Earlier, I described a desire to become a more empathic leader. I hoped to become better at building relationships with other coaches, players, and people in general. I endeavoured to become more sensitive as to what others were feeling and discover how I can help student-athletes on and off the court and inside and outside the classroom. To do so, I read a couple of books which described examples of excellent relationships that resulted in personal development and basketball championships: Red and Me and The Gold Standard.
Bill Russell’s tribute to his mentor Red Auerbach was a quick read that contained several amusing anecdotes. The two worked well together was that Auerbach was tolerant of Russell’s idiosyncrasies because he performed on the court. Auerbach respected all of his players equally but treated them differently, according to their needs and wants. The coach may have a stern image, but he was always open to feedback from others and willing to take suggestions from players.
Russell did not fit the mold of a traditional Association centre but Auerbach did not try to change him; he adapted the Celtics’ systems to suit Russell’s strengths. Likewise, when Bob Cousy arrived in Boston, Auerbach did not curtail his extravagant ballhandling and fancy passes; so long as the ball got to the right person at the right time, Auerbach didn’t care how it got there. Throughout his career as a coach and a general manager, Auerbach never became set in his ways: he perceived how things were changing around him and adjusted his philosophy accordingly.
Mike Krzyzewski talks about taking the time to understand the situation and the people involved (whether it’s the superstars who comprised the Redeem Team, international basketball, or possible opponents). One of the reasons that he titled his book “The Gold Standard” is because he chose not to have “rules” for the basketball team but rather “standards” that the team would live up to, like playing hard every shift, being on time, and representing the United States with pride. He had spoke to some of the team leaders (LeBron James, Kobe Bryant, and Jason Kidd) to get their suggestions and turned this support into buy-in for the entire team.
A lot of Krzyzewski’s coaching was done on a one-on-one basis. He didn’t hesitate to ask players what they wanted but at certain points during the two year quest for Olympic Gold, he put his foot down and told the team that they were not living up to their standards. Also, Krzyzewski relied on the entire team staff, ranging from assistant coaches to trainers to help sense the mood of the team.
A coaching strategy that I employed with Ontario Basketball’s Elite Development Program over the summer was to try and debrief players as soon as they came off the court. This became an opportunity to provide more personal feedback and also learn more about what each player was thinking and feeling at the time.