Photo courtesy of Raytown High School Athletics, David’s alma mater.
David Novak keeps the lessons fresh and relevant with new insights into the key learnings.
Fall is in the air and football season is off and running. The hard work of preseason is over and the coaches now have the job of leading their teams to victory.
I guarantee you that the best coaches and the best teams build trust in each other. It starts day one of practice with getting everyone on the team to believe in the game plan and building a team environment where everyone knows they make a difference.
Great coaches build credibility with their teams. They know their stuff and can always be counted on to tell it like they see it. They not only tell the truth, but are tough minded enough to take accountability for the results, both the good and most importantly the bad. This makes their players want to follow their lead.
Good coaches and players are also reliable in their actions. They do what they say and they follow up on their commitments. They know once you don’t, you sacrifice your integrity, your trust and then no one will truly believe you. As Warren Buffett once said, it takes twenty years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it. If you think about that you will always do what you promise.
The best of the best coaches are famous for seeking input and showing their team that they have taken action because of it. Just think about the times you’ve heard the great coaches say they changed a play because of the suggestion of one of their players and that was the key to the game. They know how to listen and they know how to share the credit.
And perhaps the most important trait exhibited by coaches and players that trust in one another, is that they always are focused on the results of the team and others more than themselves. Anytime you hear the post game interviews in the locker rooms of teams that trust in each other, they laud others more than themselves. You’ll hear running backs praise their offensive lineman for opening holes for them to run through and quarterbacks talking about how their defense kept them in the game so they could make the winning score.
When I think about the best teachers I ever had, I always trusted them. I knew they had my best interest at heart and I knew I could always count on them to give me all they had. Without trust, you can never achieve your full potential as a leader and you can never help others achieve theirs.
Building trust is the bedrock of any relationship so it’s worth putting in the work and actions to build it.
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