WEBVTT - Ep 111: Greg Berge 0:00:03.880 --> 0:00:07.680 You need player leadership because player let teams win, and 0:00:08.119 --> 0:00:11.239 coaches can't wait and wish for team leaders. Coaches need 0:00:11.320 --> 0:00:14.080 to systemically purposely develop and. 0:00:14.000 --> 0:00:15.360 Build leaders on their team. 0:00:15.640 --> 0:00:17.960 And then once you get those things, then you can 0:00:18.000 --> 0:00:19.360 look at the x's and o's. 0:00:19.360 --> 0:00:21.239 And all of that. But we need to be more 0:00:21.239 --> 0:00:22.919 purposeful in how we develop that. 0:00:26.560 --> 0:00:29.600 This is the Reform Sports Project, a podcast about restoring 0:00:29.640 --> 0:00:32.839 healthy balance and perspective in all areas of sports through 0:00:32.960 --> 0:00:36.560 education and advocacy. Hi, this is Nick Boncor for the 0:00:36.640 --> 0:00:41.000 Reform Sports Podcast. My guest today is Greg Burke, teacher, coach, 0:00:41.320 --> 0:00:44.879 school administrator, and author. He currently serves as the high 0:00:44.880 --> 0:00:49.280 school principal and varsity boys basketball coach in Lake City, Minnesota. 0:00:49.320 --> 0:00:52.240 He is also the owner of GB one Leadership, LLC 0:00:52.560 --> 0:00:56.480 and a licensed sports leadership facilitator through the Jansen Sports 0:00:56.560 --> 0:00:59.680 Leadership Center. Greg and I discussed the twenty commitments of 0:00:59.720 --> 0:01:03.880 being a successful sports pirent, his motto no deposit, No Return, 0:01:04.040 --> 0:01:07.440 and the importance of defining roles. I got another just 0:01:07.680 --> 0:01:11.280 phenomenal guest, a pump to have this dude, Greg burg Greg, 0:01:11.280 --> 0:01:12.720 thanks so much for hopping on man. 0:01:12.959 --> 0:01:14.160 Thanks Nick, appreciate it. 0:01:14.440 --> 0:01:16.760 Greg. We connected. I followed you on social media. I 0:01:16.800 --> 0:01:19.080 see your content me and your background as a high 0:01:19.080 --> 0:01:22.360 school administrator, as a coach. You know, now you've been 0:01:22.400 --> 0:01:25.480 writing for so long, and I love your leadership content. 0:01:25.560 --> 0:01:27.920 You have this gb one platform where you're putting out 0:01:27.959 --> 0:01:31.160 an information about your experience and just so much helpful content. 0:01:31.280 --> 0:01:32.880 What I love is I have a lot of coaches on, 0:01:32.920 --> 0:01:34.880 I have a lot of athletes, a lot of professionals 0:01:34.880 --> 0:01:37.280 in different spaces. What I love most about having you 0:01:37.319 --> 0:01:39.800 on is you wear a lot of different hats, and 0:01:39.959 --> 0:01:42.640 I want to jump right out and ask you this question. 0:01:42.840 --> 0:01:46.240 I often talk about the similarities between coaching and teaching. 0:01:46.319 --> 0:01:48.360 Teaching coach, and they kind of go hand in hand. 0:01:48.840 --> 0:01:50.400 You know, we have a lot of sports parents and 0:01:50.440 --> 0:01:52.760 such that I'll listen to this. I'll often convey and 0:01:52.840 --> 0:01:56.360 advocate for let the kids be coached, let them be taught. 0:01:56.440 --> 0:02:00.440 What's it like working with parents from an administrator side, 0:02:00.480 --> 0:02:04.200 from the educational side, and from the coaching side. Is 0:02:04.240 --> 0:02:07.000 it the same? Is a different different expectation? Can you 0:02:07.000 --> 0:02:08.520 just talk us through that situation? 0:02:08.919 --> 0:02:10.400 Yeah, I mean I think my background is just a 0:02:10.400 --> 0:02:13.520 little bit unique in that, you know, and I'll give 0:02:13.560 --> 0:02:15.639 a quick summary in my background, people can kind of 0:02:15.720 --> 0:02:18.360 understand appreciate it. But I became a head coach at 0:02:18.400 --> 0:02:21.079 a really young age, at you know, twenty six years old, 0:02:21.160 --> 0:02:21.960 a varsity coach. 0:02:21.960 --> 0:02:24.079 I replaced a a Hall. 0:02:23.960 --> 0:02:27.480 Of Fame coach in Minnesota basketball coach, and so I 0:02:27.480 --> 0:02:29.120 was the head coach at a very young age. 0:02:29.240 --> 0:02:32.320 And I did that for seven years. 