3 THINGS TO LEARN FROM COACH K

I ran across an absolutely great article written by Jesse Burkhart for the Triangle Business Journal.  Burkhart is doing a piece on Coach Mike Krzyzewski and how his philosophy can relate to businesspeople. You can read Burkhart's blog piece here but I am certainly looking for his article that will appear later.  Here are some excerpts from his blog:

Based on the things we discussed in our conversation, here are three things I think businesspeople - and really, everyone - should borrow from Coach K’s playbook:

1. Never stop building trust.
When I asked Coach K to describe his leadership style, he told me that it’s “constantly changing” based on the people he’s leading, but “the basic foundation of it is the development of trust.”

“In other words, you’re always truthful with the people you lead,” he said. “You’re always prepared. I think you should always show courage and have a value-based leadership that can be trusted. If you have trust from the person or the people you’re leading, good things are going to happen.”

2. Understand that your job and your role aren’t the same thing.
Coach K understands that Duke University employs him to coach the basketball team, but that his role at the school and in the community goes well beyond the court.

As an example, Coach K pointed to his role as an executive-in-residence with Duke’s Fuqua School of Business and the part he played in helping build a leadership center there called COLE (Center for Organizational Leadership and Ethics). He also helps raise money for the Duke University Medical Center, and has been enlisted by Dr. Victor Dzau (CEO of the Duke Health System) in the recruiting process of doctors.

“I look at my job as being an ambassador for our university, and hence, our community," he said. "As a result of being seen on TV with your games, the many interviews you do and the shows you’re on, you end up being the most visible person to the public. Not the most important person, by far, but the most visible person. I understand that I’m representing my school and my community when I’m doing those things.”

3. Reinvest your success in the people around you.
Coach K’s humanitarian and civic-service efforts are well-documented, and he clearly has a soft spot for children.

The Emily Krzyzewski Center, the Durham educational nonprofit established in 2006 and named after Coach K’s mother, remains priority No. 1 for both Coach K and his wife, Mickie, whom he credits for organizing his off-the-court obligations. And when I spoke with Dr. Richard Brodhead, president of Duke University, he specifically mentioned Coach K’s continual involvement in the Duke Children’s Hospital.

“I get credit for quite a bit because I’m always out there (in the public eye),” Coach K said. “For (Mickie and I), we’d rather not get any credit at all. If you’re doing something to get recognition for it, you’re not doing it for the right reasons.”

WORKING ON TEAM CHEMISTRY

Each week, as a member of Sue Gunter's staff, we'd start with a Monday morning staff meeting.  We would go over the typical subjects such as calendar items, practice, travel and recruiting.  But Coach Gunter always wanted to talk about chemistry issues.  It was a phase of our program.  She wanted to make sure that we knew it was important and that we considered it in all areas of our program.  Chemistry in terms of players connecting is important.  But that connection is just as important in the timing on the court as it is with the relationships off the court.  Are you talking about and working towards improving your team chemistry?

Here is a great article by Brian Crawford of NBCChicago.com that speaks to the importance of it on the NBA level and how the Bull's Tom Thibodeau is keeping an eye on it:

No matter if a team has been together for years or joining forces for the very first time, chemistry will always need to be developed. That’s Tom Thibodeau’s focus through the first week of training camp as Chicago prepares to take on the Indiana Pacers in their first preseason contest on Saturday night.

With Derrick Rose back, the team needs to once again become acclimated to having him around and he, in turn, must acclimate himself to once again being on the court with his teammates. But Thibs says it’s bigger than the acclimation of D. Rose.

“It’s not just him. That whole unit has to get used to playing together,” Thibodeau told the Chicago Tribune after Sunday’s second full day of practice at the Berto Center. “It’s not only his timing but it’s everybody’s timing and spacing and execution. That’s on both ends."

Rose has said he feels like a basketball player again and even though his injury never kept him away from the team, being around and being “around” are two very different things. His presence on the floor again is an adjustment for everyone, but Thibodeau says the fact the core – including Rose – has been together for a while makes the re-acclimation process a bit smoother.

“He’s been around, and obviously the core of the team has played with him before so that’s to me a big plus. But you have to re-establish your chemistry,” Thibodeau reiterated. “We start from a zero base from last year and build from there, but the fact that these guys have been together for a while has been a plus. It allows you to move along much quicker. Because we’ve been through it, and we’ve added a few things here and there, but the foundation, they have a pretty good feeling of what to expect.”

THE ABCD TRUST MODEL

The following comes from the book "Trust Works" by Ken Blanchard.  It is a passout that we will give to our team next week and talk about the qualities of trust and how it can impact a team.

SABAN ON TRUST AND COMMUNICATION

Here are some great excerpts from an article written by Ken Rogers for the DothanEagle.com.  You can read the entire article here.

Several times already this training camp Alabama coach Nick Saban has talked about the need for trust – coaches trusting players, but, perhaps more important, players trusting each other.

“Something as simple as being on time,” Saban said Tuesday after practice. “Being on time is important because it shows that you care, it shows that it’s important to you. It shows that we can trust in you. It shows that your teammates can trust in you.”

