Basketball & Leadership ??

My basketball journey started last summer.

My 7-year-old twin boys were playing basketball for the first time with an outdoor house league.

Our coach was 6’7, loud and passionate. He liked to plan and prepare each game in advance, and he expected a lot from the kids and their parents.

He would scream and get mad when kids didn’t understand or made mistakes but seemed to genuinely care to improve the team's performance.

I often felt he was too harsh. Half the time, the kids weren’t even listening to him, and he didn’t seem to notice that he was failing to capture their attention or hurting their motivation.

He seemed to forget that most of these kids were here to learn about basketball and have fun.

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I would observe him and relate his coaching style to leadership in organizations.

Like many leaders, he was so focused on the end results that he would overlook the means.

He cared about winning, rules and regulations, skills and technique and didn’t spend enough time and effort motivating and recognizing the team.

I felt that if he had been more encouraging, and valued the kids' efforts, they would be motivated to improve.

I also recognized that he was passionate and dedicated to the team, and I respected that quality enough to overlook the rest.

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One day, he emailed all parents to let us know he had to miss a game and asked if someone could cover for him. I didn’t volunteer because I didn’t understand all the rules and terms of basketball well enough.?

The evening before the game, he called me, apologized for the last-minute approach, and asked if I could step in and help. He told me he would prepare the shift sheet for me and that he had confirmed with each parent their child’s presence in advance. He wanted to make it as easy as possible for me.??

The next day, I showed up ready for my coaching debut. My boys were stoked and excited to tell everyone I was their mom.

?We were up against the strongest team. We were losing badly during the first half.

I remember encouraging the kids, laughing with them on the bench, and uniting them for a new team song we had created together.

The second half started, and we started scoring! We caught up and even took the lead at one point. In the last 30 seconds, the other team won by 1.

We were so proud of ourselves; we had played our best game yet and left happy.

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For the rest of the summer, I was assistant coach. Coach was happy to have support and someone in his corner.

He even volunteered more of his time and offered the kids an additional practice on a weeknight.

His passion for basketball and coaching was admirable.

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During games, he remained true to himself and continued to scream and get irritable when things didn’t work out.

I couldn’t change him obviously so I focused my time and efforts where I could make a difference. I wanted to cover for his blind spot and make up for where he felt short, like offering positive encouragement to the team and ensuring our kids were having fun, which helped improved performance.

Today we are still playing basketball. I enjoy observing and analyzing the coaches' leadership styles and their impacts on our children.?

And of course, I'm still an assistant coach and subbing for coaches when they are absent because someone has to, and sometimes showing up, even when we don’t have all the answers, is just good enough.

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This little story illustrates something we can apply to our professional lives as well.??

Here are the leadership and partnership lessons I took away from coaching team sports.?

★ How to adapt, work and accept different leadership styles.

★ The importance of covering each other’s blind spot.

★ Not being afraid to step up and to try something new.

★ Understanding that you don’t need to know everything or be the best to offer your best.??

What leadership lessons or skills have you gained from team sports ??

#teamsports #basketballcoach #coaching #leadership