, 2024

@WinningCoaches

“It’s about relationships, it’s not about championships!” -- Pat Summitt

— Coach the Coaches (@WinningCoaches) April 21, 2024

@gb1121 

5 simple ways to help your team WIN.

1. Stay mentally prepared
2. Be your best at practice
3. Cheer for others success
4. Maintain your composure
5. Lead your team in high fives

Control the Controllable.

— Greg Berge (@gb1121) April 20, 2024

Inspiration plus perspiration yields a shot at success. 

 

Mimic the Farmer

History provides many coaching analogies. Coaches are teachers, healers, orators, psychologists, disciplinarians. Find themes that resonate.

Conductor. The conductor directs the orchestra.

Chef. The chef nurtures people. - Thomas Keller, Michelin 3-star chef

Director. "The director is the keeper of the story." - Ron Howard

Coaches help teams stay focused. 

Foreman. A foreman supervises factory production. 

General. A general leads an army. "Every battle is won before it is fought."

Painter. The artist crafts a masterpiece. 

Sculptor. Pygmalion animated his statue to life. 

Theatrically, Henry Higgins refines Eliza Doolittle's English. 

Lagniappe. 

Best coaching advice… pic.twitter.com/ypP3OPJ8ud

— Barry Rose (@BRose2344) April 20, 2024

Difference Makers

Some get hung up on titles. Others focus on the product not titles.  

Winning Coaches and Impactful Elite Trainers have a BLUE PRINT, A GAME LIKE PLAN, A FOUNDATION TO THEIR COACHING

For Me it’s knowing all the steps Solutions and Strategies to be able to Teach Offense Defense and Winning Culture !

Get a Real Applicable Philosophy! pic.twitter.com/653NiNW33S

— Ganon Baker (@GanonBaker) March 5, 2024

Cliches and platitudes don't make winners. Inspirational quotes don't make winners. Titles don't make winners. 

Organization, teaching, buy-in, and value for players and team creates 'sustainable competitive advantage'.

For player growth, they need the same blueprint, commitment, and follow-up. Stick with your program. 

A lot changed over three decades:

• A winning tradition emerged. 
• High expectations became the norm. 
• A high volume of players play off-season, high level volleyball. 

Nothing works unless you do. 

Lagniappe. VDE - vision, decision, execution. If you can't see the hitter, how can you defend her? 

Adopt This Word

Think of a word that Coach Dags describes.  

✅ Focused
✅ Engaged
✅ Good Energy

Those qualities make it easy to coach a player. A lot of players don’t realize that if they just locked in on those every day, it would become almost impossible not to improve or impact their team. pic.twitter.com/kVQariNAeB

— Steve Dagostino (@DagsBasketball) April 19, 2024

"Professionalism." As a young player, you ask, "how can I learn the ropes?" 

1) Always be on time. 

2) Listen. Be a sponge. Be coachable. 

3) Hunger for improvement. Ask 'how can I do this better?'

4) Attach yourself at the hip to an experienced player. That's the Mr. Rogers, "look for the helpers."

5) As a leader, embrace mentoring young players. "Mentoring is the only shortcut to excellence." Have ambition to achieve big things. Just as the young player needs you, you will find you need them to compete in practice and sometimes make plays, especially later in the season. 

Lagniappe. Defenders are light on their feet.    

Your Commitment to Improve

3 Things that will help players separate from the pack..

1. Quality of Coaching - The better coaching you get from HS/AAU/Training the better chance you’ll have to succeed at the next level. Appreciate the coaches that invest in you and hold you accountable.

2. Work on Your Own… pic.twitter.com/qQhIRPlDcZ

— Steve Dagostino (@DagsBasketball) February 28, 2024

Talk is cheap. Action defines you. 

Wake and say, "execute my TODAY improvement plan." 

As you do it, ask "how can I do this better?"

Before you sleep, "I improved today and I'm committed to improve tomorrow." 

Have a plan. Work the plan. Revise as needed.  

Lagniappe. Make better contact. 

Get Past Hard

MVB Post #3500

"Get past hard." Get past mad. Get past sad. Don't spend energy and emotion on counter-productive thoughts.

Invest your energy and time on skill, strategy, physicality, resilience.

What do you 'take away' and what do you give? 

• "The magic is in the work."
• "The game honors toughness." - Brad Stevens
• Be an ambitious giver.
• "Do five more." - Dan Pink
• "Obsess the product." - Sara Blakely (Spanx CEO and founder)
• "Nothing works until you do."
• Bring energy to practice and energize teammates daily.
• Be on "Dean Smith Time." On time is late.
• Outwork the competition. "Repetitions make reputations." 
• What is your MVB skill? "Play so hard your coach has to take you out. - from Jay Bilas' Toughness
• "Sport doesn't build character it reveals it." 

"The battle isn't always to the strongest or the race to the swiftest, but it pays to bet that way." - Damon Runyan

Life throws you challenges. Face them with your best effort.

"Worst Practices"

People want to talk about best practices. Care about worst practices, too.  

Things players hate about practice:

Punishment used as a teaching tool
Micromanaging
Listening to you over-talk
Explaining complicated drills
Nitpicking every move they make
Standing in line
Being screamed/yelled at
Boring monotonous drills
Favoritism
Apathy
Belittling
Comparing

— Jon Beck (@CoachJonBeck) April 15, 2024

Coaches want practice to engage, add value, and foster growth. As a player, use practice daily to help raise your game individually and as a team. 

Performance expert Dr. Fergus Connolly says that every aspect of ideal practice impacts winning. If not, eliminate it. 

Brad Stevens says, "be demanding not demeaning." 

