leadership – Page 3 – Coaching Made Easier

Best Practices

August 11, 2019August 11, 2019Kris Herman

So, there is probably a really good way to do the thing that you need to do. Others have done it before, I’m sure, and you can get a lot from their experience.

You can research the best way to do this thing, you can rely on your own experience or you can ask a friend.

In my experience, I find that relying on my own best practices, for that thing or other similar things I’ve done before, is the best way to get a satisfactory result.

If I think about the way I like to do things, the way the best things have worked out for me, I find that there aren’t really an unlimited way to do things…

So, do something, see how it feels when it’s done, redo it, and go from there.

The best way to practice, is to practice.

What Does She Need?

August 1, 2019Kris Herman

What if that was the question we asked?

How can I help other guy?

What does this kid need from me as a coach? What am I going to do to move this situation forward?

We all have a narrative about what’s ok and what’s not, who is “good” and who’s not, but how often do we think about what’s actually best for the other guy? Now.

Of course what’s best for the team might be different. Then the questions change.

You Are Not Telling Your Story

July 27, 2019July 24, 2019Kris Herman

Your story is what others are telling themselves about you.

You are being your story. You are to others what you do, how you show up each day, what you bring to the table for them.

What you say is not who you are.

Elite Humans

July 25, 2019July 23, 2019Kris Herman

Are you one with yourself? Do you know who you are and what you care about?

Can you answer that about your team?

How do you talk about yourself and the relationships you have both to yourself and to those involved?

Do you take time to answer these things on paper?

You’ll find that clarity rolls right out of your pen. Try it.

I Had To Learn To Be A Learner

May 3, 2019May 3, 2019Kris Herman

Are you a teacher? How about a learner?

Are you looking for ways to do things better, or looking to be sure people do things your way?

Coaching is a noble profession, and many of us take pride in being teachers! We teach our sport and we teach “life lessons” through our programs.

What lessons are we learning?

Deep into my coaching career I looked up and realized that I’d been teaching for years and not learning much at all. Yes, experience served as a great teacher but I was not doing any intentional learning. And, certainly I had not asked my people to teach me.

Learning to be a learner has been the most important factor in turning a career into ongoing passion.

What about you?

I Wish My People Took More Ownership!

April 30, 2019April 20, 2019Kris Herman

Coaching Is Hard. Fact.

Wanting both to control “all of the situations” and have teams in which people were making suggestions and giving input…these two things struggle to coexist.

Are you really giving your people room to own things on your team? Do they have actual ability to impact change? Do you have a history of soliciting input, asking for ideas?

If not, can you really expect them to own this thing that they don’t really have a piece of?

Who Gets To Contribute?

April 26, 2019April 19, 2019Kris Herman

Who gets to help shape your program?

Who doesn’t get to? Who is supposed to show up and shut up?

Who MUST contribute?

Think about how you want your program to be, to become, to feel to those who come near it.

Think about it, write it down, and share it.

You’ll probably think today’s version is lacking, or even terrible, at some future date. That’s ok. Think about it, write it down, share it and see what happens.

I Have An Open Door Policy

April 23, 2019April 29, 2019Kris Herman

Coach, your open door policy only means people can see in as they walk by.

Kids aren’t going to simply stop by to talk about all of the important things.

No matter how young you are, this “they know where to find me” mentality is abdicating your responsibilities as a leader. You’re saying that it’s on them, the junior partner in this relationship, to seek you out, to even know when they need something from you.

It’s on you to be sure that they are doing ok, that they know what you and team membership requires of them, to know where they stand relative to the team standards (those are really clear, right?)…

Leadership is an activity.

What’s In the Way?

April 19, 2019April 19, 2019Kris Herman

Why are you not making the team better, intentionally, at every turn?

You’re probably not intending to make it worse, you’re likely not making it worse…but why not mean to make it better?

All the time.

What’s the challenge for you? What is in the way?

These are such great questions to ask yourself and your people.

Teaching Does Not Lead to Learning

March 25, 2019Kris Herman

Nothing is automatic.

Learning doesn’t happen for students because a teacher works hard or does their best.

Learning doesn’t need permission either. It’s going to happen if the conditions are right.

The teacher (formal or otherwise) can do the condition-creating and push the odds higher, and a motivated student surely helps.

The fun part is that we often learn something completely unexpected.

Keep looking for the learning.