Sport and the Growing Good

All teams face the grind, the mundane, even the doldrums, throughout the course of their time together. How can coaches keep spirits up, and "even make the mundane sacred?” Coach Jackson and Professor Miller discussed:1.        The responsibility that players have for playing.2.        The coach can bring some fun and joy to the season.3.        Times of the season that can become a drag.4.        Giving out books to players. 5.        Giving players a “shield.” “Name your hero. Who motivated you? Favorite music?…”6.        The “bulls-eye.” “What’s your relationship to the team? Where do you fit on the team? Using the bulls-eye as a discussion point. “Why did you place yourself outside of the circle?” Getting a personal relationship with the players.7.        Collected silly fines as winnings for shooting games. Fun and competition. “It changes up the day or gives them some little incentive... just something different."8.        Had rookies read "20 principles of good behavior.” Then got to know players’ reading levels and gave other books.9.        Formal meditation session before videos.10.  George Mumford assessing, “How are we doing as a group (in relation to the mid-line)?” Conversation starter. Get to know lives of teammates.11.  Relating the 8-fold principles of Buddhism to the offense.12.  Inserting comedian clips into the video. Bring humor into it.13.  Theme videos for particular opponents. Drawing from certain movies, etc. 14.  Having players grit their teeth on pencils to demonstrate aggression. Led to laughter.15.  Tai Chi in front of big mirrors. Be willing to try new things!16.  Seeing an eagle fly by.17.  “Be patient with me, because I’m going to try different stuff.”18.  Giving players Sundays off. “It’s a day for you family. A day for your spiritual recovery.”19.  Working closely with trainers to gauge players’ recovery and readiness.20.  How to handle long lay-offs and keep players fresh.21.  The Thanksgiving practice routine: Turkey Trot game. Keeping things fresh and fun.22.  Using symbolism: “The Way of the Warrior,” “The Chase for the White Buffalo”23.  Shields, arrows, prayer arrow, headdress all in the team meeting room.24.  What is your space? How do you respond when someone comes into your space? Retaliation? Fight mode? Being centered.25.  Rubber band snap for re-centering.26.  Knowing Awareness Training (KAT). Players were having difficulty learning. 27.  A simple touch to a player to re-center him, relax him.28.  “I liked finding things that were unique… out of the ordinary. It was kind of experimental.”

What does it mean to “have a system?” Why is it critical to build from the ground up?1.        Having a system is not unique to basketball. It applies to most all sports (e.g., rowing). “It transcends basketball, no doubt about it."2.        How Tex Winter used a system successfully at Kansas State and eventually brought it into the NBA.3.        "The system is important — but you have to be really patient. There are certain things about the system that require bonding of the players.”4.        "Systems are one of the necessary items, because it brings people together and gives direction... it’s not about you… it’s about the system.” (e.g., evaluation and critique can be de-personalized — so can successes)5.        "You need to have a system that you believe in.”6.        Bill Fitch.7.        “The whole is greater than the sum of the parts. But you can take a system apart and teach parts of the system. And the skills and the drills that we would run brought all of those things into play. They were all connected.”8.        "Everything has to be simplistic enough that it can be taught…And player must know that they are not going to disrupt everything just by making a mistake.”9.        Some principles of a sound offense. It’s a full court game played from end to end. You need to play with speed but still under control. Spacing is one of the most important things. Offense should incorporate the skills of all players — shooters, passers, rebounders, screeners, etc. (avoid baseline drive — one of the only “don’ts”). Move the ball after two beats. Penetrate the defense. Practice drills were set up around all of these things.10.  Building up from the ground. Show the system, what happens in the system. And then take it apart and teach the parts. 11.  Peer pressure in getting buy-in to the system. Veterans who understand it. Keep the standard. The standard is the key. The coach must uphold the standard.12.  The Celtics had only six plays for many years and kept winning. The system endures as individuals come and go. Sustainability. The Bulls second three-peat only included two of the same players as from the first three-peat.13.  Getting players that fit your system. Recruiting, assessment. AAU and college games are “raw energy.” Hard to see who has poise and understands the game. The system requires deeper skillset. Steve Kerr. He was a great fit for the system.14.  The system provides a clear foundation and direction that sets basis for spontaneity. Coach’s illustration (Suzuki's Zen Mind, Beginner Mind). “We have a certain structure that we use. But inside that structure there’s a freedom of movement and opportunity to do things that are spontaneous.”15.  “The offense was not built for Kobe or Michael Jordan. They don’t need an offense. The team needs an offense. The team needs to have that structure that is defining for them. So that they have a standard to live by. Something that you can mark up against. Something that you can teach, if you are a veteran, to younger players that are coming in that gives you a certain sense of participation. There’s ultimately an esprit de corps that comes from that. There’s a certain unity in group that comes from having to go through that exercise of doing maybe mundane parts over and over again.” 16.  Doing something at least seven times for neuron forming and muscle memory to occur. Golf in the Kingdom. "The inner self." It’s not a thought process. You don’t have to think it out. Your body knows what to do.” 17.  “You’re not thinking alone. You’re thinking together. It’s a team thought.” Using meditation and mindfulness with the team. “One mind, one breath.” That’s what we want to play with: one mind. There’s a higher mind. That mind is the system.”18.  Freedom through discipline. “Have a sense, what are the parameters, and then inside those parameters you have freedom for spontaneity and creativity.”

