John Maxwell has written several outstanding books. Some of them deal with leadership at its highest point (head coach)...some deal with teamwork and following (players)...one of my favorite books is 360 Degree Leadership in which he deals with everyone's ability to lead (assistant coaches included). It brings to mind another Meyerism: "You may not be THE leader but you A leader."Here are some keys from that book that will serve as assistant coach well titled:
Lead Yourself Exceptionally Well
1. Lead yourself. That’s where it all starts.
2. Successful people make right decisions early and manage those decisions daily.
3. The key to leading yourself well is to learn self-management.
4. Nothing will make a better impression on your leader than your ability to manage yourself. If your leader must continually expend energy managing you, then you will be perceived as someone who drains time and energy. If you manage yourself well, however, your boss will see you as someone who maximizes opportunities and leverages personal strengths. That will make you someone your leader turns to when the heat is on.
5. Manage your emotions. Good leaders know when to display emotions and when to delay them.
In war, it is necessary that commanders be able to delay their emotions until they can afford them.
6. Manage your time. Time management issues are especially tough for people in the middle. Leader at the top can delegate.
“Until you value yourself, you won’t value your time.” -M. Scott Peck
7. Manage your priorities. You must be ruthless in your judgment of what you should not do.
8. Manage your energy. What is the main event? The greatest enemy of good thinking is busyness.
The "ABCs energy-drain”
a) Activity without direction
b) Burden without action
c) Conflict without resolution
9. Manage your thinking. Poet and novelist James Joyce said, “Your mind will give back to you exactly what you put into it.” A minute of thinking is often more valuable than an hour of talk or unplanned work.
10. Manage your words. “Show me what you can do; don’t just tell me what you can do.”
“The power of words is immense. A well-chosen word has often sufficed to stop a flying army, to change defeat into victory, and to save an empire.” If you wish to make sure that your words carry weight, then weigh them well.
11. Manage your personal life.
If I can’t lead myself, others won’t follow me.
If I can’t lead myself, others won’t respect me.
If I can’t lead myself, others won’t partner with me.
