I hope to improve my ability to deal with people and egos, to better motivate student-athletes and demonstrate more empathic leadership. I recently read Competitive Fire by Michael Clarkson and learnt many facts that I hope to apply in the coming year. We often discuss how it seems that teenagers have a “fight or flight” mentality but there is a scientific basis to the argument. Under pressure, the brain releases hormones, such as adrenaline or noradrenaline, that can cause aggressiveness, increase feelings of fear, and inspire the body to perform faster, higher, or stronger. All people, including athletes, need to …
The Best and Brightest
“Those who do not read history are doomed to repeat it,” according to George Santayana. According to David Halberstam’s book, The Best and the Brightest – which exposes how the Kennedy and Johnson cabinets of the 1960s handled Vietnam – it may not be so simple. John F. Kennedy’s administration had lofty goals: some of the most educated men in the country sought to redefine the role of the United States on the world stage. Some sought to curtail the arms race, others sought to establish a new, modern “Great Society” back home. Despite their best intentions and their amazingly …
K.I.S.S.
Basketball is often overanalyzed, needlessly complicated searching for an elixir of life that will transform hardwood into championships. A slew of factors affect performance and their identification is paramount. Changing tactics hastily, without justification, courts disaster. The play might flounder – despite its suitability for that particular moment – because players are not executing correctly. Use timeouts to seek room for improvement before obfuscating the issue with new sets. Don’t jump to conclusions and adopt a zone merely to feel better about doing something. Ensure the shift is required because there is no worse sensation than losing due to gratuitous …
No End in Sight & Shake Hands with the Devil
No End in Sight, a documentary by Charles Ferguson analyzing the United States involvement in Iraq, was released to very little fanfare this past week. The only theatre in town screening the film was the Bloor Cinema on a Friday night. Ferguson sought to encompass the perspectives of the American decision-makers, tying them to the events that covered the first critical year of the Iraqi occupation in 2003. In many ways, U.S. choices made regarding the Iraq War paralleled British decisions in the Crimean War. In explaining how the entire war has been comprised of one fiasco following another, No …
The Reason Why
The Charge of the Light BrigadeLord Alfred Tennyson Cecil Woodham-Smith wrote The Reason Why to document the circumstances that led to one of the most disastrous military ventures in history: the Charge of the Light Brigade during the Crimean War. I read it on the recommendation of David Halberstam, who said it made history come alive for him, and found it to be an excellent metaphor for leadership – in any field. 1. Half a league, half a league,Half a league onward,All in the valley of DeathRode the six hundred.“Forward, the Light Brigade!“Charge for the guns!” he said:Into the valley …
Identity, Choices and Perspective
“No man can wear one face to himself and another to the multitude, without finally getting bewildered as to which one may be true.” – Nathaniel Hawthorne Regrettably, I played on a summer league team that was absolutely blown out in the playoffs; fortunately, I was able to reflect on the outcome and develop some good rules for handling this situation in the future. Establish and maintain a consistent identity: Once a coaching career is underway, every time one steps on the court they must determine beforehand whether they will play or coach that game. It is not possible to …
Exogenous Events
Like all the exogenous events inspire the price of crude to surge, bandits raiding a village and seizing the barley crop should drive the cost of the commodity to new highs. Amid the death and destruction, farmers face financial ruin and decide to take action by hiring a number of samurai to protect them. Showcasing innovative cinematography and a tremendous score, Akira Kurosawa’s Seven Samurai illustrates the significance of trust and teamwork and the importance of brains over brawn. Initially, tensions prevent the ronin and the town’s residents from working together well. Nobody wishes to risk their life to save …
Four Lessons from Lute Olson
Reading Lute!, an autobiography by the longstanding coach of the Arizona Wildcats, provided interesting food for thought. First of all, the calm and composed appearance of Lute Olson belies an insatiable enthusiasm for basketball and unwavering loyalty towards those who play on the teams that he coaches. Olson’s fifty-year career links the game’s past to its present, from Pete Newell and John Wooden to Roy Williams and Mike Krzyzewski, from the Pacific Coast to the Mid-West and back. The book is typical of most sports autobiographies and will not contend for the Pulitzer Prize. Yet the text remains capable of …
Sport in Canada, Part II
