Top performers take initiative. They take ownership for improving themselves and their teams. Are your athletes seeking ways to give their team an edge? Are they doing the little things to unify the team? Let’s look at three ways athletes can take initiative and gain a competitive advantage. These are the players who become your team leaders.
In The Power of Positive Leadership Jon Gordon wrote, “Optimism, positivity, and belief are the fuel that positive leaders need to keep moving forward and drive results.” Whether you agree or not, it is hard to deny that athletes play better when they’re having fun, enjoying the moment, and are surrounded by people they genuinely love.
Coaching is like parenting in that it’s largely based on past experiences. You may choose to copy the best coaches you’ve seen and do the opposite of the worst. Perhaps you’ve had some good mentors along the way. Regardless, many coaches tend to be either more supportive or more demanding. Which category do you align with? More importantly, which gets the best results?
If you want to build a high-performing team you must first build a championship culture. In Above the Line, Urban Meyer tells coaches that “Leaders create culture. Culture drives behavior. Behavior produces results.” Winning begins with culture.
Our brains filter information 24/7. Some information makes it to our consciousness, some doesn’t. Some information we believe. Other we dismiss. A hidden process in our brains causes us to make assumptions, judgements, and decisions without having all the information. It is called the confirmation bias.
For 800 years have I trained Jedi,” Yoda explained to an impatient Luke Skywalker in Star Wars: Episode V The Empire Strikes Back. In honor of this week’s release of Stars Wars: The Force Awakens, I thought it best that we all sharpen our mental edges through the wisdom of Grand Master Yoda. Much can we learn to toughen our minds if listen we will to Yoda’s instruction.
When it comes to work, we all want to be part of a close knit and hardworking team. However, one bad apple can wreck a good team. If your team has been out of sorts lately, you may be to blame.
Who’s to blame? That seems to be everyone’s primary concern when a project falls apart or things don’t go according to plan. We call it finger pointing. However, the reality is that failures can almost always be traced back to one person – the leader.
Burnout is rampant. Americans, especially, are working more hours than ever and sleeping less than ever before. Sadly, the United States is the only developed country that doesn’t guarantee workers paid vacation. Burnout seems inevitable. Indeed, it is a worldwide issue. However, burnout is NOT a foregone conclusion and you CAN proactively buffer yourself from it.
You know what it feels like to be overwhelmed. If not, check your pulse. Sometimes we take on too much. We get behind. Other times we get overloaded by other’s agendas. We can easily find ourselves in over our heads, drowning in our task lists, and feeling completely overwhelmed.
