Mid-October: a magical time for basketball coaches. It is the equivalent of spring time for baseball fans

As you get ready to start your season, I thought I would share some thoughts with you on a critical element to building a successful team: Leadership

A word of warning here, my view will probably be a little different than most of the things you read on leadership. But, like I posted at the beginning of this thing almost a year ago, my objective with this blog is not to pretend to be able to ‘advise’ you or try to tell you how to do things…..I simply want to give you some things to think about, tocause thought.

In regards to leadership on a team…..no doubt it is critical! I think I would lose any credibility I had, if I tried to say it wasn’t. What I want you to think about here is the source of that leadership. Every year you hear coaches lamenting over the fact that their team lacks leadership. Excuse making in my opinion…..trying to place blame on kids, trying to deflect heat. I’m not trying to throw you under the bus if you’ve ever said it…..heck, I admit that I’ve said it and used that excuse more than once.

Several years ago, I was going thru a stretch of what I thought was poor leadership in our program. I did what everybody does (what I had heard a thousand times in TV interviews), used ‘lack of leadership’ as an excuse for my team’s short-comings.

Then, one off-season during my program and self evaluation process, it dawned on me: I’m coaching kids. While it’s true that they need to be groomed for leadership and trained to be leaders, it’s also true that they were kids that needed a leader. So, I decided then that it was my job to provide whatever leadership was lacking any given year, and to quit using it as an excuse.

Your job is easier if you have great leadership within your kids. But, if you don’t, that cannot be an excuse for failure! Lead them…..your leadership role will change a little every year, but you have to embrace whatever role that is and provide it instead of using it as an excuse. I looked at it as part of my job in the off-season to look for, and figure out, what my leadership role would be. It was my job to figure out what these kids needed and then to provide it, instead of whining about them not having it.

This is definitely one of those things that falls into the ‘easier to say than do’ category. But taking on these challenges with young kids is also one of those things that makes the coaching profession so special and rewarding.

Hope you all have a rewarding season