I am currently writing about coaching leadership and looking for anecdotes. What memorable lessons have you learned about or within coaching, in any context? Please share; I’ll post one in the comments.
A story shared with me by one of the assistants in our school (sorry for the all caps):
"JOHN THOMPSON, FORMER GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY MEN’S BASKETBALL COACH, KEPT A DEFLATED BASKETBALL ON HIS DESK. IT WAS A REMINDER TO HIS TEAMS THAT THIS SPORT WAS NOT THE MOST IMPORTANT THING IN LIFE. AS FORMER PLAYER JOEY BROWN RECALLS HIS COACH TELLING HIM, “DON’T LET THE SUM TOTAL OF YOUR EXISTENCE BE DEFINED BY 8 TO 10 POUNDS OF AIR. THAT BALL IS SYMBOLISM. YOU ARE MORE THAN A BASKETBALL. BASKETBALL IS WHAT YOU DO. IT’S NOT WHO YOU ARE.” (SOURCE: ROD WALKER, THE NEW ORLEANS ADVOCATE)"
As a football coach, I was walking out to the field with all of my assistant coaches (we weren't having a very good year) when one of them said, "These kids just don't seem to get it; we are never going to win." I stopped right in my tracks as the light bulb went off and ask everyone what we were going to do differently so that the kids would get it. We need to check for student understanding in all settings and monitor growth toward our goals. The last three weeks of practice involved new approaches and more teaching/reteaching to verify kids understood and could demonstrate what we were teaching. Kids became more engaged in the practices and our energy carried over to games. Ironically, the next season we started with a new approach to practice and a 25 game win streak followed.
I'm currently receiving coaching on a year long leadership programme. Something I've come to recognise is that a good coach doesn't let you 'get away' from what you are truly feeling or thinking. It's easy to distract ourselves or worry about the small stuff; a good coach (including my own) doesn't allow those small distractions to overshadow the conversation about what's ~really~ going on. I try to apply that now in my work with students, gently directing them back to the real important work when they are distracting themselves with minor details. A good coach reads between the lines!
Have you had those moments as a coach when you wonder why they signed up for coaching? Monica started every session with the same comments “I can’t do this.” “This isn’t going to work” “I’m never going to remember all this”
At this session we were integrating a Numbers file into her existing lesson, Monica’s choice, but she was still yelling “I can’t do this!”, when her teaching partner Rachel walked into the room.
The session was about ½ over, but Rachel was intrigued and said “wow, I’d like to learn that too….”
Monica turned toward Rachel and said, “Here - I can show you that!” and proceeded to carefully, slowly and precisely catch Rachel up on the beginning steps. Monica became the teacher. It was a total transformation in attitude. I just stepped back and smiled. She’s got it!
The followup next session was a fabulous opportunity to talk about putting students in charge of the instruction. How a simple shift can sometimes make all the difference.
A story shared with me by one of the assistants in our school (sorry for the all caps):
"JOHN THOMPSON, FORMER GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY MEN’S BASKETBALL COACH, KEPT A DEFLATED BASKETBALL ON HIS DESK. IT WAS A REMINDER TO HIS TEAMS THAT THIS SPORT WAS NOT THE MOST IMPORTANT THING IN LIFE. AS FORMER PLAYER JOEY BROWN RECALLS HIS COACH TELLING HIM, “DON’T LET THE SUM TOTAL OF YOUR EXISTENCE BE DEFINED BY 8 TO 10 POUNDS OF AIR. THAT BALL IS SYMBOLISM. YOU ARE MORE THAN A BASKETBALL. BASKETBALL IS WHAT YOU DO. IT’S NOT WHO YOU ARE.” (SOURCE: ROD WALKER, THE NEW ORLEANS ADVOCATE)"
As a football coach, I was walking out to the field with all of my assistant coaches (we weren't having a very good year) when one of them said, "These kids just don't seem to get it; we are never going to win." I stopped right in my tracks as the light bulb went off and ask everyone what we were going to do differently so that the kids would get it. We need to check for student understanding in all settings and monitor growth toward our goals. The last three weeks of practice involved new approaches and more teaching/reteaching to verify kids understood and could demonstrate what we were teaching. Kids became more engaged in the practices and our energy carried over to games. Ironically, the next season we started with a new approach to practice and a 25 game win streak followed.
Thanks Brad for sharing this story. A clear example of growth mindset and seeing challenges as opportunities for improvement.
I'm currently receiving coaching on a year long leadership programme. Something I've come to recognise is that a good coach doesn't let you 'get away' from what you are truly feeling or thinking. It's easy to distract ourselves or worry about the small stuff; a good coach (including my own) doesn't allow those small distractions to overshadow the conversation about what's ~really~ going on. I try to apply that now in my work with students, gently directing them back to the real important work when they are distracting themselves with minor details. A good coach reads between the lines!
Thank you Eleanor. I appreciate this point about accountability.
Have you had those moments as a coach when you wonder why they signed up for coaching? Monica started every session with the same comments “I can’t do this.” “This isn’t going to work” “I’m never going to remember all this”
At this session we were integrating a Numbers file into her existing lesson, Monica’s choice, but she was still yelling “I can’t do this!”, when her teaching partner Rachel walked into the room.
The session was about ½ over, but Rachel was intrigued and said “wow, I’d like to learn that too….”
Monica turned toward Rachel and said, “Here - I can show you that!” and proceeded to carefully, slowly and precisely catch Rachel up on the beginning steps. Monica became the teacher. It was a total transformation in attitude. I just stepped back and smiled. She’s got it!
The followup next session was a fabulous opportunity to talk about putting students in charge of the instruction. How a simple shift can sometimes make all the difference.
Thank you Karen for noting the unplanned coaching opportunities we can discover through team teaching.