If my team is still loving volleyball and enjoying coming into the gym every day at the end of the season, I feel like I’ve done my job well. If they’re still working hard, achieving, getting better, and excelling…I’m a happy coach. But how can I make sure that it’s happening? Check out this post based on the article, The 7 Secrets of Inspiring Leaders.
7 ways we can inspire our teams
- Ignite your enthusiasm. We’ve got to be passionate about our jobs…and we’ve got to somehow get that across to our team. As you may or may not know, I’m a big fan of John Wooden’s Pyramid of Success and one of the cornerstones of his Pyramid is enthusiasm. If we’re enthusiastic about not just our sport, but the welfare and success of our players as individuals…we’ll find success as a team.
- Navigate a course of action. What’s your vision for your team? Do they know it? Is it inspiring? A few years ago, I told a team I was coaching that I wanted other folks who saw us practice and play to think we were doing things the right way…that we were working hard and getting after it in the gym. My expectations for them were high and they rose to the challenge.
- Sell the benefit. What will accomplishing your vision for the team mean for each player individually? Of course having a winning season is great…every team wants that, but what about your particular vision for the team is unique? For me, and I understand that it’s a bit touchy feely, but I sell the feeling they’ll have at the end of a successful season. The sense of pride in achievement is a major benefit for my teams.
- Paint a picture. Is your team close to winning a championship? Maybe you can bring in a former player from a previous championship winning team to talk to your players. They can tell them about the amazing experience they had winning for the school. They can paint a mental picture for your players about how amazing they’ll feel when they’ve won it all.
- Invite participation. I’m not saying that your team has to be a democracy, but I am saying that your team needs to feel like they have some sort of say in things. With my personality, this is always a tough one for me, but I’ve found a few ways to give my team input. Individual meetings with each player…you never know who’s got some great idea but is afraid to tell you. And giving the team control over smaller things (like hotel room assignment, where the team goes for dinner, etc.) takes things off of my plate and helps them to feel a responsibility to the team.
- Reinforce optimism. There’s this thing called the recency effect. It says that we best remember the most recent things and not only that, we think the way things are right now are the way things will always be. So it’s our job as coach to remind our players that things are never as bad (whether they’ve had a bad game or the team is on a losing streak) as they seem.
- Encourage potential. Not just in things that directly benefit our programs. Sure it’s our job to squeeze every bit of potential from our student-athletes…but it’s also our job to prepare them for whatever they want to do in the future. Maybe we encourage them to study abroad, or try out for the orchestra, or wherever else a passion may lay.
I believe our players look to us for inspiration in good times and bad…let’s be prepared to support them in every way that we can.