The distribution of leadership. Getting a strong staff, getting to know each other. Trusting each other and giving everyone meaningful roles. 1 The small room at the Chicago Bulls facility where Coach Jackson developed bonds with Coaches Bach and Winter. Three desks, two doors. Monitors.  2 Scouting upcoming teams. Making videos with the video machine.  3 Doug Collins (head coach) would be working out and rehabbing his knee. Other coaches would be in the room for three hours in the morning and more hours in the afternoon. 4 Conferring with each other, sharing knowledge. Conversations together about the game, its history and evolution. 5 Tex believed the players needed to develop deep knowledge of the game. 6 Exchanging “tricks of the trade” with each other (like letting air out of the balls to fit playing style). 7 Johnny’s zone trap. “We’d go through the mechanics of the game." 8 Johnny Bach named defensive coordinator, Tex Winter offensive coordinator.  9 “The exchange of ideas was a lot of fun.” 10 Tex Winter, Coach Jackson, and the evolution of the Triangle offense. 11 Coach Jackson asking Coach Gardner about how the Triangle played a role in their success. 12 "All these stories just geminated" in that room. 13 “I was curious and would listen to these guys who had been watching the game evolve since they were kids." 14 Doing videos with Johnny.  15 “We had an exchange that was very genuine.” 16 What we organized as a system was “the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.” 17 Teaching players the skills that would operate in the system. Drills and skills that fit into the system. “Everything fit into the system.” 18 Defensive drills in the system. 19 Knowing each other so well that trust was present. 20 How his ran a time-out. “Going to your safe spot on the bench.” Assistants go to huddle. Then everyone stands and Coach Jackson addresses them. “Assistant coaches get to manifest their knowledge of the game." 21 Allowing for and valuing disagreement. But then going forward with one voice. 22 Why it’s dangerous when trying one-off copying of what others do instead of staying with your own set of rules. 23 Our basic principle on offense was “go away from pressure.” 24 “Be in the flow.” 25 Using video tape to imprint ideas. (e.g., The way of the peaceful warrior). How to value your opponent to bring out your best self. Lakota perspective. “We’re lucky to have the opponent that’s creating more thoughtful play out of what we’re trying to do. And we don’t have to do it through resistance or overpowering or retaliation. We can do it in another way." 26 Letting go. Scottie suggesting Ron Harper should guard Hardaway instead of Jordan. “That suggestion was perfect…That was a player stepping in…They know each other well.”