Last week, addressing some of the obstacles that Canada faces in its quest to Own the Podium, I ignore a critical consideration: the separation of sports funding by provincial boundaries. Canada manages National Sports Organizations and the Canadian Olympic Committee but ten provinces and three territories control various Provincial Sports Organizations – and far more money – according to vastly different standards. Certainly, thirteen diverse recipes produce thirteen different outcomes, some more successful than others. For example, the Government of Quebec links sport to the health and fitness of the overall population and spends about $7.40 per capita on sport, …
Assertiveness and Coaching
Different coaches have different personalities, which contribute to the diversity of sport. Some display more energy than others, some have a stage presence, and some have a sense of humour about their job. Nevertheless, there is more than one way to coach successfully. Coaching and control are synonymous in the minds of many individuals inside and outside the profession but that is not an accurate description. Coaches motivate student-athletes to reach their potential as a group. Crafting systems that best suit the team is part of that task, managing every single detail of the team is not. Creating accountability among …
Three Lessons from Jack Donohue
Recently, I read Dream Big Dreams: The Jack Donohue Story by Mike Hickey, a thoroughly entertaining biography that is required reading for Canadian Basketball coaches. Both Andy Higgins – who knew Coach Donohue personally – and I found the book to be very insightful and had difficulty putting it down. I’ve listed three lessons any coach can take from Jack Donohue’s life and coaching career. Helping Players: Jack Donohue helped the Canadian Senior Men’s National Team, the College of the Holy Cross, and Power Memorial players, among others, lessons about teamwork, responsibility, sacrifice, and enjoying life, that they remember to …
Leadership Failure
After losing to the Miami Heat 99-77, T.J. Ford commented that “Being out there with Chris, I don’t have to make plays all the time. And now I’m finding myself having to make a lot more plays and sometimes trying to make too many plays. And I think that’s what happened tonight with so many turnovers.” Disappointing comments from a disappointing player during a disappointing season. Not to mention irresponsible, idiotic, and irritating. A team’s point guard should want to make plays, not shy away from them. To demonstrate good leadership and improve performance under pressure, T. J. Ford – …
Adversity and the Toronto Maple Leafs
For the third time in four seasons, Mats Sundin has returned to the Maple Leafs after a serious mid-season injury and questions arise regarding his influence on the team. Based on anecdotal evidence – the 2002 Playoffs and November 2006 – it seems as if the Leafs do worse when their captain dresses: 2002 Playoffs Arm Injury Last Five Games Before the Injury (4/12 to 4/23):Record: 4-1-0 (8 pts)Points per Game: 1.60 ppgGoals Scored per Game (for – against): 3.20 – 2.20Shots on Goal per Game (for – against): 29.2 – 29.8Power Play: 12.5% (3 – 24)Mats Sundin Productivity: 2 …
The Responsibility of the Coach
Evidently, it is the players play hard, play smart, and play together; the coach merely plays the role of the enabler and the modeler. If contributions were not made on the court when they were needed, contributions off the court were irrelevant. Players wear headbands and win games, coaches can only ban the former and observe the latter. According to Bear Bryant, “After a victory the players deserve the credit; after a loss the coach deserves the blame.” Is Bryant’s dissection of the blame appropriate? If players merit praise for their physical and mental performance than they should receive criticism …
Team vs. Individual Discipline
The San Diego Chargers have blown it by suspending TE Antonio Gates. As Red Auerbach said, never punish the team for the sins of the individual. N.F.L. holdouts and contract renegotiations are unbecoming to the sport and out of control; the issue should be addressed in future collective bargaining to create uniform rules for all teams. Nevertheless, the Chargers painted themselves into a corner with their ultimatum that Gates sign the qualifying offer or be suspended. Therein lies the massive flaw with ultimatums – they limit your options. You should never make a threat that you aren’t willing to carry …
Harry Potter and Leadership
Harry Potter becomes a Quiddich coach in The Half-Blood Prince and does a decent job. I found his tryouts somewhat uninspiring; he should have brought a practice plan. Choosing his keeper based on five penalty shots – an extremely unreliable sample size – was asking for trouble, but it worked out in the end. Before the first match, I thought Harry was setting up Weasley to be Rafael Palmeiro. However, tricking his keeper into thinking he had taken performance enhancing drugs was quite the ruse. A lot of sport is mental as opposed to physical; sensing that Ron was prone …