One of my biggest struggles as a first year head coach was the way I interacted with them. To put it bluntly, I spent too much time on them. Whether it was just talking, disputing a call, or worrying about a call that I thought was wrong, I allowed myself to become distracted too frequently and often too strongly. We constantly talk to our players about having a "Next Play" mentality - focus on the next play because it's the only one you can impact (adopted from Coach K and Duke). In all honesty, I did not embody that characteristic enough as the head coach and leader of the program.
While watching the NCAA tournament last year, I was observing coach Brad Stevens. His demeanor on the sideline. The way he interacted with his assistants, the players, and the officials. The thing that stood out to me the most about his interaction with the officials was what he lacked - interaction. Now I have no doubt that he was talking with them at various points throughout the game. But there were never any demonstrative gestures or prolonged conversations. Only once did I see a noticable disagreement, and it came on a closeup of coach Stevens as the game went to commercial. A call had just gone against his team, and he was not happy with it. But as he walked toward his team huddle, he made his point in a brief, but firm, manner. I thought about how I would have reacted to the same call and knew it would have been much different.
Later in the spring I was watching A Few Good Men, one of my favorites because of it's lessons about leadership, and about maintaining vision of what is truly important. In the film one of the defense attourney's objects to a line of questioning, and her objection is overruled. Her reaction is to immediately state that she "strenuously objects" to the questioning, and is again overruled. Finally she objects a third time, citing specific legal precident and regulations. By then, the judge has had enough of her objection and blasts her for it.
Later on, she is taken to task by another defense attourney. Here is the quote from the movie: "I strenuously object?" Is that how it works? Hm? "Objection." "Overruled." "Oh, no, no, no. No, I STRENUOUSLY object." "Oh. Well, if you strenuously object then I should take some time to reconsider." In that moment, I immediately made a connection between the movie and myself on the sideline. The second attourney goes on to explain his point by saying that you object once to make yourself heard. After that, all you're doing is making yourself look like you're afraid of whatever you're objecting to (in the movie - a doctor, in coaching - the call or the play in question).
One of my goals this year is to be extremely careful about my own "strenuous objections". There are going to be times I disagree, that's human and competitive nature. But to belabor the point sets a poor example for the young men I'm leading, and it takes away from the focus of everyone on our team. There will be times when it's necessary, but I'm hopeful that after the lessons from Coach Stevens and A Few Good Men that I will have a better understanding of when I'm making a stand for my team, and when I look like I'm scared of a travel.
While watching the NCAA tournament last year, I was observing coach Brad Stevens. His demeanor on the sideline. The way he interacted with his assistants, the players, and the officials. The thing that stood out to me the most about his interaction with the officials was what he lacked - interaction. Now I have no doubt that he was talking with them at various points throughout the game. But there were never any demonstrative gestures or prolonged conversations. Only once did I see a noticable disagreement, and it came on a closeup of coach Stevens as the game went to commercial. A call had just gone against his team, and he was not happy with it. But as he walked toward his team huddle, he made his point in a brief, but firm, manner. I thought about how I would have reacted to the same call and knew it would have been much different.
Later in the spring I was watching A Few Good Men, one of my favorites because of it's lessons about leadership, and about maintaining vision of what is truly important. In the film one of the defense attourney's objects to a line of questioning, and her objection is overruled. Her reaction is to immediately state that she "strenuously objects" to the questioning, and is again overruled. Finally she objects a third time, citing specific legal precident and regulations. By then, the judge has had enough of her objection and blasts her for it.
Later on, she is taken to task by another defense attourney. Here is the quote from the movie: "I strenuously object?" Is that how it works? Hm? "Objection." "Overruled." "Oh, no, no, no. No, I STRENUOUSLY object." "Oh. Well, if you strenuously object then I should take some time to reconsider." In that moment, I immediately made a connection between the movie and myself on the sideline. The second attourney goes on to explain his point by saying that you object once to make yourself heard. After that, all you're doing is making yourself look like you're afraid of whatever you're objecting to (in the movie - a doctor, in coaching - the call or the play in question).
One of my goals this year is to be extremely careful about my own "strenuous objections". There are going to be times I disagree, that's human and competitive nature. But to belabor the point sets a poor example for the young men I'm leading, and it takes away from the focus of everyone on our team. There will be times when it's necessary, but I'm hopeful that after the lessons from Coach Stevens and A Few Good Men that I will have a better understanding of when I'm making a stand for my team, and when I look like I'm scared of a travel.
