DOING A BETTER TO-DO-LIST

Big thanks for Lipscomb Coach Greg Brown for passing this article on to us from LearnVest.com written by Christine Ryan Jyoti.  You can read the entire article here.

1. Maintain One Master List

Ken Zeigler, a productivity and time management expert who has conducted over 16 years of research in the field, suggests a "Master List": a portable pad of paper (he finds the old-school medium most effective for retention) where you keep all to-do items (whether financial, personal or professional) for an entire week. When you have a thought, write it down immediately, then delete it from your mind. “Allow your mind to be a strategic thinker," he says, "not a memory chip.”

2. Batch Your Tasks

The next step in Zeigler's process is to review your Master List daily and transfer action items onto a Daily List, which should be in electronic form to make it easily portable and accessible from multiple devices. This list should be "batched," or separated into groups of similar tasks (like the three separate emails you must answer in the next hour or the five errands you need to run in town). Zeigler explains that batching tasks improves productivity. “By working on all of the similar tasks, it will prevent your jumping from task to task and help you focus on one type at a time,” he says.

RELATED: Does Work-Life Balance Actually Exist?

3. Work Toward Larger Goals

Peter Bregman, author of "18 Minutes: Find Your Focus, Master Distraction and Get The Right Things Done," has created his own method for a list that tackles not just the minutiae of daily life but your larger goals. It's called the "18 Minutes To-Do List." To get started, you identify no more than five goals for the year—both personal and professional—and generate your daily to-dos keeping those annual goals in mind. Of course, there is space for the unavoidable minutiae, which is called “the other 5%,” because according to Bregman, you shouldn't be spending more than 5% of your time on these tasks.

4. Set an Expiration Date for Each To-Do

When setting yourself up for success, "next week" isn't an effective time limit. “There's a tremendous amount of research that points to the fact that if you decide when and where you're going to do something, you'll do it,” says Bregman. If items stay on your list for more than three days, Bregman gives you three options: Do it right away, put it on your calendar for a specific time in the future (place the hardest and most important items at the beginning of the day), or delete it.

 

 

 

 

 

CAREER STARTER BOOKS: HONORABLE MENTION

A few weeks ago, I had a post about a book and made reference to the fact that I would have loved to have read it when I first started coaching.  In fact, it would be in my Top 10 books that I think could've impacted me greatly as a young coach just starting out.  I have since received a great number of requests asking for the complete list and so each day, over the next few weeks, I will list a book that I think young coaches would benefit from reading as they start their coaching journey.  I would imagine that many will be looking for X&O books -- just as I did when I first started coaching -- but instead you will find a list of books that will not only make you a better coach, but a better person. Books that concentrate on teaching, goal setting, communication and leadership.

I did not arrive at those 10 books easily.  There are certainly several more that could make a big difference to a young coach just getting started.  Here is my partial list of honorable mentions:

Getting Things Done
David Allen
This is a book about management -- of your office, your files and your time.  I've yet to meet a young coach that didn't need help in this area.  The introductory paragraph reads: Welcome to a gold mine of insights into strategies for how to have more energy, be more relaxed, and get a lot more accomplished with much less effort...It is possible to be effectively doing while you are delightfully being, in your ordinary workaday world.

HOOPTHOUGHTS EXTRA: Getting Your Office Organized

Make The Big Time Where You Are
Frosty Westerling
As Coach Westerling teaches us that the "big time" is a state-of-mind: "It is not a place, but a state of your heart.  It's not something you get, it's something you become.  It's a lifestyle. Success is not at the end of the road; it is the road."

This is a great book for all those young coaches who think they have to be at a BCS school or a large high school to be significant.  It's also a great read for players with the lessons taught by Coach Westerling who passed away this past year.

Leading With The Heart
Mike Krzyzewski, Donald T. Phillips, Grant Hill
This is a book that speaks to both leadership as well as how you communicate with those you work with and those you teach.  A couple of quick lessons from this book include:

1.When you get better, we all get better.
2.You hear, you forget. You see, you remember. You do, you understand.
3. It’s not what I know, it’s what you do that matters most.

HOOPTHOUGHTS EXTRA: What Coach K wants from his players

The Smart Take From The Strong
Pete Carril
A wonderful book by an outstanding coach.  The book is written in very short passages on just about every toping involving coaching, teaching, recruiting, discipline and leadership. It is well organized and gives some incredible wisdom from one of our game's best teachers.

A quick thought from Coach Carril: “When you teach basketball, it has its technical parts and its life parts. It has to be that way because it’s played by humans.”

