Management Lessons for Coaching Kids

Management Guru Sean O'Neill writes an excellent blog entitled "Bare Knuckle Management Movement", where he seeks to challenge the conventional wisdom on management and leadership. In a recent post, Sean writes about coaching boys' basketball and what he has gleaned from a few years in the pressure cooker of CYO and other kids' hoop leagues. He offers three key tenets that have served him well in this role:

1. "Tell them what you plan to do...and do it"
2. "Teach them how to operate on their own"
3. "Be yourself (unless you are Bobby Knight)"

Amen, Brother!

Now, basketball is one sport that I have not had the pleasure of coaching, but from my observation (dragged to a ton of siblings games at all levels growing up, alum of a perennial NCAA contender and my own kids play recreationally) hoop allows the coach more opportunity to be part of the "show" than most other sports. Consider that in hockey, the coach is usually separated from action by the glass. In baseball it's the dugout. In football there is a lot of real estate between the sideline and the huddle. And in soccer the coach has little to do from the sidelines besides yell until halftime (no timeouts either!). And then there is basketball. First off, games are usually played indoors where conversations and invective can be heard throughout the building - Duke's Coach K is notorious for his sideline rants. In youth and high school games, most of the gyms are small, so fans can be right on top of the action. An animated coach may find himself unable to resist the magnetic pull of the action on the floor, in spite of the referees best attempts to keep him or her confined to the bench area. And basketball is one game where a coach can exert a high degree of control of the action, beyond simply substituting players. There are frequent timeouts and play calling in the midst of the action, and "interaction" between coach and players, refs and even fans sometimes becomes part of the spectacle.

It all adds up to a not-so-great environment for a coach with a hot temper, a dramatic streak or a control issue. There is nowhere to hide on that 74' x 42' slab of hardwood; no dugout, no glass, no big guys with pads between you and the fans. And believe me, when a coach gets a technical foul, everybody sees it.

So Sean's advice to be clear with expectations, give the kids a little independence, and be yourself makes great sense on a lot of levels. If more coaches tried to work those simple tenets into their own coaching philosophy, everyone involved would benefit. Sports is a prelude to life for a lot of kids. Not life in the NBA, NFL, MLB or NHL; but real life. They will have plenty of time to find out what the experience of working for a poor manager or leader is like. Why not give them a positive experience to benchmark against.

"Be yourself...unless you are Bobby Knight!"