I really like the thought that every day is a job interview. We have a conscious choice of how we approach each day. One thing I know is people are always watching and paying attention. As a coach, how I carry myself each day has a lasting impact on the players I have the privilege to be around each day. My hope is that I am consistent, and that I let my personality come out. Being consistent is not easy. We all are dealing with our own "stuff," but with the ability to be self-aware and talk to myself, I hope that I am doing a good job being consistent each day. As a player, especially at the high school and college levels, you never know who is watching. For example, the best scouts are the ones that blend in, because they want to see the true you, not a player that puts on a show because they know there are people in the stands watching. I coach at a JUCO, and our players have goals and aspirations to play this game at the highest levels. How they approach their days impacts their ability to not only learn and grow, but also provides a blueprint for people out there watching, and their teammates/coaches, to understand what type of a player they are, and what type of a team we are.
I have a scenario that I first proposed to the players I coached at Minnesota Duluth. I was the hitting coach there and I felt like we as a group did not have an identity. I really like that word, and I think it's powerful both from an individual and group standpoint. Here is the scenario I proposed to the hitters:
Imagine it's game day, and there person in town that is a baseball junkie. Maybe they just love the game; maybe they played or coached in the college or professional ranks... They see we have a game and decide to come check it out. They have never seen us play before and don't know much about our history, but they just want to watch some baseball. What do you want that person to say about you as a player? Additionally, what do we want that individual to say about us as a group? What words would that person use to describe you/us?
I proposed this question to our hitters specifically, but obviously it can be used for a pitching staff, and the team in general. I gave the guys a day to think about the words that they would want to be used to describe them both as individuals, and as a group. The next day, I asked for their responses, and here were some of the words/comments: resilient, relentless, disciplined, go-getters, confident, present, "they attack,"they make it difficult on the opposition," "they are gritty,""they are in complete control of themselves," "they compete their asses off."
I was very happy with these responses. The next step was to have the players explain what each of these words/comments "looked like." What actions would make someone random say these things about you/us? Talk is cheap if you aren't willing/able to put those words into action, so we needed to understand what it looked like. After we discussed/understood how these words can be put into action, we now needed to live up to it. Were they perfect in turning these words into action? Of course not, but this scenario provided a framework for me as a coach to help keep them on the right track. We could go back to these words/comments to hold ourselves accountable towards living up to our desired identity.
This scenario is similar to coming up with goals as an individual and team. For example, if our goal as a team is to win the World Series, that is a desired result in the far future, so it then becomes how are we going to approach each day/opportunity we have to help us accomplish what we seek? This defines the almighty word that gets thrown around a lot in athletics...process. There is a process involved in accomplishing great feats, just as there is a process involved in living up to our desired identity.
What would you want that random person that shows up to the ballpark to say?
Thank you all for taking the time to read these posts.
Yours in baseball,
Burm
I have a scenario that I first proposed to the players I coached at Minnesota Duluth. I was the hitting coach there and I felt like we as a group did not have an identity. I really like that word, and I think it's powerful both from an individual and group standpoint. Here is the scenario I proposed to the hitters:
Imagine it's game day, and there person in town that is a baseball junkie. Maybe they just love the game; maybe they played or coached in the college or professional ranks... They see we have a game and decide to come check it out. They have never seen us play before and don't know much about our history, but they just want to watch some baseball. What do you want that person to say about you as a player? Additionally, what do we want that individual to say about us as a group? What words would that person use to describe you/us?
I proposed this question to our hitters specifically, but obviously it can be used for a pitching staff, and the team in general. I gave the guys a day to think about the words that they would want to be used to describe them both as individuals, and as a group. The next day, I asked for their responses, and here were some of the words/comments: resilient, relentless, disciplined, go-getters, confident, present, "they attack,"they make it difficult on the opposition," "they are gritty,""they are in complete control of themselves," "they compete their asses off."
I was very happy with these responses. The next step was to have the players explain what each of these words/comments "looked like." What actions would make someone random say these things about you/us? Talk is cheap if you aren't willing/able to put those words into action, so we needed to understand what it looked like. After we discussed/understood how these words can be put into action, we now needed to live up to it. Were they perfect in turning these words into action? Of course not, but this scenario provided a framework for me as a coach to help keep them on the right track. We could go back to these words/comments to hold ourselves accountable towards living up to our desired identity.
This scenario is similar to coming up with goals as an individual and team. For example, if our goal as a team is to win the World Series, that is a desired result in the far future, so it then becomes how are we going to approach each day/opportunity we have to help us accomplish what we seek? This defines the almighty word that gets thrown around a lot in athletics...process. There is a process involved in accomplishing great feats, just as there is a process involved in living up to our desired identity.
What would you want that random person that shows up to the ballpark to say?
Thank you all for taking the time to read these posts.
Yours in baseball,
Burm
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