I remember when I first got into the classroom. One of the early realizations that I had was the similarities between the guys and girls in the class. Stereotypically, we often think that girls are more introspective, future focused, and sensitive to the pressures of their environment. Anecdotally, I often found the opposite to be true. High school girls are ruthless... Now that I’m entering my 9th year coaching, I’m convinced that young men have many of the same concerns about the future as...
about 1 year ago • 2 min read
Upon becoming a head coach for the first time, I was immediately inundated with decisions to be made. It felt like a fire hose of constant choices and questions landing on my desk, waiting for my action and answers. Quickly, I was overwhelmed and felt underprepared. When I work with other first-year leaders, many of them feel the same. While time and experience assisted in handling the many choices of leadership, I still desired to have a system that would help in dealing with making...
about 1 year ago • 2 min read
I love the story of the miner who chips away at the rock looking for treasure and goods to be sold. He chips and chips only to find more rock. Finally, he walks away, leaving dust and sweat in the mine. Years later, another miner goes on the same hunt. He enters the mine and swings his axe. Within a couple blows, he strikes gold. In history, famed photo-journalist, Jacob Riis describes this concept with his quote about the stonecutter. “When nothing seems to help, I go and look at a...
about 1 year ago • 1 min read
It was uncomfortable. Having to bring up the poor performance, but what I witnessed was laughable. The answer was clear, it had to be addressed. However, when we came to the locker room, no one said anything... Not the coach, not the upperclassmen, no one. As a freshman, I thought, "is this how college baseball works?" As I learned later on, that wasn't the case, instead, it was simply the symptom of a greater issue we faced inside of our program. What was so hard about that? Why weren't we...
about 1 year ago • 2 min read
Last week, I hosted a virtual leadership workshop with an organization, and our topic for the day was confidence. More specifically, how do we build confidence in our people and inside of our team? As I began to build out the content for the event, I started reflecting on when I've felt most confident versus times where I've felt insecure and unequipped. At some point in life, we've all felt both of those emotions. What I would argue is that confidence is at the core of who we want to become...
about 1 year ago • 3 min read
It is 2024. As I'm watching the snow fall in Michigan, it is always interesting to me that we proclaim newness and resolution in the dead of winter. The irony in that is literary genius. This week, my team begins preparation for the 2024 season. There are a lot of unknowns and angst as we begin to work toward our spring campaign. I'm sure many of you may feel the same way about your team. Whether it is your team at home, your business, your classroom, or another group you lead, if you're like...
about 1 year ago • 2 min read
This week there has been a theme playing out in my life. The kind of theme where coincidence collides with design. It began with an encouraging note from an alum this week, followed by another text from a current player. Friday, we went to our local Christmas parade... the kids loved it. This weekend, I got to spend time at home, a chance to breathe deeply with the family. Finally, we visited a Church, and the message was about not missing the signs of Christmas, instead being grateful for...
over 1 year ago • 2 min read
There’s a super poignant story of an interview where the subject was asked if they would like $1 million dollars. Of course, the interviewee says yes immediately, without hesitation. The interviewer then asks, I will give you $1 million dollars right now, but tomorrow, you won’t wake up, do you still want it? Now the subject of the questions pauses, and says no, of course not. The interviewer then says, “so you value time over money…? Why are you wasting so much time being ungrateful…” We all...
over 1 year ago • 2 min read
This week, I've been asked multiple times about how leaders approach brainstorming questions and ideas. To assist with this concept, I'm sharing a template that we use from time to time that helps direct our thoughts and actions. At the bottom of this newsletter, you'll find a FREE Download for our Concept Map Template. First, we must identify the idea, question, or problem that we are grappling with. One of the many challenges leaders struggle with is the ability to clearly identify the main...
over 1 year ago • 2 min read