Coach Jackson joined us to discuss how and why coaches should build self-awareness.  Notes:1.        “I always thought there was something more to basketball than basketball.”2.        Standing at the center circle before the start of practice. “When people come to the center circle, everything has to be in order.”3.        Metacognition: how do we think about thinking. How do we monitor our own thoughts.4.        During coach’s first experiences coaching in the CBA, what were his thoughts about himself as coach? “I was going by instinct.” Also drew from some past experiences. “I didn’t know what I wanted to teach.” 5.        “How am I communicating with the players?” Focus on how energy affects players.6.        “You can’t fake it. You’ve got to be yourself.”7.        “Coaches need to have their own life in order.” Setting a behavioral model for the team.8.        Authenticity is more than our personality.9.        Coaches can fall into traps – threats that undermine metacognition: a) Stress. b) “Uncritical perceptions of our own fluency – we think we know more than we do.” c) dogmatism – rigidity.10.  Uncertainty is a good thing. But how can we embrace the “good elements” of uncertainty with still being a strong leader?  Examples from Red Holzman as he took over the Knicks – he focused on defense (what he knew), but left offense more to the players. “He made himself transparent.” 11.  “Give the team a voice.”12.  Recognizing players with insights and calling on them. “He (Red) gave up authority.”13.  Only about 15% of people are fully self-aware. But metacognition can be developed. Three strategies: structured reflection/journaling; feedback loops; mindfulness meditation, prayer.14.  Self-awareness helps us regulate our behavior. 15.  Feedback loops with the coaching staff.16.  The importance of confession – time to speak openly and freely about struggles.17.  Mindfulness meditation. Sitting with yourself. “I thow it out there as a value, ‘but you can’t lead a horse to water.’”18.  Zen and the Art of Archery. Implications for coaching.19.  Coach Ron Ekker’s book. Having a player go through visualization during a period of injury. “When he got back, he didn’t miss a beat.”20.  Tex Winter’s relaxation and visualization routines. “There’s a skill in relaxing the mind…This involves allowing yourself to stop thinking…I am just a transmission for what’s going to happen on the floor.”21.  Using the time during the national anthem to not think. 22.  “How do you see yourself as a coach?...What’s your role?”23.  Reflecting after different phases of the season.24.  On visualizing before the competition: “Not only do you have to be in the now. You have to be in the before now.”25.   You had to suffer the shipwreck through your efforts before you can seize the life raft that I threw you.” 26.  “The coach must allow the players to find the teaching.”27.  A coach’s dream: Players teaching each other.

Steve Stricker is a great golfer – but also a smart, effective and well-regarded leader. He served as Captain of the United States Ryder Cup and President’s Cup teams. His success in those venue was no mistake – he was organized, prepared, and ready when leadership roles were presented. We enjoyed a conversation about leadership, paying specific attention to Steve’s captaincies.1.        Growing up in Edgerton, WI playing baseball, basketball, and golf. The influences that coaches had on him. “Those coaches put together in that small community, it was a great childhood.”2.        What he learned as an assistant captain in the President’s Cup and Ryder Cup. “I learned a lot what to do. And perhaps even more importantly, I learned what did not work.”3.        Communication as a leader: Making sure everyone is on the same page. Facilitating partnerships.4.        “I learned a lot. I took it all in as an assistant. And I jotted it all down – what worked and didn’t work.”5.        Self-awareness. “I led the way I am. I didn’t try to become anybody different. I didn’t do anything outside of what I normally do or the person I am.”6.        I went in with a simple approach. I went in trying to facilitate relationships, being the same person I am when I play the game. And listening to them – I think that was a key. Listening to what their feelings are, what their needs are … My theory was, if they are comfortable with the situation and they feel good about what was going on and there were no surprises, then that’s going to bring out the best golf in them.”7.        Turning off the outside noise.8.        Making decisions as the captain. What are the hardest decisions and what guided you? Using stats, assistant captains, and his own gut feeling. 9.         Getting Bryson DeChambeau and Brooks Koepka aligned.10.  When did “gut decisions” come into play?  Example of the Morikawa and Johnson pairing.11.  Active listening. “You can tell by a guy’s voice or just his demeanor what excites him, what he’s ok with, and what he definitely doesn’t want to do.”12.  Using questionnaires to better understand the players. Paul Azinger’s influence in getting players’ personalities to mesh.13.  When you can’t give everyone what they want. Example of Justin Thomas and Jordan Spieth wanting to play together.14.  What did you do the night before the competition. Communicating early – making things clear days in advance: order, partners, format, etc. “They knew exactly what was going to happen.”15.  Minimizing functions and “fluff” before events. “Whatever it takes for you to do well, go and do it…”16.  Moving from “individual” to “team” perspective in Ryder Cup.17.  How do you lead on the day of competition? “I stayed out of their way.”18.  Differences between athletes across generations. “As a leader, you’ve got to adapt.”19.  Communicating with other members of the golfer’s entourage.20.  Learning from coaches in other sports.

Muffet McGraw is the head coach of the Notre Dame women’s basketball team. Her teams have won two national championships and competed in nine final fours. Coach McGraw was inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame and is widely recognized as one of the all-time great college basketball coaches. In this episode of SGG, we discussed:1.  Going into a bubble on gamedays.2.  Being grateful and supporting others during difficult times.3.  Learning from former St. Joseph’s Coach Jim Foster.4.  Coach Pat Summit as a gracious leader in the game of basketball.5.  The impact of social media on her relationships with players.6.  Various strategies she’s used to get to know her players.7.  Why she loved Niele Ivey the first time she saw her play.8.  Talking with players about “the three things you need to do” this season.9.  Asking questions to the team instead of always telling them what to do.10.  Giving players a voice in game preparation.11.  Watching other coaches’ practices and having conversations about making the right systems work.12.  Why she watches football practice… and how she collaborates with other coaches on her campus.13.  Learning about leadership from ROTC.14.  Areas where she is still trying to develop.15.  How she monitored her “tone” with her players.

