by Megan Cooke Carcagno, Tudor Collegiate Strategies
On Sunday I lined up with 58,000 runners from all over the globe to race in the 50th Berlin Marathon. Race morning was chilly, but bright, and after a few hours of morning prep, I was off with a sea of like minded runners aiming to break some barriers.
Once I settled into my pace, it was apparent that I belonged. As I passed runner after runner, my thoughts shifted away from “will I finish” to “how fast can I go.” Every kilometer gave me confidence despite the climbing heart rate, sweat pouring off my brows, and high levels of lactic acid pounding in my legs. The more uncomfortable I felt, the more comfortable I became with handling it all. After all, I had created this exact feeling many times before.
What kind of preparation led to this sadistic discovery? My secret weapon was consistency. It allowed me to beat age, talent, gender, skill and fancy shoe purchases. My determination to never miss a workout, to complete every meter, to simply get it done (no matter how slow or tired I felt) led to my outcome, pure and simple. There were a million reasons to lack consistency (new job, kids, travel, etc) but I made my workouts a priority each and every day for an entire year. Some days I had to get very creative, but in the end I gave my daily runs the attention they deserved. And that gave me the confidence to run the exact race I wanted.
What does this have to do with recruiting you might ask? Simple: consistency beats every other advantage. The obstacles a coach feels with the lack of experience, facilities, coaching staff, administration support, program history, budget, conference woes, travel schedule, win/loss record can all be overcome by consistent, precise recruiting efforts.
As coaches we tend to leave recruiting to a lower priority level, less experienced staff, and later in the week when the “to do” list becomes manageable. We know it’s important, but it usually gets attention after we take care of our current team’s needs. When that happens, it becomes a burden or an afterthought, and fails to receive the attention, time, and energy it deserves. This inevitably leads to stress during the signing period and ultimately, on race day the following year.
Instead, think of recruiting as the product of a daily habit, just like the training runs, and allow these habits to build slowly over time. Here are some ways you can make simple adjustments to prioritize your recruiting efforts. Over the long run, you will see the program changes you’ve dreamed about.
1. Schedule at least two to three separate times on your weekly calendar that you will only talk or work on recruiting. This means nothing regarding practice or current athletes. Whether it’s alone or with staff, keep the agenda simple and only focus on your future team.
2. Schedule 5 calls a week. These can be with signed athletes or ones you’re pursuing, but set a schedule and a goal number of calls to make each week. Keep them short and precise (I recommend only 15’), but prioritize that they happen. Hit this number every single week.
3. Know your goals with recruiting so the work becomes necessary instead of irrelevant. I know what time I wanted to run in the race, so every workout had a purpose. Keep your goals front of mind with recruiting and suddenly the work takes on a deeper meaning. Share these goals with the staff involved. Write them out and look at them often.
4. Don’t neglect the small stuff. Just like recovery work in between my runs, doing the detail work in recruiting is paramount in finding success. Send the handwritten note. Set up a parent zoom. Match personalities between hosts and campus visitors. Ask a coach for a recommendation. Do the closure meeting on campus. By doing the little things each and every week, you are putting in the miles that can add up to the big PR on race day. You can’t cram these types of details. So get in the habit of doing a little every day.
I can’t promise you’ll PR every race, but by doing the work, day in and day out, you’re setting yourself up to thrive when you want to. As a coach, recruiting will only be better when it gets the time, attention and energy it deserves. Now lace up and get out there. Your next big accomplishment started early this morning.
Megan Cooke Carcagno is a former collegiate rowing coach who is now a valuable member of the team of recruiting experts at Tudor Collegiate Strategies. If you want to learn more about how to create better consistency in your recruiting gameplan, join Megan for her free webinar on Wednesday, October 9th. You can register here. Have a recruiting question for Megan? Email her at megan@dantudor.com.