The future is not coming, it has already arrived. In an age of rapid, unprecedented change we have to dynamically evolve and optimize the culture and practices of the teams and corporations we lead.
Coaching on the court, playing field, in the classroom as well as our workplaces in the 21st century is all about managing attitudes, behavior, energy, performance and time. Our purpose as servant coaches and leaders must be to successfully transport our thoughts, beliefs, and reactions from a 20th-century mentality to a 21st-century mindset.
The coaches’ that challenge the status quo while innovatively disrupting their team’s learning, thinking and behavior understand what they do really well while relentlessly focusing on empowering those they lead. These individuals know the moment they begin to think they have won, they have ultimately lost.
The most important words you can say to your team is “I Believe in You.”
A good coach takes their team where they want to go. A great coach takes them where they do not necessarily want to go, but have to go. If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are an outstanding coach. Always aspire to be somebody who makes everybody feel like somebody.
Too many sports and corporate teams become prisoners of other people’s expectations of them. The last thing you are in the 21st century is only just a coach. Your work is about changing lives. You are in the business of unleashing the vast potential of each member of your team. The best coaches emotionally connect with those they lead on a consistent basis while earning mutual trust, respect, buy-in, and stay in.
May these following thirty pivotal growth mindsets for the 21st-century coach allow you to capture the minds, hearts, and commitment of every individual you lead while inspiring and challenging your teams to higher levels of achievement.
1. Teach more, coach less.
2. Focus on them, not me.
3. Pull more, push less.
4. Talk less, listen more.
5. Remove mental fences.
6. Find a balance between “How” and “Why.”
7. Service and serve the needs of your team.
8. Stress “positive growth” over winning.
9. Be Uncommon.
10. Embrace a “yes” mentality.
11. Own the problems.
12. Simplify – Simplify – Simplify.
13. Replace the old with the new.
14. Celebrate failure and success.
15. Manage failure.
16. Do not fall in love with your voice.
17. Adopt a “What’s Next” mentality.
18. Free up your team’s mind.
19. Search for the team’s outer limits.
20. Share the coaching and wisdom.
21. Evaluate and abandon old habits of thinking.
22. Speak with honesty. Listen with empathy.
23. Discover the person behind the face.
24. See the greatness of each team member.
25. Force your team out of their comfort zone.
26. The best gift you can give your team is an opportunity.
27. Do not be afraid to change.
28. Exhibit a willingness to process new information.
29. Go out of your way to make your team feel important.
30. Make yourself uncomfortable for the comfort of others.
