Episode V: Championship Culture, Spaghetti Sauce, Authentic Leadership and more. . .
"Doing the right thing is never the wrong thing" - Ted Lasso
Every week, I share a couple of things that I’m reading, learning or actively doing in my personal and professional life. This week, we dive into:
Current Reading: How to Build and Sustain a Championship Culture by Jeff Janssen
Practice Idea: Hide the Greens in the Spaghetti Sauce
X’s & O’s: Building Ball Handling and Finishing for U12s
Leadership Thought: Authentic Leadership
Recommended Article:
Reflective Question: Coaching Personality
Current Reading: How to Build and Sustain a Championship Culture by Jeff Janssen
One of the things that I have been conscious of for quite a while is instilling a high standard in how we do things. This in essence is about creating the type of culture or environment that is in line with the behaviours that I value.
The type of culture you are in is always being affected. Either you are conscious about it and making the small steps necessary or you are unconscious about it and it is being impacted without your say so.
In this book, Jeff Janssen shares his experience and observations of what locker room culture should be like and the differences between teams that have Championship Cultures vs Corrosive or Country Club Cultures.
Practice Idea: Hide the Greens in the Spaghetti Sauce
In line with some of my previous articles on youth coaching, I think coaches who come into a practice trying to teach technical skills straight away are missing a key component about youth sports.
One of the things that I try and do is instil a love or passion in being at practice. This is especially true in youth sports (U12s). I try to facilitate an environment where players are able to engage in Explorative Learning.
Hence the expression, which is stolen from Mike MacKay - Hide the greens in the Spaghetti Sauce. I try and teach the key technical skills needed in fun games and activities. This way the kids just think they are playing, however, they are also being introduced to key concepts, technical abilities and exploring throughout the process.
X’s and O’s: Building Ball Handling and Finishing for U12s
Leadership Thought: Authentic Leadership
Authentic leadership is so hard to find. A lot of times people are getting caught up in the act. Playing a part or role, switching it depending on who they are trying to influence or what they’re trying to achieve.
As a leader, I try and maintain an even keel. I want to be the type of leader who acts and lives what I preach. This is more than just “leading by example”. This is being authentic.
I am constantly growing and evolving, learning things that I didn’t know before and as such, I will change. I will not have the same stance in ten years as I do today, yet throughout it all, I want to remain authentic to who I am and why I do what I do.
Recommended Article: Ten Concepts
Coach Mike Lynch has a great collection of notes on his thoughts, practice plans, reflections and so much more on his coaching. I think it’s amazing that he makes them all public and I love browsing his site to see what else is new out there.
His twitter engagements are coherent and you can see that he thinks about the game in a deeper way than most. Here’s an article on ten concepts that he believes in. I think every coach should take the time to reflect and come up with their own concepts or philosophies.
Reflective Question: Coaching Personality
Am I the type of coach that I would want my players to play for?
That’s all for this week. If you found this interesting, I would appreciate you sharing it on your social media accounts.
Until next week.
Nabil Murad