As the Women's Soccer Coach at the University of North Carolina, Anson Dorrance's teams have won 22 National Championships. In his fantastic 1996 book, Training Soccer Champions, with Tim Nash, Coach Dorrance describes the parallels between an effective coach and an effective parent:
"Coaching is a lot like parenting. Parents who have produced some of the greatest kids I know, are unbelievable nags... in a positive sense. They are always reminding their kids what to do. They are constructing a behavior for their children that will eventually become natural. By insisting that they perform this way, their children become the sort of people they want them to become. But it does not happen by accident. It is because there is a constant effort by the parents to instruct.
Coaching and motivating players are the same way. Telling a player to get fit, for example, is not good enough. You must instruct them about the process - how often, what kind (aerobic, anaerobic, or combinations), what intensity - so they are thoroughly educated.
You nag them about it constantly because it will rarely be a natural inclination. You tease them about it if other methods do not work. Sometimes you are sarcastic, sometimes you are serious. Sometimes you bring them in one-on-one and talk about their wonderful potential and let them know the steps they need to take to reach it. You have to find their button because everyone is different."
Players who have been effectively coached can help build culture.Coach Dorrance gave this example:
"The culture for the women's national team is you come into training camps fit. A lot of players do not follow what the coach would like the culture to be. They follow the player's culture. They have heard the coach say, "You've got to come in fit," and they say to the other players, "He's not serious about this is he?" They hope to hear the other player say that the coach is not serious, he says that every year and nobody ever comes in fit. But what they will hear from the players on the national team is that if they do not come in fit, they are in trouble, and likely, they will struggle. The veterans tell the new players, "You come in fit. That's all there is to it." The players come in fit. That is the culture.
Do your team members help establish your culture?
"Coaching is a lot like parenting. Parents who have produced some of the greatest kids I know, are unbelievable nags... in a positive sense. They are always reminding their kids what to do. They are constructing a behavior for their children that will eventually become natural. By insisting that they perform this way, their children become the sort of people they want them to become. But it does not happen by accident. It is because there is a constant effort by the parents to instruct.
Coaching and motivating players are the same way. Telling a player to get fit, for example, is not good enough. You must instruct them about the process - how often, what kind (aerobic, anaerobic, or combinations), what intensity - so they are thoroughly educated.
You nag them about it constantly because it will rarely be a natural inclination. You tease them about it if other methods do not work. Sometimes you are sarcastic, sometimes you are serious. Sometimes you bring them in one-on-one and talk about their wonderful potential and let them know the steps they need to take to reach it. You have to find their button because everyone is different."
Players who have been effectively coached can help build culture.Coach Dorrance gave this example:
"The culture for the women's national team is you come into training camps fit. A lot of players do not follow what the coach would like the culture to be. They follow the player's culture. They have heard the coach say, "You've got to come in fit," and they say to the other players, "He's not serious about this is he?" They hope to hear the other player say that the coach is not serious, he says that every year and nobody ever comes in fit. But what they will hear from the players on the national team is that if they do not come in fit, they are in trouble, and likely, they will struggle. The veterans tell the new players, "You come in fit. That's all there is to it." The players come in fit. That is the culture.
Do your team members help establish your culture?
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