#ImproveEveryDay

I posted a string of tweets yesterday aimed at ways to improve every day. Here is the full list:

1. #ImproveEveryDay by reading about/from those who already are where you want to be.


2. #ImproveEveryDay by prioritizing your day. Doesn't matter how, but develop a system that works for you!


3. #ImproveEveryDay by being productive w/ down time. Make it deliberate, not convenient.


4. #ImproveEveryDay by reviewing old notes, applying those ideas, then innovating from them.


5. #ImproveEveryDay by carrying a pen + pad, and using them. Write down your ideas and good ones you hear.


6. #ImproveEveryDay by seeking out significant professional relationships, and cultivating them.


7. #ImproveEveryDay by having a Grad Assistant mentality. No task is beneath you, and find other ways to contribute when you finish yours!


8. #ImproveEveryDay by learning to say no. Don't stretch yourself too thin - allow room to focus.


9. #ImproveEveryDay with a WIN mentality - Work Hard. Intensity. No excuses.


10. #ImproveEveryDay by remembering that the best leaders are servants first. People follow those who do something for them!


If you like the list and have anything to add, please leave it as a comment!

Individual Development Clinic

Finally, my videos from my individual improvement clinic at our 2011 Houghton College Basketball Camp are uploaded and working. It has been a frustrating process at times, and I owe a big shout out to one of our players for his help in putting this project together. The following links are to the four videos. The first three are about 15 minutes each, the fourth is only a few minutes. I know they're long, but if you have some time, I'd love to get a reaction to my clinic - especially from other coaches! Let me know what works, what doesn't, and how I can improve!

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

As always, if you have questions or comments please feel free to leave them here, e-mail me, or find me on twitter as @HC_CoachWright.

Organization and Productivity

When I think about my first year+ with our program, I think the two areas where I needed to learn and evaluate myself the most were organization and productivity. Admittedly, I was very haphazard about my work space and often inefficient in my time management. I'd like to talk about them together because I do not believe these two concepts are mutually exclusive, but instead are intertwined throughout the work environment.

Folders. Shelves. Drawers. Binders. Notebooks. All are great ways to organize different materials around the office. They're also things that I could have had an allergy to throughout my first year. I had papers on my desk, clothes and shoes on the floor, and no discernible system to keep myself organized. Anytime somebody asked, I referred to it as "organized chaos", and said I knew right where everything was. In truth, I found myself scrambling to come up with paperwork, receipts, and other projects. I realized that the appearance I was giving off was that my work didn't matter to me - it was all over the place and it wasn't a big deal. This was affecting my productivity on a daily basis. 

Without a system to know which projects were urgent, and which could be tabled, I found myself losing time throughout the day. I had started the year with a plan that worked, but hadn't stuck to it once I felt that I "got the hang of things." I felt rushed to complete assignments and was never quite sure I had everything done. Because I wasn't sure where to start, I didn't know if I was stopping early, late, or when I should. Early this summer my office moved to a different room, and that move forced me to organize my working area. I'm thankful for this opportunity, because I now feel much more composed in the workplace. I have been able to start a few personal projects that will help me long-term, and I'm more organized with my assignments for work. With that new organization has come an increase in productivity and confidence as I understand my time management needs and have gotten back into a system that works for prioritizing assignments.

Here are a list of things I'm using to keep myself more organized and productive for the 2011-12 season:

• White board calendar
• Microsoft Outlook task manager
• File Folders for receipts, practice plans, and scouting materials
• Immediate transfer of incoming e-mails to online database
• A "no piles" policy on my desk
• A "no clothes" policy on my floor
• A book case converted into storage area w/ space for:
• Workout clothes
• Personal and Player Development notes
• My (hopefully growing) basketball DVD library
• Team-related notes and notebooks
• Recruiting materials
• Virtual Post-it notes (color coded by importance)

If you have any additional ideas about organization or productivity, please comment!