HOOPTHOUGHTS EXTRA: Thoughts from Pete Carril

The Energy Bus

Jon Gordon
This is a book to help a young coach with having the proper vision and attitude.  Sometimes young coaches don't realize that while they may not be the boss, the primary decision maker, they are still responsible and in control of their own attitude.

A quick nugget from the book: "Real motivation is driven by purpose and a desire to make a difference. When people feel as though the work they do is playing an integral role in the overall success of the organization and the world, they are motivated to work harder."

HOOPTHOUGHTS EXTRA: 5 ways to love your passengers

Time Power
Brian Tracy
By far, the best book I've read to date on time management.  As I mentioned in an earlier review, time management is one of those areas that will engulf a new coach as they become swamp with responsibility.  This book gives simplistic guidelines to help you organize your day, your week, your year -- your life.

From Tracy: "To succeed...you need the self-discipline to be proactive rather than reactive. You need to focus on solutions rather than problems. You need to concentrate on the most important thing you could possibly be doing every hour of every day rather than getting sidetracked by low-value or no-value tasks and activities."

HOOPTHOUGHTS EXTRA: The 7 Practices of Time Power

 

How Successful People Think
John Maxwell
Another one from Maxwell -- I should post all of my favorite Maxwell books!  Maxwell tackles the goal of improving your thinking -- and yes, you can!

Just a few thoughts:
Stop focusing on the impossibilities
Stay away from the “experts”
Look for possibilities in every situation
Dream one size bigger

HOOPTHOUGHTS EXTRA: How you can stay focused

Why We Win
Billy Packer with Roland Lazenby
"Why We Win" is a fascinating book. The preface of the book for Packer is to ask the same variety of questions to a series of outstanding coaches. The list of coaches include Red Auerback, Ara Parseghian, Bob Knight, Joe Gibbs, Pat Summitt, Dean Smith, Bill Walsh, Chuck Noll, Tommy Lasorda and Mike Krzyzewski, just to name a few.

Packer comes up with a series of questions to pose to the games great coaches.  Their responses are outstanding.

HOOPTHOUGHTS EXTRA: Why We Win Collection

The Ultimate Coaches' Clinic
Pat Williams
There are over 5,000 insights in this book from over 1,000 coaches from every sport imaginable.  It is one of my favorites because you are getting expert advice from some of the best that have ever coached on a variety of subjects from coaching, teaching, discipline, leadership, team building, conditioning, preparation etc.

HOOPTHOUGHTS EXTRA: The Ultimate Coaches' Collection


Next month we will feature recommended books for head coaches.

 

CAREER STARTER BOOK #10: THE ART OF WAR

A few weeks ago, I had a post about a book and made reference to the fact that I would have loved to have read it when I first started coaching.  In fact, it would be in my Top 10 books that I think could've impacted me greatly as a young coach just starting out.  I have since received a great number of requests asking for the complete list and so each day, over the next few weeks, I will list a book that I think young coaches would benefit from reading as they start their coaching journey.  I would imagine that many will be looking for X&O books -- just as I did when I first started coaching -- but instead you will find a list of books that will not only make you a better coach, but a better person. Books that concentrate on teaching, goal setting, communication and leadership.

Book #10

The Art of War
Sun Tzu

An absolute classic!  Bob Knight once called it his most valuable coaching book.  Of course there are many versions (I have 8 different ones) but my favorite is the one edited by James Clavell.  I love his simplistic interpretation.  I admit that there will be some young coaches who may struggle with some of the theories of Sun Tzu and how they may translate to coaching but with time, the teachings will become apparent.

I'll start with my favorite passage from the book:

“If you know the enemy and know yourself,

you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. 

If you know yourself but not the enemy,

for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. 

If you know neither the enemy nor yourself,

you will succumb in every battle."

 
In fact, Sun Tzu was incredible big on preparation:

"The general who wins a battle makes many calculations in his temple before the battle is fought."

"The art of war teaches us to rely not on the likelihood of the enemy's not coming, but on our own readiness to receive him; not on the chance of his not attacking, but rather on the fact that we have made our position unassailable."

How about Sun Tzu’s thoughts on transition defense:

"Whoever is first in the field and awaits the coming of the enemy will be fresh; whoever is second in the field and has to hasten to battle will arrive exhausted."

Some more profound thoughts from Sun Tzu:

“The value of time — that is, being a little ahead of your opponent — has counted for more than either numerical superiority or the nicest calculations with regard to commissariat.”

“He will win who knows when to fight and when not to fight.

He will win who knows how to handle both superior and inferior forces.

He will win whose army is animated by the same spirit throughout all its ranks.

He will win who, prepared himself, waits to take the enemy unprepared.”

“Security against defeat implied defensive tactics; ability to defeat the enemy means take the offensive.”