Making wise decisions is at the heart of leadership. Coaches are faced with a constant barrage of decisions to be made, from the small ones of little consequence to the foundational decisions that shape our futures. Consider just a small sample of the many decisions we must make: Should I be a coach? Which job should I take? Who can I trust? What system should I run? Which players should I select? What play should we run? How can I solve this conflict? How long should we practice? What should I say to the team? How can we respond? This week we examine how we can become wise decision makers.  1.     Research on decisiveness. Decisiveness is tied to:  high self-efficacy (self belief),  low neuroticism (anxiety and over-thinking),  emotional regulation (including under stress),  cognitive processing speed (able to think quickly),  intuition (tapping into tacit knowledge). Louis Pasteur: "Inspiration comes only to the prepared mind." Carl Jung: "Just as the human body is a museum, so to speak, of its own history, so too is the psyche.”  Coach Jackson’s long trajectory of sports preparation which informed his mind and intuition, including in the CBA. The value of coaching in the G-League. “A lot of coaches are getting experience.” Selecting players: “Those are some of the harder decisions to make. How does the personality fit? How does the talent fit with the team? Those are things that I learned in the minor leagues before I came into the NBA as a head coach.” “As an assistant coach, there’s not a whole lot of decisions. You may make a decision about the scout team…But those are some of the minor decisions. The decisions that become difficult are things like disciplinary decisions…Those things become difficult because there is always a pecking order on a basketball team. The decision becomes, ‘how are you fair?’” Management decisions that arise for head coaches. “Those are hard decisions.” Non-action: problems that dissipate over time. “That problem will solve itself.” Two broad strategies for decision-making are commonly addressed: analysis (rooted in rationality and rigorous, detailed methods) and  intuition (drawn from tacit knowledge and gut-feeling, the body and senses). There is space for both intuition and analysis. On intuition: “There are some things that just strike you as, ‘I’ve got to react.’” Getting analysis from assistant coaches that informed his in-game decisions: “You could walk into the huddle with that information and disseminate it to the players.” “You can’t change the spots on a leopard.” Some people/players don’t change.  “Even though this player is really talented, is his talent and personality meshing with the team?” Intuition:  It is tied to experience, pattern recognition and deeper understandings. It is tied to our deepest values; it can be better in high stress situations and complex, uncertain ones. It may be less open to change.   Transactional vs transformational behavior: the latter incorporate others into the decision-making. “I can release this into the group because they are trustworthy.” Holistic intuition draws from a diversity of sources. (History, philosophy, theology, science, etc.). Pursuing “deep and narrow” expertise may be of practical use in many areas, but with regard to leadership and coaching, there may be advantages to gaining more holistic perspective.  Intuition: “It’s a developed characteristic. You have to work to develop it.” Example: knowing the temperature of the locker room. “You’ve got to be sensitive enough to understand the room…”  When you make a bad decision as a coach: “You’ve got to admit your fault. You have to be honest. If you’re not real with your group, you can lose them.” Letting the team get beat as an act of growth: “It was like a notification, ‘Here, eat this. Feel this. Know what it feels like to be on this end of a game which you wanted to win badly but you just didn’t have the fortitude. Literally, the fortitude to stand up to a team and measure up to the strength of their character.’ As a coach, sometimes you have to let your team get beat to learn a lesson.” Not calling time outs so quickly – having them play through it and figure things out for themselves. “I think this is one of those things that was unusual but also appropriate. ‘I’m not going to bail them out by letting them come over to the bench and avoid what’s going on out on the floor.’ They’ve got to eat it.” Discernment. Closely tethered to decision-making. It involves deeper introspection, moral or ethical evaluation, and often a spiritual or philosophical dimension. Discernment gets beyond the “what” should I decide and probes to the “why?" Should I coach? “What is your love of the game? … What is your relationship with the players? How good is the mood that you create with the team?...There are a number of things that you can see if you are really honest with yourself.” “Does it distract my life? Can I coach and still have a life to live that’s full?” Non-action. “Sometimes by allowing events to unfold, persons and situations reverse themselves.” Helping players make difficult decisions in free agency. “How important is money as opposed to having a level of enjoyment in your life or succeeding? Is money the most important thing? “You have to have an idea of how to have someone move out the door if you want them to move on and how to keep them around if you want them in the fold…Discussing that is hard ground, but it’s honest behavior and I think it’s just.” Dealing with outside influences, including parents. “You have to be impervious at some level…You have to be able to roll with that punch...” Changes in college sports. Tony Bennett leaving coaching. 

