Coach the Player, Not the Score

The idea of ‘coaching the player, not the score’ has come across my radar twice in the last few days.  It’s been what I’ve been trying to elucidate for the last 20,000 words.  Leave it to John Wooden to figure it out in six.

The first, was John Wooden’s talk at TED.  It’s well worth the 18-minute investment if you’re busy procrastinating.  His overarching point is that successful coaches focus on the individual and get the best out of each of them instead of comparing them or trying to shape them to others.  When you focus on getting the best out of each player then the score of the game takes care of itself.

The second was an interview with Jimmy Rollins during baseball’s opening game on Sunday night.  Rollins speaking about his manager (paraphrased as I don’t have the direct quote handy), “Coach recognizes that this team is made up of 25 individuals and that each of us has a different way of going about things.  He has rules, but he let’s us do our thing within the construct of the team in order to accomplish our larger goals.”  High praise considering Charlie Manuel, the Phillies manager, benched Rollins for failing to run hard to first base on a pop fly a few months prior.

photo by yogma

This isn’t to say you just let everyone do as they please.  Instruction and coaching is still at the heart of what each of these men do.  They want their players to get better, but they recognize that getting better will happen in different ways for each player.  Each player has a different ceiling and each wants to get something different out of the experience.

Just because we share common job titles doesn’t mean we share common skills or goals.  As counterintuitive as it may seem, when you acknowledge individual differences and tailor your message accordingly you will ultimately be more likely to get them to try doing things differently.

Take the time to learn your players so you can push the right buttons in order to get them to take their game to the next level.

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