Self Improvement

My three top priorities in life are family, God, and coaching. Every day, I strive to improve myself in at least one (and hopefully all) of these areas. I know I need to improve in all of them, and any day that I don't get better is a day I got worse by default. I've found that nothing helps me improve as much as reading.

A good friend and mentor once told me "there are two ways to improve yourself: the people you talk to, and the books you read." I'll read anything I can get my hands on that deals with self improvement or professional development. I try to spend time each night reading scripture. Reading helps me to look at myself in perspective, and constantly gives me new ideas on how I can become better at each of my top priorities. It allows me to be creative and reflective, and shows me alternative views that I haven't considered.

If you have read anything good lately, leave the name of it in the comments section. I'm always looking for new sources and new material. One thing I'd like to start doing this year is listening to podcasts and audiobooks on the bus after games as a way to make more efficient use of all that travel time. If you know of any good ones - pass them on!

I'll end with another of my favorite quotes. "The man who won't read has no advantage over the man who can't."

Quote of the week

I want to start a new idea with my blog - a quote for the week every week. This first one I found on the blog of University of Rhode Island DoBO Chris Passmore.

"If you are irritated by every rub, how will you ever be polished?" - Rumi


I think there is a lot of truth in this quote and I know it can be applied to my life.

Please comment and leave your thoughts on this quote, and the quote of the week concept!

Why do I coach?

The summer months are a grind in the coaching profession. There are long hours in the car, in often uncomfortable gyms, and far from home. All of that travel leaves a lot of time alone with your thoughts. Among all of the internal debates I've had this summer, one that I keep coming back to is this: Why do I coach? When I ask that question, I don't just mean why am I coaching right now - but why did I want to become a coach in the first place, and what are my long-term goals for my career?

When I first thought about being a coach it was because that's what my dad did, and like a lot of little boys, my dad was my hero. As I took a more serious look at coaching, I began to realize the influence that two high school coaches had on me as a player had made a significant impact on my life. The first was a coach at a rival school who took me aside when I was a sophomore and gave me great encouragement during a time in when I was facing a lot of scrutiny as a player. He gave me the confidence to be myself, play my game, and overcome a very challenging situation. The second was the varsity basketball and soccer coach my senior year. In what was the most difficult period of my life, he constantly showed grace and understanding for the situations that were arising in my personal life. He was supportive and worked hard to help me make the best of many bad situations. 

When I think about my decision to become a coach as a career, the influence these two individuals had on my life during a very formative time was absolutely a catalyst. I want to be able to impact the lives of the young men who play for me. I want to give them the courage to face life's challenges head on, to be the person they can lean on when the road takes an unexpected turn, and the one they can count on to lift them up when they inevitably fall.

Those three things are not only my reason for coaching, but they're part of my long-term career goals as well. I want to establish relationships with our players that extend far beyond their playing years, and allow them to turn to me at any point in their lives when they need support, advice, or just a kind word. On top of that, one of the factors that continues to grow in importance is my feeling that I need to give back to the game. Basketball has taken me to some amazing places, provided me with opportunities to meet incredible people, and to make a living doing something I love. I owe the game much more than I could ever give it - but I feel a sense of duty to give back as much as I can. That's part of why I love camp so much. Working with young people who have a thirst for knowledge and a desire to improve is inspirational. And if I can help foster that passion in even one camper, then all the hours put into camp are well worth it. I have been given a world of opportunities through basketball, and I want to do everything I can to open some of those same doors to as many people as possible.

There are other goals I have for myself as a coach, but establishing lasting relationships with those who play for me and giving back to the game are two that I feel are the most important.

Stretching Yourself

One of the things that I know I need to do to improve as a coach is to stretch myself beyond my comfort zone. I constantly look for new drills, videos, books, etc to make myself better prepared to teach our guys with a variety of methods and examples. I want them to be able to adapt to new situations and react with confidence because they're used to facing unexpected circumstances. So when I found out I was going to be responsible for leading some shooting clinics at camp I saw it as a chance to get outside my comfort zone as a coach and improve my own teaching and understanding of the game.

