by Mike Davenport, Coaching Sports Today
Often the thinnest-of margins separates good-from-great or a loss-from-a-win in sports
Where does that razor-thin margin come from?
Often it’s all in what the coach knows.
“It’s what you learn, after you know it all, that counts.”
John Wooden said that, and it is so true because the tricky thing about coaching (and coaches) is that when we occupy the role of Coach, people make an assumption about us.
And the assumption goes something like this:
- You’re a Coach
- There a many many (so many) things you must know
- Hence, to get the job you must know it all
That’s exactly what happened to me in my first job as a head coach.
I was hired to take over a program that was in disarray. I was told to build it up—quickly. It was a great opportunity.
The problem was people assumed I knew a lot—especially about recruiting.
And I didn’t.
Well, to be fair, I knew some of the basics. But the boss at my previous gig did all the heavy lifting of recruiting. So I knew a little, but not the meat of the matter.
And in my new role as a head coach I needed to know a lot about recruiting.
I struggled. Not doing the job as well as I should have. Or could have.
It’s okay if you don’t know everything. But…
There are ways, easy and effective methods, to get smarter about almost anything—especially coaching topics.
The struggle is finding the method that works best for you.
To learn recruiting I finally connected with a fellow who was good at it. Very good. He mentored me. Things got better. I was lucky.
But that took time. A long time.
Today, if a Coach wants to learn about recruiting there are quicker, and I would say more effective ways, such as this.
The bottom line—you need a wealth of knowledge to be a successful Coach.
If you don’t know it (or want to get smarter about the topic) find a way that works for you to learn it. Maybe it’s books. Or an online (recruiting) course. Or mentoring.
Don’t wait. Start now.
That knowledge will be your special coaching advantage.