It goes much farther than punctuality, of course.

“It’s important to pay attention to detail,” Saban said. “Know what your role is and be responsible and accountable to do it, because if you can’t prove that every day, how can the other guys in the huddle trust you? They may not say it, but how can they trust you?”

It’s a theme he began when talking with reporters before his appearance at SEC Media Days last month.

“I just think that in this day and age, the players are a little less geared toward communicating,” Saban said in Hoover. “They do a lot of texting, they do a lot of Facebook, they do a lot of social media, but in doing that, they don’t spend as much time communicating with other people. That’s one of the things that we really try to emphasize: that we have good communication.”

The coach talked about a recent leadership seminar players went through.

“The first question that was asked the players was, ‘Do you think it’s important to tell your teammates what you think?’” Saban said. “And 95 percent of the guys said no. That’s for the coach to do, or the strength coach or somebody in a position of authority."

“The next question was, ‘What’s the most important thing to you about your teammates?’ And the unanimous answer was, ‘What they think of me.’ That gives you a little bit of how much of a disconnect there is in the importance of communication.”

Linebacker C.J. Mosley said trust – and communication – is crucial on the field.

“If you’re worried about the other player, you won’t be focused or you might mess up on what you’re doing,” Mosley said. “If you know that that linebacker has your back when you’re spilling the ball on the power, you really don’t have to worry about if he’s going to get the guy.

“You just play ball and play your position. If you know that all 10 men know what they have to do and they’re going 100 percent, it makes your job that much easier.”

Senior offensive guard Anthony Steen was even more succinct about the issue of trust.

Saban said issues of trust, accountability and communication are keys to being great.

“If you’re going to have a great team, you’ve got to have great team chemistry, which comes from that respect and trust that people get from their discipline, accountability and responsibility they have to their role,” the coach said. “They’ve got to be able to focus on that no matter what else is going on around them.

“Which means it’s got to be important enough for them to want to do it and to stay focused on it. And they’ve got to be available mentally, whether in meetings or on the practice field or wherever it is, to take advantage of the repetitions that they get so that they have a chance to do that.

“That’s how you play winning football. That’s a challenge for every team. The devil is always in the details.”

 

TO BUILD TRUST WITH YOUR PLAYER, KEEP PROMISES & MAINTAIN AGGREEMENTS

The most important thing between a coach and a player is trust.  It takes time to build and can be ruined in seconds.  A big factor of developing and maintaining trust is keeping promises you make -- sticking to any agreements.  Here are some great thoughts from Jack Canfield:

“Your life works to the degree you keep your agreements.”

-Werner Erhard

“Never promise more than you can perform.”

-Publilus Syrus

 

More importantly, every agreement you make is ultimately with yourself. Even when you are making an agreement with someone else, your brain hears it and registers it as a commitment.

Some tips on making and keeping agreements

1. Make only agreements that you intend to keep. Take a few seconds before making an agreement to see if it is really what you want to do.

 

2. Write down all the agreements you make. Use a calendar, daily planning book, notebook, or computer to record all of your agreements.

 

3. Communicate any broken agreement at the first appropriate time. As soon as you know you are going to have a broken agreement—your car won’t start, you are caught in traffic, your child is sick, your babysitter can’t make it, your computer crashes—notify the other person as soon as possible, and then renegotiate the agreement. This demonstrates respect for others’ time and their needs. It also gives them time to reschedule, replan, make other arrangements, and limit any potential damage.

 

4. Learn to say no more often. Give yourself time to think it over before making any new agreements. I write the word no in yellow highlighter on all my calendar pages as a way to remind myself to really consider what else I’ll have to give up if I say yes to something new. It makes me pause and think before I add another commitment to my life.

 

From "The Success Principles"

CREDIBILITY, TRUST, COMMUNICATION

Thanks to Coach Kyle Adams of Cheyney University for sharing this:

“I still think the most important aspects of coaching are CREDIBILITY, TRUST, and COMMUNICATION. If you have those things going for you in football, you’ll win. And if you have them going for you as a business executive, you will win, too. They are the fundamental building blocks to success in any field."

-Marty Schottenheimer

STEPHEN COVEY ON "TRUST"

The following comes from the book "The Wisdom and Teachings of Stephen R. Covey" --

"If you want to be trusted, be trustworthy."

"To retain the trust of those who are present, be loyal those who are absent."

"People instinctively trust those whose personality is founded upon correct principles."

"Trust is the highest form of human motivation."

"Trust it the glue of life.  It's the most essential ingredient in effective communication.  It's the foundational principle that holds all relationships together."

The following is one of my favorites from Covey and one that I've share with many players and teams:

"We all know what a financial bank account is.  We make deposits into it and build up reserve from which we can make withdrawals when we need to.  An Emotional Bank Account is a metaphor that describes the amount of trust that's been built up in a relationship.  It's the feeling of safeness you have with another human being.  If I make deposits into an Emotional Bank Account with you through courtesy, kindness, honesty, and keeping my commitments to you, I build up reserve."