Wooden's Wisdom | Leadership Resource Center

Issue 408 - Don't Let the Scoreboard Control You. (Roy Williams Part Ten)


Wooden's Wisdom - Volume 9	Issue 408
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DON'T LET THE SCOREBOARD CONTROL YOU. (ROY WILLIAMS PART TEN) John Wooden Video Clip (1 min 42 sec.): Great Video Clip: Coach talks about bench demeanor and setting a good example. Bad coaches and managers get freaked out when the scoreboard looks bad. They react by micromanaging and criticizing team members about the "bad numbers". They instruct the team to work harder and "get their numbers up." They remind the team that "their" results are unacceptable. The team members may react by working harder but also become tense, worried and unhappy and in the long run underperform and/or quit. The bad coaches let the scoreboard control them. The great competitive coaches and managers like keeping score. They know they must win to keep their job. They enjoy winning and thrive on competition. When the numbers are not to their liking, they calmly focus on the specific processes that are not working and work with team members to make improvements. They do the same thing when the scoreboard looks good. The team members respond by staying calm and doing the work necessary to improve results. In the long run there is constant improvement and a happy team. The great coaches do not let the scoreboard control them. In his terrific book, Hard Work with Tim Crothers, Hall of Fame North Carolina Coach Roy Williams, describes how he manages the scoreboard: "I try not to look at the score in the first half, because I don't want that to influence my thinking about how we're playing. Sometimes if a team is taking bad shots and they're making them, a coach could be fooled into thinking his team is playing better than it really is and that just leads to problems later. I try to look at the big picture and focus most on our rebounding and our defense. I have always hoarded timeouts. I've said that when I die, I'm going to have more timeouts left than any other coach. In the second half, I start checking the score once the clock gets down to the eight-minute mark because by that time we have two opponents: the clock and the other team. That's when I'm usually pretty happy that I have lots of timeouts left to manage the end of the game. When the game is over, I tell my players they must beat me to the locker room. I don't ever want the whole team waiting around for one guy talking to his girlfriend. I usually give them some quick thoughts on the game and no matter how well we played, I can never be totally satisfied. Even after our best games, I'll say, "Everybody remember the easy one you missed, remember the time you lost your man on defense, remember the time you didn't box out." If we lose, I usually apologize to them and tell them it's my fault and I must do better. Then we put our hands in and I say a prayer. I always end that prayer by saying, "We do realize we're more fortunate than others. Amen." Roy Williams does not let the scoreboard control him. Do you let the scoreboard control you? Click here for personal development exercise: Issue 408. Click here for Printable Poetry: Issue 408. Yours in Coaching, Craig Impelman www.woodenswisdom.com Follow @woodenswisdom	COACH'S FAVORITE POETRY AND PROSE To the Humble If all the flowers were roses, If never daisies grew, If no old-fashioned posies Drank in the morning dew, Then man might have some reason To whimper and complain, And speak these words of treason, That all our toil is vain. If all the stars were Saturns That twinkle in the night, Of equal size and patterns, And equally as bright, Then men in humble places, With humble work to do, With frowns upon their faces Might trudge their journey through. But humble stars and posies Still do their best, although They're planets not, nor roses, To cheer the world below. And those old-fashioned daisies Delight the soul of man; They're here, and this their praise is: They work the Master's plan. Though humble be your labor, And modest be your sphere, Come, envy not your neighbor Whose light shines brighter here. Does God forget the daisies Because the roses bloom? Shall you not win His praises By toiling at your loom? Have you, the toiler humble, Just reason to complain, To shirk your task and grumble And think that it is vain Because you see a brother With greater work to do? No fame of his can smother The merit that's in you. Edgar Allen Guest (1881-1959)
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