All leaders know that value of having a personal coach. Coaches take your performance to a higher level. They see things about your daily activity that you do not see. Coaches know how to leverage your strengths and minimize your weaknesses. They motivate you to stay on task. Great coaches simply make us better.
In addition to having a coach, a leader must also be a coach who is responsible for coaching others. So the question begs what are the habits of highly successful coaches?
In the March 18th edition of Sports Illustrated, Chris Mannix ranks the NBA’s top 8 coaches and what makes them so successful. As I read the article, I identified 9 practices of highly successful coaches. All leaders can learn from the following list.
- Highly Successful Coaches Are Adaptable – As professional sport’s longest tenured head coach, San Antonio Spurs Gregg Popovich’s greatest strength is adaptability. During his first 13 years, the Spurs were a defensive-minded team. The last three years the team’s focus has been on offense.
- Highly Successful Coaches Are Decisive – The closing seconds of NBA games require head coaches to make quick, intelligent decisions and communicate them with clarity. Boston Celtics head coach Doc Rivers was noted as an excellent tactician at the end of games.
- Highly Successful Coaches Have Great Attention To Detail – Dallas Mavericks head coach Rick Carlisle has meticulous attention to detail. This is a necessity because his complicated offensive sets.
- Highly Successful Coaches Are Seasoned – Prior to becoming the Chicago Bulls head coach, Tom Thibodeau had the experience of spending two decades as an assistant.
- Highly Successful Coaches Manage Egos – If you think anyone could win coaching the Miami Heat, you would be wrong. On a scale of 1-10, a “10 talent” will not play for a “7 coach”, at least not for long. Erik Spoelstra’s people skills are superlative.
- Highly Successful Coaches Are Candid – With more than 1,000 wins, Denver Nuggets head coach George Karl is one of the most successful coaches in league history. Though he can sometimes be combative, his candor elicits deep respect from his players.
- Highly Successful Coaches Are Innovative – Minnesota Timberwolves head coach Rick Adelman has made the playoffs 15 of his 20 seasons. Adelman’s greatest strength is his brilliant offensive mind.
- Highly Successful Coaches Are Teachers And Motivators – In his second stint as the Memphis Grizzlies head coach, Lionel Hollins has become a great head coach. His skills as a teacher and motivator were on full display with the team having a 13-4 record after trading leading scorer Rudy Gay.
Adaptability, Decisiveness, Attention To Detail, Preparation, Managing Egos, Candor, Innovative, Teaching and Motivating. If you master these 9 practices, you too may be a highly successful coach.
What is one habit listed above that you can implement TODAY to improve as a leader?
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