A great article came out recently in a business magazine. The author talked about the need for more leaders and fewer managers. I agree. Drawing the distinction is as easy as defining the terms.
A leader - sets the philosophy, sets goals, organizes how to get there and then moves his people in the right direction. A leader is constantly evaluating those he works with because he wants to reach his goals. He is also evaluating himself.
A manager - looks just like a leader in most respects but lacks the vision and direction and the desire to get there.
A leader will challenge the system to find a better way. A manager doesn't care what the system is as long as it doesn't interupt his management.
People like managers if they like being told what to do and just getting by.
People hate managers if they are driven.
People like leaders because leaders stand for something and believe in it. they set clear guides of what will be happening so the follower can decide to follow or not.
People hate leaders if they don't like change and being asked to fit into a program.
Managers like keeping themselves out of the spotlight of decision making because they fear what people think.
Leaders like being able to make the decisions because they are achieving something.
Leaders stand out in a crowd because they almost always have an oppinion and don't mind expressing it.
Managers are a dime a dozen and you find them around you all the time but you never notice them.
Leaders make enemies because taking a position means others will disagree with you.
Managers avoid conflict because they don't feel like they have a position worth fighting over.
Managers don't instill much confidence because they don't have high expectations.
Leaders create life long friends because they inspire others to do their best. Whether they mean to or not.
The world needs more leaders. Our programs need more leaders. Our schools, communities and businesses need more leaders. I love football because it trains people to be leaders.
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Thursday, February 5, 2009
I'M DONE. FINALLY!
This week I finished my Masters degree in PE and Coaching. To say I've learned a lot would be an understatement. The only bad thing about getting my masters degree is that I have to pay for it now. It's unfortunate that the economy had to go bad at the same time I finished.
Now instead of making money because I'm educated, I'm actually losing it.
I figured out today that if I used my coaching stipend to pay for my masters it would take me the next 15 years to pay it off. I'm not bitter, just laughing at the irony of the situation.
However, no matter the situation, I'll always be glad I went through the struggle to learn what I learned and get the expertise in the field so I can be better.
Now instead of making money because I'm educated, I'm actually losing it.
I figured out today that if I used my coaching stipend to pay for my masters it would take me the next 15 years to pay it off. I'm not bitter, just laughing at the irony of the situation.
However, no matter the situation, I'll always be glad I went through the struggle to learn what I learned and get the expertise in the field so I can be better.
Monday, February 2, 2009
HIGHER EXPECTATIONS
In January I attended a football clinic in southern California. I learned more than I could ever use in one season. I met with coaches from all over the southwest as well as some college and NFL coaches. Without a doubt it was the best learning experience I've had as a coach so far.
So, what did I learn?
First, and probably most important, I was reminded that the kids in California and the kids in Snowflake are the same. I expected to see kids on film that were 6'2", 220 lbs. Instead I saw kids that were the same as our athletes. One school of 2000 had linemen that averaged 200lbs. Our linemen are bigger than that. That school was the Division 5 CIF champions.
Second, their athletes are required to work out year round. Even the small programs that share athletes require their athletes to lift year round.
Third, I was reminded that we set our own limits. As soon as we sit back and say, "That's all we can do," then our progress has stopped and we won't get better. The programs that are winning year after year are functioning at a different level from ours. Rather than sitting back and being satisfied with taking 3rd place in our conference every year I'm committed to kicking our apathy in the teeth.
We have the potential to be the best team in the state. We have the athletes. We have the numbers. We have the coaches. Now we just need to have a winning attitude and a commitment to take ourselves to the next level.
So, what did I learn?
First, and probably most important, I was reminded that the kids in California and the kids in Snowflake are the same. I expected to see kids on film that were 6'2", 220 lbs. Instead I saw kids that were the same as our athletes. One school of 2000 had linemen that averaged 200lbs. Our linemen are bigger than that. That school was the Division 5 CIF champions.
Second, their athletes are required to work out year round. Even the small programs that share athletes require their athletes to lift year round.
Third, I was reminded that we set our own limits. As soon as we sit back and say, "That's all we can do," then our progress has stopped and we won't get better. The programs that are winning year after year are functioning at a different level from ours. Rather than sitting back and being satisfied with taking 3rd place in our conference every year I'm committed to kicking our apathy in the teeth.
We have the potential to be the best team in the state. We have the athletes. We have the numbers. We have the coaches. Now we just need to have a winning attitude and a commitment to take ourselves to the next level.
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
WHAT IS A REAL WORKOUT?
