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Leaving your mark. It’s something I talk to my teams about a lot…but what about for us coaches? How do we leave our mark on our teams. Based on an article titled, How Great Business Leaders Leave Their Mark, check out these three ways that we can inject our philosophy and personality into our programs.

3 ways to create a culture you can be proud of

• Write down your philosophy. I’m a big proponent of having a coaching philosophy. I’m of the camp that asks, “how will you know where you’re going if you don’t have a map?” Having a philosophy written down is good for those days when things aren’t going according to plan…it will keep you on track. It’s good for those days when your team may question what you’re doing…it will remind them of what your personal goals are. Having a written philosophy is good for when you’re on the phone with a recruit…it will help you to maintain your integrity.
• Have visible reminders. Put your personal philosophy somewhere in your office where you can see it. Make sure your team’s goals are somewhere that they can see them every day. Here’s a great quotation from the article: “If each of us hires people who are smaller than we are, we shall become a company of dwarfs. But if each of us hires people who are bigger than we are, we shall become a company of giants.” Obviously, we’re not hiring, but we are recruiting. We should be sure to recruit student-athletes who move us forward. In addition to that, we’ve got to convince our teams that the way to get our teams good (and good for a long time) is to recruit players who are better than they are. A hard sell to be sure…but a necessary one. If the team is more worried about playing time than the team, those goals will be awfully hard to accomplish.
• Celebrate your backstory. The story talks about how to inject your personality into your organization in some tangible way. I think that’s something we coaches already do! Every year, we have a hall of fame induction dinner for those athletes who excelled at a great level during their competition years. Even though I don’t know the folks who get up to the podium and thank their families and professors and coaches, I still love every minute of it. Because it shows that the love, patience, kindness, toughness, caring, and character of that coach they had years ago still has an impact on their lives. It’s pretty remarkable.

There’s a Bible verse that says to not get weary in doing what’s good. So I’ll say the same thing to you. The folks in our profession do good things daily. Let’s not forget it! Remember that fact when your eyes are tired from looking at film, your throat hurts from talking at practice, or you don’t get the pat on the back that is well deserved.

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