I'll be the first to admit that shooting has never been my strong point, so I felt like I was entering the clinics with a "do as I say, not as I do" mentality. I hate that from a coaching stand-point, because I'd much rather teach and lead by the example I set. I watched our normal shooting instructor do a clinic to get a feel for how they went, and tried to follow his model as best I could. It only took a few clinics to realize there were a few common mistakes that were repeated by most of the players who I was working with. I was able to come up with some consistent methods to correct these errors, and noticed myself getting more comfortable as the week progressed. By Thursday night I was feeling much better about my instruction and was much more confident in my approach to the clinics.

This experience again showed me the need to stretch myself as a coach. While I started out far from my comfort zone, I was much more confident by the end of the week. I feel as though I have a better grasp on the shooting mechanics that I was teaching and will be able to better help our players when they are struggling with their shooting.

I also recorded one of my individual improvement clinics that was run for our NBA (varsity) level campers. I'm hoping to get that video posted on my blog next week.

Hard Work

When I interviewed for my current position of assistant men's basketball coach at Houghton College, one of the questions I was asked was: "What is your definition of hard work?" I will admit, this caught me completely off guard. I felt I was fairly well prepared for any questions about basketball, and the inevitable questions about how my relationships with our players would change (I was a student at Houghton for the previous four years and had lived with one of our players the year before).

I don't remember how I answered that question, but I'm sure I didn't answer it well. Over the course of the last year I've thought about this question a number of times and, I've decided on an answer that I believe is fluid, but represents an accurate view. I believe hard work is doing what is expected of you in a prompt and efficient manner to the best of your ability, and then finding a way to contribute something extra.

To do what is expected of you isn't working hard, it's working. There are responsibilities that come with any job or assignment - that's why it's called work. To say "I worked hard because I got it done" is to say that you may not have been qualified for the task at hand. To do what's expected with efficiency and timeliness are important to making sure that the next person can take your work and do what they need to do with it. Doing things with efficiency and timeliness also allow you to create time at the end of your task. Working to the best of your ability may be the most important part of this first note. If you are given a task, it's because you have specific qualities that make you the best person to complete it. If you give anything less than your best effort, somebody else could have probably done it instead of you.

The second part is what I think pushes it from "work" to "hard work". It is easy to do what's expected of you. It's probably explained ahead of time. You've probably done it multiple times. And you were chosen specifically to do it. You should have confidence that you can do that job well.  Working hard is doing everything already discussed, and then finding other ways to contribute to your team or organization. Whether that's assisting someone else struggling with their work, starting your next assignment, or finding a problem ahead of time and fixing it, that "above and beyond" mentality will prove invaluable to your employer and set the bar for everyone around you.

Confidence

When I look at my career and my life, one thing that I think stands out is a confidence in myself. I've always had a strong belief in myself and my abilities - especially on the basketball court. But when I look at it critically, I don't think that is enough to qualify for confidence.

Simply thinking you're good enough, talented enough, or smart enough isn't confident. It's cocky. The reason I say that, is because I think you need to have that belief grounded in a bigger picture. To move from cocky to confident, you need to understand why or how your gifts allow you to be more successful than your opponent.

To achieve this, you must first understand your role within your team or organization, then embrace it. You're assigned specific tasks for a specific reason. Most of the time, it's because you possess skills or traits that will allow you to perform those tasks better than someone else.

When you are assigned a role, take a few minutes to understand what is truly required to fulfill it at the highest level. Write down the traits you think are necessary in order to be successful at the tasks assigned. This is especially helpful when you feel that the role given to you is less important than the one you would like to have. By thinking critically about why you were chosen for that specific task, you may better understand how the decision was made, and have confidence in the fact that you possess whatever is required to accomplish it.