The Team Leadership Report

I’ve seen NBA teams write 40 things up on the board before a game. I’ll write down no more than three because that’s all I think my players can absorb. I might write, Five guys run both ways as fast as you can or Be strong with the ball, nothing casual or The team that wins the battle of the boards wins the game. Once at Kansas, we had beaten Kansas State eight or nine times in a row in their building and I’d seen a lot of stories about them saying that the streak would end that night, so I wrote, watch them leave early. It was the only thing I wrote. It was cocky, but it worked. At the end of the game, one of my players, Ricky Calloway, was on the free-throw line and he yelled over to me on the bench, “Coach, they’re leeeeeeaving!” Another phrase I often write up on the board is Lose yourself in the game. Sometimes kids can choke on a big stage. If you lose yourself in playing the game, you don’t worry about the result. --Adapted from the book Hard Work by Roy Williams

Here is some of what you will find in the February 2017 issue of The Coaching and Leadership Journal: Mr. Sandman—Leonard Hamilton Life lessons from Groundhog Day Decision making 101 Phrases you’ll never hear a great leader say Tom Crean on leadership Leadership profile—Keidane McAlpine, USC Soccer Lessons learned from playing for Dean Smith Five components of leadership from Nick Saban Find your why Great plays and the mediocre player Coaching proverbs What makes a champion? Incoherent thinking And much more!   Learn More

Effective leaders inspire people to work together in the service of something greater than themselves. Effective leaders can find the bright side of any issue. They know that doom and gloom accomplishes nothing, so they remain beacons of positivity in the face of challenges and failures.  Effective leaders are grateful to their team.Nothing drains commitment from a team like feeling their efforts go unnoticed.  Even small gestures of gratitude show people that they matter.  Effective leaders have a clear vision for the future. The greatest leaders of our time could articulate a vision so clear it seemed as though it had already come to pass. Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have A Dream” speech is a perfect example of this.  Effective leaders listen. Hearing is not the same as listening. Inspirational leaders truly listen to what is said to them and respond appropriately, instead of letting it go in one ear and out the other.  Effective leaders communicate impeccably. If what a le

Mark Cuban always seems to come out on top. He sold his first company for $6 million. He did even better with his next company, Broadcast.com, which he sold to Yahoo for almost $6 billion. Almost immediately after, Cuban sold all of his Yahoo stock, netting $2 billion in cash for himself. Weeks later, the market crashed. Since then, Cuban has continued to work and invest. He owns the Dallas Mavericks and a cable channel. Cuban is known for saying what other people only think. Here are some great thoughts from Mark regardless of the organization you are leading. There is no template. Regardless of sport, commitment, focus, effort and luck are just some of the elements that go into a team having success. In every business, the owner has to determine what his or her strengths are and leverage them and find great people to compensate for their weaknesses. Firing someone is always the worst. I hate it. Recognizing and admitting you were wrong can be very tough when you are as compet

Here are a few random thoughts from Doc Rivers  Coaching isn’t about X’s and O’s, it’s about managing diversity and adversity. The better the players are, the more coachable they become. You’re only as good as your best players. Your best player has to be your best listener. He has to lead by listening. Everyone wants to be coached, you just have to find the right way to reach them. You must be honest with your players all the time. You can reach any player if they believe your only intent is winning. If you have a chemistry guy on your team, do not let that guy out of the building. Work on team building and chemistry everyday. Watch the locker room closely. Move seats around and put guys together/keep them apart. If a player has an important event, every player and coach must go. Sometimes you have to force guys to hang out with their teammates. Instant Download &19.99 Print & Download $31.99

We are proud to have Pete Gaudet as a subscriber of our Coaching & Leadership Journal. Coach Gudet started his career in 1968 by teaching high school English and coaching in Westford and Dartmouth, Massachusetts.  He eventually became an assistant coach for the United States Military Academy Men’s Basketball team under Mike Krzyzewski.  When Krzyzewski left for Duke in 1980, Pete became the head coach until 1982.  Pete rejoined Krzyzewski in 1983 as an assistant coach for Duke until 1996.  During that time, the team claimed two national championships and made seven Final Four appearances.  In 1996, Pete started working with Vanderbilt as a men’s assistant coach but became an assistant to the women’s team just a few years later. That experience eventually brought Pete to Ohio State in 2002 where he was a women’s assistant coach, then Video Coordinator, and finally an instructor for the Sport, Fitness, and Health Program. Even after 48 years of teaching, Pete continues to enjoy

Circle your wagons.  Develop thick skin and limit what you allow into your sphere of influence.  Never be held hostage. Don’t play a guy who will not do the things you preach and believe in as a coach. Sit down any player who has his own agenda and does not play with the team. Find an older mentor. , An older, former head coach who knows a lot of the issues and has experience and can prove to be an invaluable resource.  Develop a relationship with your players. Players will play their hardest for a coach who develops the best player-coach relationships. Talk, talk and talk some more with your players one on one. Get to know them better. Ask them about their life and make them feel comfortable. Enjoy the journey. If you can’t go to practice every day and enjoy seeing your team and have fun coaching, then you should not be coaching. Enjoy your players even when you don't like them very much!    Win Forever: Live, Work, and Play Like a Champion

Here is some of what you will find in the January 2017 issue of The Coaching and Leadership Journal: Joe Maddon’s leadership style—weirdness works Learning from bad inaugural addresses Izzoisms--From the mind of Tom Izzo, Head Coach Michigan State Basketball Lessons learned from the best inaugural addresses Ten points of leadership What leaders can learn from the election Are parents shrinking the player pool? Four types of coaches and players Creating culture San Antonio style Lessons from one-liners Brad Stevens’ mannerism And More! Join our list of impressive subscribers that already includes both the NCAA's men's and women's all-time winningest hockey coaches, Illinois all-time winningest high school football coach, the 2014 NCAA champion Florida State women's soccer program, Texas Tech Volleyball Program, the Michigan State women's basketball program and many more! Our subscribers realize that for less than most people’s monthly cable bill