Category: At Your Best

The Look Doesn’t Lie

Kris Herman

Recently I had a chat with a coach whose team was doing okay, but not great.

They talked about how the team was trying, how the kids had worked hard, how the team had some hardships over come in regard to injuries etc.

They talked about some things that had happened in the past and some things that they were doing now. A wide variety of thoughts were tossed out with a variety of levels of clarity.

As a coach of coaches I recognize words like those, and I really recognized the look in the eyes of this coach. They knew they were not telling the whole truth to themselves, nor to me.

They knew something was missing but didn’t really know it was them.  Well, they knew..

The idea of taking the time to truly clarify the things that are centrally important to you is a task that is not actually that challenging. However it’s one that we don’t think to do and we don’t think we can do, and/or that it won’t make that big a difference.

It will.

Start by asking yourself what you believe in, what the central “you” is made of. With just those two questions you’ll start gaining ground.

Future Impact

Kris Herman

What will your legacy be?  Who will recall what you say and do, and how it impacts them and the world?

Is it what you say today or what you’re planning to say tomorrow, or next year, or at some other future point?

Every thing you say out loud you are saying at that moment. Why not try to be at our best for the person in front of us. Now. This is the only impact that matters.

How the receiver hears it is way out of your control.

As a coach you likely talk about controllables a lot. How are you doing on being in the moment yourself?

Take ten minutes and think, talk or write about what you want your legacy to be.

High Class Problems

Kris Herman

Your problems, no matter how “first world” they seem, are still your problems, and they deserve your best investigative skills.

You should have a system that allows you–indeed compels you–to spend intentional time and energy to work on your problems.

Solving them does not have to be the goal.

Working on problems will cause you to better identify what you care about, what your programs need and perhaps even uncover more problems to work on.

That’s a good thing.

Don’t deny that you have problems, even if you think they might not deserve recognition. Go find them, root them out and get to work learning from the situation.

You’re Being Lied To

Kris Herman

“It’s important that, first and foremost, before anything else…”

You are a good teacher, or listener…
You have a morning routine…
You have well-established, stands-the-test-of-time core values…
You have a power pitcher…
You know who you are…

…and so on…

Really you just have to make your best effort at planning to be your best at whatever angle you decide on. Right now. For these people.

Yes, you’ll make changes. It’s ok. You’ll look back and say, “WOW! Was that a crazy ______!” (Ask your Mom for some middle school pictures).

The magic is that there is no magic. You create the tricks. Practice. Stink. Repeat.

#bebrave

Coaching is a Partnership of Caring

Kris Herman

When I was building a short repeat-after-me mantra for my own use, something to remind myself of the who/why/what of myself as a coach, one of the phrases I used was this:

Coaching Is A Partnership of Caring

Coaching is a sacred role. Coaches work to help others realize their possibility and help a group become something greater than the individuals within. It’s not a simple role.

Partnership is a greatly important word. We are partners with others in many ways. We form partnerships with one or multiple people in an effort to be great, to feel support and to create.

The final big word is the key. Caring, to me, means putting someone else, or some external goal or idea “first”. By advantaging the outside goal or the other person we truly help to make them better. We care, and that puts us on their side, even when the caring feels hard or challenging.

I’m proud to be in a partnership with a lot of people who call me Coach. It’s where the magic of this profession lies.

Build better partnerships. Care more or more intentionally, or be sure your partners, your players, know where you stand on this.

Be A Pro

Kris Herman

“Inspiration is for amateurs. The rest of us just show up and get to work,” says the painter Chuck Close.

Waiting for the moment to be right, for the conditions to be perfect, for the idea gods to strike you…it’s probably not going to happen.

If you really believe in inspiration, then schedule time for it. Make your morning writing or thinking block, or your nighttime routine the time you wait for inspiration. Otherwise, just get to work.

What Are You Afraid Of?

Kris Herman

Stress, fear, that uncomfortable feeling when _________.

So many things can fill in that blank. We all have fear and are worried about our future.

“What’s going to happen next?”

I find that the fear response comes when my mind doesn’t know what to do. When I’m not properly prepared.

I don’t need to have the right answer at the right time, every time, I simply need to have a plan.

Preparation is productive if only to be ready when the time comes, even if it turns out I’m wrong.

Avoiding the prep because I might be wrong never works.

Distraction

Kris Herman

This scenario happens to me many times a day: I’m talking to someone on the phone and then a buzz comes in my ear, or theirs, and the primary conversation takes a hiccup.

“Um, yeah,” as one of us takes a quick glance at the phone to see what the notification needs from us.

It only takes a second. The conversation doesn’t stop…and yet we need to do a micro reboot. It does take away.

And, It happens a lot.

There’s lots of talk about the truth about one’s ability to multi-task. Can you actually do more than one thing at a time? Sure. Can you do them both well? Maybe. Or, probably not.

It’s not the thing that distracts you that matters, it’s the fact you’ve become distracted, no matter how short the time period or small the event. Check the science.

And, don’t even get me started with smartwatches.

Make Me!

Kris Herman

Today I asked a college coach in her 3rd year as a head coach what she thinks departments should do to help first year HCs?

“What do you wish had happened?”, that first year, I asked her.

I wish that it was not optional to have regularly scheduled coaching sessions.

I needed help that I didn’t even know about.

I needed someone to ask me questions and reflect my answers.

I wish I had a chance to ask about the mechanics of running a program.

I needed some lessons on head coaching.

Where were we for that coach and the athletes that didn’t get our best product?

78 Meacham St Williamstown, MA 01267 413-663-0464 kris@krishermancoaching.com Always Open