What is a real workout? Everyone has their oppinion on what works and what doesn't but everyone agrees on one thing, workouts are supposed to be hard. You are supposed to push yourself. If you are really serious about getting better you should get a coach to push you.
How hard can you go? How hard is too hard? There are some basic factors on making sure you get strong the right way.
1. You have to build a base of strength. Can you do 10 pushups with perfect form? If not there's no need to bench press. You have to work from weakness to strength. It takes time and patience.
2. You have to work on speed and explosiveness to become explosive and fast. Have you ever heard about the strongest kid in the school that was never much of a football player? Every school has one. That kid never got out of the weightroom and worked on agility and skill specific work. You have to apply your strength and train your muscles to create power. Being strong is important but it's not enough.
3. Getting a good workout takes mental toughness. Tough workouts are the training grounds for mental toughness. Every coach tries to recreate competition by having their athletes compete in the off season. However, it's just not the same as the pressure of the state finals. Looking at a weight that you don't know you can lift or a workout that you aren't sure you can finish and then having the mental toughness to attack it and win is as good as anything I've ever seen to teach mental toughness.
Take a look at Joe Defranco's idea of a tough workout. Take a look at the grit and toughness in the eyes of the kids he's training and ask yourself if you attack your training like these guys. http://www.strongmovie.com/
How hard can you go? How hard is too hard? There are some basic factors on making sure you get strong the right way.
1. You have to build a base of strength. Can you do 10 pushups with perfect form? If not there's no need to bench press. You have to work from weakness to strength. It takes time and patience.
2. You have to work on speed and explosiveness to become explosive and fast. Have you ever heard about the strongest kid in the school that was never much of a football player? Every school has one. That kid never got out of the weightroom and worked on agility and skill specific work. You have to apply your strength and train your muscles to create power. Being strong is important but it's not enough.
3. Getting a good workout takes mental toughness. Tough workouts are the training grounds for mental toughness. Every coach tries to recreate competition by having their athletes compete in the off season. However, it's just not the same as the pressure of the state finals. Looking at a weight that you don't know you can lift or a workout that you aren't sure you can finish and then having the mental toughness to attack it and win is as good as anything I've ever seen to teach mental toughness.
Take a look at Joe Defranco's idea of a tough workout. Take a look at the grit and toughness in the eyes of the kids he's training and ask yourself if you attack your training like these guys. http://www.strongmovie.com/
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
A UNIFIED APPROACH
When I first came to Snowflake the school sponsored a clinic put on by Bigger Faster Stronger. It was increadible. We were taught the correct techniques of lifting and Mr. Scurran gave us some great advice. I was excited to get into the nuts and bolts of the high schools weights programs.
I like a lot of the BFS principles, especially for high school students. However, there's one thing that is more important than any exercise and that's unity in purpose. It's extremely important in the BFS program that all the sports buy into the same system. Without this unity there's no chance that the kids will reach their potential.
I am going to start working to create this unity. I'm inviting our athletes to buy into the system that will help us be winners. Whatever it might be. We are not as physically prepared as the teams we are coming up against and that can change.
I hope this will be something that will help us reach our potential.
I like a lot of the BFS principles, especially for high school students. However, there's one thing that is more important than any exercise and that's unity in purpose. It's extremely important in the BFS program that all the sports buy into the same system. Without this unity there's no chance that the kids will reach their potential.
I am going to start working to create this unity. I'm inviting our athletes to buy into the system that will help us be winners. Whatever it might be. We are not as physically prepared as the teams we are coming up against and that can change.
I hope this will be something that will help us reach our potential.
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
STRETCHING: HELP OR HURT?
Stretching can be a great part of any athletes workouts. Just like anything else, however, there's a right and wrong way to do it. A lot of new research has come out talking about the effectiveness of stretching for athletes. We won't spend a lot of time analyzing all of it here but it is worth looking into.
Some basic rules and guidelines that can help you use stretching to its fullest potential follow.
1. Stretching is great! Alwyn Cosgrove said, "How can something that makes you feel better be bad for you?" I agree.
2. Static stretching should be done after a workout and not before. Static stretching is the kind where you hold a position that is uncomfortable for a period of time. Research has shown that stretching before a workout tends to relax the muscles at a time when they need to be rigid and explosive. One study actually showed that stretching can undo the good that comes from a warmup.
3. Stretching shouldn't hurt. Static or Dynamic stretching shouldn't be painful. Most of the stretching I've seen is performed incorrectly. You'd think the people doing it are going through torture! Pain is an indication that there's something going wrong. It may be that you need to learn more about how to do it. Don't continue through pain. Talk to your coach or a physician.
