You hear coaches talk about...about "we have really come together." Players speak about it too..."we are on a mission." But if you asked them separately to write down what that mission is, would they all give the same answer?
As a coach, how often do you talk to your team about what you want your program to stand for? We're not talking about wins and losses here -- I would hope. The culture of your program and what it means long term should be more process related.
Stephen Covey talks about this in his book, "First Things First:"
If you want to have an interesting experience sometime, ask people you work with if they know what "true north" is for your organization -- what is its essential purpose for being? Say to the members of your family, "Just tell me in one sentence -- what is the purpose of our family?" Ask your spouse, "What is the purpose of our marriage? What is its essential reason for being?" When you go to work, take out your clipboard and ask the first ten people you meet, "Could you help me? I'm doing a little survey. One question: What is the purpose of this work group?" "What is the purpose of this board of trustees?" "What is the purpose of this executive committee?"
We've done this with the executive cabinets of many companies including some of the Fortune 100 -- big companies, sophisticated organizations. And in many cases, the top executives are absolutely surprised, chagrined, embarrassed. They cannot believe the different descriptions that are being given as to purpose and vision. This event happens sometimes when there's a mission statement hanging on the wall -- a statement that came down through the organization from the executive offices. There's no sense of shared vision. There's no passion, no deep burning "Yes!" in the organization.
From "First Things First" by Stephen Covey, A. Roger Merrill, Rebecca Merrill