“He who can modify his tactics in relation to his opponent, and thereby succeed in winning, may be called a heaven-born captain.”

“The art of war teaches us to rely not on the likelihood of the enemy’s not coming, but on our own readiness to receive him.”

“Rapidity is the essence of war.  Take advantage of the enemy’s unreadiness, make your way by unexpected routes, and attack unguarded spots.

 

Bonus blog post from The Art of War by Sun Tzu on The Five Besetting Sins of a General

 

JOHN MAXWELL ON HOW TO FIND MENTORS

CAREER STARTER BOOK #9: THE 360 DEGREE LEADER

A few weeks ago, I had a post about a book and made reference to the fact that I would have loved to have read it when I first started coaching.  In fact, it would be in my Top 10 books that I think could've impacted me greatly as a young coach just starting out.  I have since received a great number of requests asking for the complete list and so each day, over the next few weeks, I will list a book that I think young coaches would benefit from reading as they start their coaching journey.  I would imagine that many will be looking for X&O books -- just as I did when I first started coaching -- but instead you will find a list of books that will not only make you a better coach, but a better person. Books that concentrate on teaching, goal setting, communication and leadership.

Book #9

The 360 Degree Leader

John Maxwell

 
I have yet to find a book by John Maxwell that didn’t improve me professionally and personally.  This particular book hits home because I think it can directly improve the vision of an assistant coach.  And since we are talking about career starting books — most of us start our careers as assistant coaches.  It talks about our ability to lead others no matter where we are in the organizational chain.  As Don Meyer would say, "You may not be the leader but you can be a leader."  Here is a list from Maxwell on things we can do to lighten the load on the primary leader.

1. The one thing that the top leader can never let go of is final responsibility.

2. As an employee, you can do one of two things for your leader. You can make the load lighter, or you can make it heavier.

3. I should mention that motives do matter when it comes to lifting your leader’s load. I’m recommending that you lift up, not suck up.

4. “Those who drink the water must remember those who dug the well.”

5. When you help someone bigger then you, it makes you part of something bigger.

6. Lifting others isn’t meant to be a one-time occurrence. You can’t add value to people by helping them once.

7. It’s not how heavy the load is. It’s how you carry it.

8. From the perspective of the top leader, the question that must be asked is, “Am I better off with them on the team?”

9. The lift you give for the leader often leads to the leader lifting you.

10. Do Your Own Job Well First
“It isn’t hard to be good from time to time in sports. What’s tough is being good every day.”

11. When You Find A Problem, Provide A Solution
“Don’t find a fault; find a remedy.”

12. Tell Leaders What They Need To Hear, Not What They Want To Hear
“Very few big executive want to be surrounded by ‘yes’ men.” -Burton Bigelow

13. Go The Second Mile
“There are no traffic jams on the extra mile.”

14. Stand Up For Your Leader Whenever You Can
“When we are debating an issue, loyalty means giving me your honest opinion, whether you think I’ll like it or not. Disagreement, at this stage, stimulates me. But once a decision has been made, the debate ends. From that point on, loyalty means executing the decision as if it were your own.”

15. Stand In For Your Leader Whenever You Can

16. Ask Your Leader How You Can Lift The Load

 

LEADERSHIP MYTHS
1. Ninety-nine percent of all leadership occurs not from the top but from the middle of an organization.

 2. You don’t have to be held hostage to your circumstances or position. You do not have to be the CEO to lead effectively. And you can learn to make an impact through your leadership even if you report to someone who is not a good leader. You learn to develop your influence from wherever you are in the organization by becoming a 360- Degree Leader. You learn to lead up, lead across, and lead down.

3. Leadership is a choice you make, not a place you sit.

4. You can lead others from anywhere in an organization. And when you do, you make the organization better.

5. “To do nothing in the middle is to create more weight for the top leader to move. For some leaders- it might even feel like dead weight. Leaders in the middle can have a profound effect on an organization.”

6. Every level of an organization depends on leadership from someone.

7. Anyone can choose to become a leader wherever he is. You can make a difference no matter where you are.

Here’s a bonus blog post from The 360° Leader by John Maxwell on leading yourself

 

CAREER STARTER BOOK #8: THE CAROLINA WAY

A few weeks ago, I had a post about a book and made reference to the fact that I would have loved to have read it when I first started coaching.  In fact, it would be in my Top 10 books that I think could've impacted me greatly as a young coach just starting out.  I have since received a great number of requests asking for the complete list and so each day, over the next few weeks, I will list a book that I think young coaches would benefit from reading as they start their coaching journey.  I would imagine that many will be looking for X&O books -- just as I did when I first started coaching -- but instead you will find a list of books that will not only make you a better coach, but a better person. Books that concentrate on teaching, goal setting, communication and leadership.