UNC Women's Soccer coach Anson Dorrance believes in only showing positive video in the 'competitive cauldron'. 

Coaches have concerns, too. 

• Low attention by players or distraction by other gym activities
• Low energy
• Poor communication
• Lack of full effort
• Sloppiness of execution (you play how you practice)

How can the collaboration between coaches and player get the most from practice? 

Captains energize the team. Coaches maintain efficiency and tempo. 

All 'correction' applies to everyone. Coach Sonny Lane used to say, "if I'm not yelling at you, it's because I've given up on you." Coaches don't have to yell but players need to focus to improve. 

Keep eyes on the prize. MVB plays for Big Picture Success.

Lagniappe. Learn options. Follow your coaches' counsel. 

Lagniappe 2. Tip. Entrepreneur Sara Blakely learned from Saturday dinners. Her father asked the children, "what have you failed at this week?" Failure is part of the journey. "Surround yourself with good people." 

Recurrent Themes

If you wanna win, you don’t focus on winning. You focus on the culture, people and processes that produce wins.

— Jon Gordon (@JonGordon11) April 15, 2024

Themes repeat in life. Capitalize on them. 

• Culture wins. 
• People come first.  
• Process comes before results.  

Embrace your culture of teamwork, hard work, and learning. Excel in your role while working to expand it. 

You cannot separate sport and relationships. 

“You know the relationships that you build in this job are really special because you go through so many highs and lows together. You form these powerful bonds that last a lifetime, that’s what I love about team sports,” Steve Kerr

It’s together that’s unbreakable. pic.twitter.com/Th9pec3Afr

— The Winning Difference (@thewinningdiff1) April 17, 2024

You will maintain friendships with teammates and coaches throughout your lives. Some may become trusted advisors.

Develop consistent routines and habits. Skills evolve from your habits, not only physical skills. Hard work is a skill. Toughness is a skill. Accountability is a skill.

Lagniappe. "Get yourself in the best position to make a play." 

Character Is Job One

“Every second that these kids are on campus I’m going to push them to be the best. The best young man they can be, the best student they can be. I’m going to teach them how to win and succeed. These are things they can take with them in life,” Dan Hurley
Be the best person you… pic.twitter.com/frecWbMeDx

— The Winning Difference (@thewinningdiff1) April 8, 2024

Excellent coaches teach more than skill, strategy, or athleticism.

Everyone benefits from having a coach. Atul Gawande wrote about having a coach in the operating room. Rafael Nadal has a coach, as does Serena Williams.

Commentator Heywood Hale Broun said, "Anybody who teaches a skill, which coaches do, is admirable. But sport doesn’t build character. Character is built pretty much by the time you’re six or seven. Sports reveals character. Sports heightens your perceptions. Let that be enough."

Coaches teach teamwork, leadership, accountability, sportsmanship, resilience and more. Coaches help players via networking. 

Become your own coach. Assess and reinforce strengths and overcome weaknesses. Character shines through to your play. You cannot separate who you are on the court from whom you are off it.

Lagniappe. Playing Setter 1. 

Work on Your Jump in Five Minutes

Worth a try.  

Even Stevens

Certain realities exist in sports from youth sports to professional sports. Players get a lot of inputs - coaching, family, friends, and media.

Brad Stevens did a press conference after the season and was asked about Jrue Holiday and his contract extension.

"All that came into play was, what kind of teammate am I being and can I help us win?"

1) What kind of teammate am I being?

2) Can I help us win?

The best players at every level make everyone around them better. They make starters, reserves, and the coaches better. Alan Williams wrote a book Teammates Matter about his experience as a walk-on (non-recruited player) at Wake Forest. He made the team and the equipment manager didn't issue him a black and gold travel bag with his number on it.

Later, he found a WF bag in his locker with the number of the star player on it. The star gave up his bag as an act of TEAM. Commit to being on a team. Commit to sacrifice. Be like Tim Duncan. 

Impact winning. Everything at practice should impact winning. There are no 'busy work' drills, no 'routine for routine's sake'. The twelfth player on the team makes everyone better by being on time, communicating, practicing hard, scrimmaging hard. 

Roy Williams, former Carolina basketball coach, talked about recruiting a guy at a tournament. The player fouled out and immediately ran to the water station to get water for the guys still in the game. He didn't sulk, he didn't whine at the officials, he kept helping. He chose the recruit for  Carolina. 

Everyone can't be a great player. Choose to be a great teammate. 

Lagniappe. Coach Donnie discusses being a great teammate. 

Branded

Everything you do sends a message to others about who you are. If you want to add value, then do every job, big or small, to the best of your ability. Don’t give half an effort. Let others know that you can be counted on. Actions speak loudly. What are yours screaming about you?

— Jon Beck (@CoachJonBeck) April 15, 2024

What's your individual brand? When people hear your name, what's their first impression? Or whom do we associate with a given brand?

"The Voice" - Legendary sci-fi author Frank Herbert (Dune series) recognized the power of voice. Learn to use "The Voice." 

"The Quarterback" - in basketball, the point guard is the quarterback. In volleyball, it's your setter. Setters rely on skill and athleticism and elite decision-making. Decisions and accuracy are keys.

"The Alpha" - MVB thrives with talent. The past three seasons the Alphas were Elena Soukos, Gia Vlajkovic, and Sadie Jaggers, earning All-State and All-Scholastic honors. Nobody can honor themselves with that title; a dominant player must emerge. The Alpha gives a team what is needed when it has to be. 

"The Kid" - MVB blends experience and youth. The continual ascension of young players allows sustainable competitive advantage. The Kid can arrive at any position and impacts winning. Last year Sabine Wenzel was The Kid. Who will it be in '24? 

Lagniappe. "Get there."