“Do not worry about holding high position; worry rather about playing your proper role.” ~ Confucius

Team-building guru Gary Pritchard has sent a gem of a quote:

“Ask for greatness in yourself first…then you can ask for it in others.”

It’s beautifully inspiring and thought-provoking, and goes well with yesterday’s theme, which was role models.

As a coach, do you have the right to ask for discipline, focus, passion, fitness, loyalty, etc., if you do not demonstrate these qualities yourself?

Let’s look closely at the idea of role models. There are two types.

The first is a RESULT role model. This is where you look at someone and aspire to ACHIEVE what they have achieved. Yesterday’s example, Phil Jackson, certainly falls into this category, as do Tony Dungy and Joe Torre. Anyone would love to ACHIEVE what they have.

Then there is a BEHAVIOR role model. This is where you look at someone and admire and copy the way they ACT. Not every coach falls into this category. Unfortunately, there are screamers, chair-throwers, or rules violators who win games but whose behavior is not necessarily what we want our athletes to emulate.

Fortunately, Jackson, Torre and Dungy all fall into the category of coaches whose RESULTS and BEHAVIOR are worth modeling.

Which brings us back to Gary Pritchard’s quote. Team success begins with the values and behavior of the coach. So:

“Ask for greatness in yourself first…

then you can ask for it in others.”