Dennis Scanlon is a Distinguished Professor of Health Policy and Administration and a Faculty Athletics Representative (FAR) at Penn State University. In addition to his renowned career as a researcher and teacher, he’s served in a critical leadership capacity at conference and campus levels as the Big Ten leads the way in a new era of college athletics. 1.        Dennis’ experience as a student-athlete at Villanova. I looked at the professors and thought, ‘this could be a cool job!’” 2.        What is a Faculty Athletics Representative? How did Dennis become one? 3.        Dennis’ regular FAR routines at Penn State. Active engagement in most dimensions of athletics endeavors, including academic eligibility, health and wellbeing, and admissions. 4.        How Dennis’ research and teaching agenda provides interesting perspectives into college athletics in the modern era. Legal issues, policy issues, economics issues.   5.        Some areas of uncertainty currently in college sports: Title IX, Labor law, collective bargaining. 6.        The importance of higher education leadership. Keeping the primary mission of the university centered. 7.        Challenges presented by frequent turnover in leadership positions on campuses. Institutional history. The “tragedy of the commons.” 8.        How his experiences as an athlete, coach, and parent of Division 1 athletes have contributed to his perspectives on college sports. “What we’re doing at the Division 1 level trickles down to these other levels.”

Omar Brown is the Senior Vice President of Community and Impact at the Big Ten Conference. He has a rich history of leadership with and beyond the conference. In his current role, Omar leads the way with student-athlete experiences and with community engagement. 1.        Two big parts of Omar’s job: 1) Student-athlete experience. 2) Community work. 2.        Student-Athlete Advisory Committee. Two SAAC meetings per year. 3.        CBS Championship games initiative. 4.        Big Life Series to Selma and a farm in Iowa. 5.        Reading week. 6.        Community work. In conjunction with big events. Renovating rec centers. Tours of campuses. Supporting teachers in Indianapolis. Renovating school in Indy. 7.        Adopted local school as “junior journalists.” 8.        What is the Student Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) on each campus. Each team has one or two reps. Each campus has a small executive committee to lead their campus. Two of these individuals are chosen to represent their school at the Big Ten. 9.        Why are there typically not as many football or basketball players on SAAC? 10.  SAAC at Big Ten talks about college sports issues and brings it back to their own campuses. 11.  Variance in SAAC across the conference. 12.  The richness of student-athlete resources provided by Big Ten athletic departments. 13.  Why making campus visits is important to Omar.  14.  Big Life Series. How and why did it come about? 15.  The Selma Big Life experience. Badgers in Selma.  16.  The Iowa Big Life experience.  17.  Marcus Carpenter. 18.  Future Big Life Series experience possibilities. 19.  Why community engagement around big events? “How can we make their community better?” Focus on local community residents. 20.  Omar’s regular routines. Why we wanted to get on campuses. “You really build the relationships there.” 21.  A job in Omar’s past: Organizational Transformation Consultant at Deloitte. Figuring our influential and impactful stakeholders. 22.  Leaders that Omar admired and why. Kevin Warren (preparation, presentation, perception, calmness). Tony Petitti (getting things done, avoiding “scope creep,” authenticity). 23.   “Anyone can work in sports.” Interconnectivity in college sports.

Katie Ahrens Smith is the Vice President of Policy and Compliance at the Big Ten Conference. She’s got a rich history of campus level leadership and offers a unique perspective on different leadership roles and on the interaction between institutions and the conference office.  1.        Why Katie entered athletic administration. 2.        What is the Senior Woman Administrator in an athletic department? Variance by institution. 3.        What does a campus-level sport administrator do? 4.        How does a campus-level sport administrator interact with the conference office?  5.        Olympic sport oversight committee at the conference. 6.        Ways that Katie is growing in the conference office role. Situational leadership. 7.        Impacts of the growth of volleyball on the game, the experience of the student-athletes – and the leadership work surrounding it all. 8.        The impacts of the Big Ten Network on a new generation of athletes. 9.        What is the policy and compliance team at the conference doing amid an era of rapid change in the college sports world. 10.  Katie’s keys for communication. Be accurate. Prepare. Listen.