Book #8

The Carolina Way: Leadership Lessons From A Life In Coaching

Dean Smith and Gerald D. Bell with John Kilgo

This is an outstanding look into the culture developed by Coach Smith and his team that created one of basketball's great programs.  One of the unique things about this book is the many passages written by his former players and how they interpreted the lessons given to them during their Tar Heel career.

In the early parts of his introduction, Coach Smith wrote the following: "We believed in following a process instead of dwelling on winning or worrying about consequences.  We asked our players to concern themselves only with things within their control, so our mission state was: Play hard; play smart; play together."

This book is then divided into the following chapters:

1. The Foundation

2. Playing Hard

3. Playing Together

4. Playing Smart

5. Lessons Learned

This passage was written by former Carolina great Pete Chilcutt:

My Carolina basketball career was one of continuous learning, lasting throughout my five years there.  My learning curve certainly was a little steeper in my first year in the program, but the process never stopped.  From the day I arrived on campus from my Alabama home, I learned the qualities and fundamentals it takes to succeed in basketball.  As I look back on my UNC career, I realized that I grew up while in the program and learned any things that are helping me get through life without basketball.

While we did watch tapes of our games and practices at Carolina, I think we spend must less time on that activity than players at others schools.  Our film sessions were brief, direct, and to the point.  Coach Smith believe in short, effective viewing sessions which he thought were the best way for him to teach and for us to learn.  It took only one instance of his throwing a player out of a meeting for not correct identifying something on tape to get every one's rapt attention.

Included in the practice plans were the offensive and defensive emphases of the day.  As you know by now, players were required to recite those from memory if called upon by Coach Smith.  The entire team ran sprints if the recitation wasn't accurate.

You've also read about Coach's decision to give us a Thought for the Day to learn and recite.  It was a key learning tool for us that had nothing to do with basketball.  Some of those are still fresh in my mind. This was one method that Coach used to teach us, and it certainly help keep basketball in perspective.  As I look back now, I see that a secondary benefit was that it relieved the pressure on us that playing basketball at this level could bring.  As much as basketball was Coach Smith's passion, he was first and foremost a great teacher whose top priority was not to win but to mold his players into good citizens.  He wanted us prepared for the day we would wake up and basketball would no longer be a part of our lives.

ON TEAMWORK AND UNSELFISHNESS

Good people are happy when something good happens to someone else.

To build teamwork, it certainly helps to start with goodpeople.  As head coach I was very partial to young men who genuinely wanted to play at North Carolina, who needed no sales job to persuade them.

We didn't necessarily recruit unselfishness per se.  It takes some people longer to understand and grasp the personal benefits associated with putting the team firt.   We usually thought we could change a self-center behavior pattern once we got the players to North Carolina.

One person' selfish attitude could poison the locker room and make it hard, if not impossible, to establish teamwork.  We didn't make many recruiting mistakes in this area, but when we did, we either saw change or helpted the player find another school.  this happened only twice in my times as North Carolina's head coach.  Had we acted otherwised, we would have violated the very philosophy we taught to our players.  We weren't going to allow someone's selfish interests to supersede what was good for the team.  That simply was not going to happen.

Building teamwork is harder than it ought to be, simply because of both our society's fascination with individual success and the emphasis it places on winning no matter how it is achieved.  For example, when a child comes home from a basketball game, the first thing he or she is likely to hear from parents is "Did you wing?, followed by "How many points did you score?"

Basketball is a beautiful game when the five players on the court play with one heartbeat.  Passing, screening, cutting and movement away from the ball: The game can be almost balletic in its grace and simplicty.  A team can accomplish great things when the individual members don't worry about who gets the credit.

ON LEADERSHIP

The most important thing in good leadership is truly caring.  The best leaders in any profession care about the people they lead, and the people who are being led know the caring is genuine and when it's faked or not there at all.  I was a demanding coach, but my players knew that I cared for them and that my caring didn't stop when they graduated and went off to their careers.

I believe it's accurate to say that the most effective leaders have these things in common: the talent to create a sound strategy for their teams or businesses; knowledge of the important of recruiting good people who wish to improve their personal skills and believe in the companies' or teams' philosophy; understanding that whether they like it or not, they lead by example; belief in the importance of being light enough on their feet to adapt to changing conditions; and the ability to honor their commitments, admits their mistakes, and take responsibility for their failures.

It's also true that leaders in virtually all professions must learn how to compete.  While we talk with our players about the process and not about winning, that didn't mean we didn't want to win.  Winning was important to us, very important.  Leaders must know hoe to bring their teams back from defeat.

 

Bonus blog spot from The Carolina Way by Dean Smith with another book review I wrote a few years ago.