April 20, 2018
5 Simple Questions (to ask your coaches)
“The single biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place”– George Bernard Shaw
Coaching staffs all have disagreements. They should. You have smart people with different solutions to common problems.
But how often do we discuss these ‘elephants in the room’?
We are 3/4 of the way through our lacrosse season, and we had some unresolved elephants in the room.
So we had a a coaching meeting last week, and I asked these 5 questions to start the dialogue:
- List 2 things going well with our team
- List 2 things we could do better as a team
- List 2 things I am doing well to support you as an assistant coach
- List 2 things I could do better to support you as an assistant coach
- List 2 elephants in the room – some dynamic that is going on with our team or coaching staff, that everyone knows about, but no one is talking about
A powerful, honest conversation ensued. No one’s feelings were hurt, and as the head coach I got great feedback and we implemented a few tweaks that will powerfully change the direction of the remainder of our season.
Build trust, be open and honest, and value everyone and your team’s dynamics will be infinitely improved.
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Make winning your habit starting today!
I like these conversation starters. I’m going to have a staff meeting at work next week and start right here. I also think that in another setting where I’m not in charge I might take these ideas and lay them out to the owner so he knows where we stand.