4. When a muscle is flexed it can't stretch. It seems like this would be a common sense idea but I've personally seen people stretching that try to force flexibility. Remember, flexibility comes because a muscle is relaxed. Strength comes because it is tense. Both have their place. When you try to do both at the same time pain or injury is usually the outcome. Don't have other people push on you when you stretch until you've learned how to relax your muscles. Even then, be careful with partner stretches.
5. Stretching isn't a very effective warm up. I'm not saying it's evil. There's just more effective ways to get ready to work. Dynamic warm ups are much more effective. Move the joints. If there's tightness keep moving them until the tightness goes away. That means the muscle is warm. Progress from slow movements that make the muscles mobile to explosive movements where you are functioning at 100%.
Stretching should be a part of every athletes improvement plan. However, doing it right and at the right time makes it effective.
Some basic rules and guidelines that can help you use stretching to its fullest potential follow.
1. Stretching is great! Alwyn Cosgrove said, "How can something that makes you feel better be bad for you?" I agree.
2. Static stretching should be done after a workout and not before. Static stretching is the kind where you hold a position that is uncomfortable for a period of time. Research has shown that stretching before a workout tends to relax the muscles at a time when they need to be rigid and explosive. One study actually showed that stretching can undo the good that comes from a warmup.
3. Stretching shouldn't hurt. Static or Dynamic stretching shouldn't be painful. Most of the stretching I've seen is performed incorrectly. You'd think the people doing it are going through torture! Pain is an indication that there's something going wrong. It may be that you need to learn more about how to do it. Don't continue through pain. Talk to your coach or a physician.
4. When a muscle is flexed it can't stretch. It seems like this would be a common sense idea but I've personally seen people stretching that try to force flexibility. Remember, flexibility comes because a muscle is relaxed. Strength comes because it is tense. Both have their place. When you try to do both at the same time pain or injury is usually the outcome. Don't have other people push on you when you stretch until you've learned how to relax your muscles. Even then, be careful with partner stretches.
5. Stretching isn't a very effective warm up. I'm not saying it's evil. There's just more effective ways to get ready to work. Dynamic warm ups are much more effective. Move the joints. If there's tightness keep moving them until the tightness goes away. That means the muscle is warm. Progress from slow movements that make the muscles mobile to explosive movements where you are functioning at 100%.
Stretching should be a part of every athletes improvement plan. However, doing it right and at the right time makes it effective.
Monday, December 15, 2008
WE SET OUR OWN LIMITS
One thing I've learned about people is that they like results. Whether it's kids or adults, we want to see improvement in things we think should improve. We also place limits on how far those improvements should go. Most of the time we do it without knowing it but we all do it in one form or another.
I like to remind myself of this fact every now and then just to shake things up. Having high expectations and pushing those expectations is a great way to improve our situations.
Have you ever heard about the guy that broke the 4 minute mile. Probably not. His name was Roger Bannister. In his day every "expert" had proved that running a sub 4 minute mile was impossible. Everyone thought running a sub 4 minute mile would kill you. Nobody had tested the body to the extent that would make running that hard possible. On May 6, 1954 Bannister recorded the first sub 4 minute mile with a time of 3:59.4. 46 days later John Landy ran a 3:57.9. 3 years later 16 runners had logged a sub 4 minute mile. The current world record is 15 seconds faster.
I relate this back to the subject of limits. We believe change takes time, so it does. Think about the limits you see around you. Keep in mind, some limits are set for our safety, while other limits do nothing but hold us down and keep us from reaching our potential. Can you tell the difference between the two? Do you have the courage to reach past your current limits?
I like to remind myself of this fact every now and then just to shake things up. Having high expectations and pushing those expectations is a great way to improve our situations.
Have you ever heard about the guy that broke the 4 minute mile. Probably not. His name was Roger Bannister. In his day every "expert" had proved that running a sub 4 minute mile was impossible. Everyone thought running a sub 4 minute mile would kill you. Nobody had tested the body to the extent that would make running that hard possible. On May 6, 1954 Bannister recorded the first sub 4 minute mile with a time of 3:59.4. 46 days later John Landy ran a 3:57.9. 3 years later 16 runners had logged a sub 4 minute mile. The current world record is 15 seconds faster.
I relate this back to the subject of limits. We believe change takes time, so it does. Think about the limits you see around you. Keep in mind, some limits are set for our safety, while other limits do nothing but hold us down and keep us from reaching our potential. Can you tell the difference between the two? Do you have the courage to reach past your current limits?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