0:02:32.120 --> 0:02:34.720 And then I got my administrative degree and I had 0:02:34.720 --> 0:02:37.000 to get out of coaching at age thirty three. So 0:02:37.040 --> 0:02:39.320 I became a principal at age thirty three once to 0:02:39.360 --> 0:02:40.200 a neighboring district. 0:02:40.240 --> 0:02:40.919 Came back to. 0:02:41.200 --> 0:02:43.120 Lake City a couple of years after that to be 0:02:43.160 --> 0:02:45.440 the principal there, and then I had the opportunity to 0:02:45.440 --> 0:02:49.079 get back into coaching, and I've been back for eleven 0:02:49.160 --> 0:02:49.959 years now. 0:02:49.840 --> 0:02:51.360 As the varsity basketball coach. 0:02:51.360 --> 0:02:53.760 So's what's interesting is I was a coach at a 0:02:53.800 --> 0:02:54.519 young age. 0:02:54.639 --> 0:02:56.280 You know, knew you know. 0:02:56.360 --> 0:02:59.280 Made a lot of mistakes, grew a lot, you know. 0:03:00.080 --> 0:03:00.840 We had success. 0:03:00.960 --> 0:03:03.760 But we've had a ton of success here this last 0:03:04.120 --> 0:03:09.000 eleven years. So probably my core time, you know, I'm 0:03:09.000 --> 0:03:13.160 in my like mid thirties to early forties. I wasn't 0:03:13.200 --> 0:03:15.240 a head coach. I was coaching more at the youth level, 0:03:15.680 --> 0:03:17.680 but I was an administrator, so I've seen it from 0:03:17.680 --> 0:03:19.919 so many perspective. I've raised two kids, both of them 0:03:19.960 --> 0:03:23.679 are in college now, both three sport athletes, So see 0:03:23.720 --> 0:03:27.560 it from an administrative hat head coaching, as a young coach, 0:03:27.840 --> 0:03:30.640 as a you know, older coach now, and yeah, you know, 0:03:30.680 --> 0:03:33.360 I would say parents care about their kids. You know, 0:03:33.440 --> 0:03:36.520 parents want the best for their kids. And you know, 0:03:36.720 --> 0:03:39.120 there's too many examples out there of parents maybe being 0:03:39.160 --> 0:03:41.280 over the top, but you know, most of the parents 0:03:41.720 --> 0:03:45.560 are great people that are focused and can think in 0:03:45.640 --> 0:03:48.200 terms of the team, but they want what's best for 0:03:48.240 --> 0:03:48.720 their kids. 0:03:48.720 --> 0:03:49.960 And I think, you know, part of. 0:03:49.920 --> 0:03:53.120 My drive with what I'm doing is to make the 0:03:53.160 --> 0:03:55.760 best coaches that I can because our kids need them 0:03:55.880 --> 0:03:58.320 so bad in our world right now, and also to 0:03:58.560 --> 0:04:01.200 educate parents and other people and try to help them 0:04:01.280 --> 0:04:04.040 understand the challenges of coaching. So I don't know if 0:04:04.080 --> 0:04:06.240 I answered your question directly, Nick, I'd love to go 0:04:06.360 --> 0:04:09.840 deeper on that, but you know, I think that's the 0:04:09.880 --> 0:04:13.080 bottom line, as parents really are focused on their kids, 0:04:13.600 --> 0:04:15.720 and you know, they want what's best for them. 0:04:16.000 --> 0:04:16.720 For the most. 0:04:16.480 --> 0:04:19.800 Part, what I often see, you know, in discussing with 0:04:19.920 --> 0:04:22.479 parents and such is like there's confusion, like how do 0:04:22.560 --> 0:04:25.520 you navigate? How do you juggle? How do you you know, 0:04:25.960 --> 0:04:29.279 hold your kids accountable with you know, allowing coaches to 0:04:29.360 --> 0:04:31.559 be the ones that are running there. But there's also 0:04:31.680 --> 0:04:33.640 bad eggs, right, you know, So how do you kind 0:04:33.640 --> 0:04:38.000 of surrender the reins without you know, if you feel 0:04:38.000 --> 0:04:40.359 like maybe the person that's you know, whether that be 0:04:40.400 --> 0:04:43.120 in the classroom, whether that be you know, on the 0:04:43.760 --> 0:04:47.440 basketball court, maybe isn't the best suited you know, So 0:04:47.480 --> 0:04:50.200 how do you navigate the surrender the control a lot 0:04:50.200 --> 0:04:52.520 of the kids to be coached versus man, this coach 0:04:52.680 --> 0:04:55.440 isn't quite what my kid needs, you know. 0:04:55.600 --> 0:04:57.719 I think there's there's two things, two keys. 0:04:57.760 --> 0:05:01.040 And I actually just two days ago and Nick I 0:05:01.080 --> 0:05:04.960 wrote the sports parent handbook, the twenty Commandments of being 0:05:05.000 --> 0:05:07.760 a Successful Sports Parent, and I talk a lot of 0:05:07.760 --> 0:05:09.680 all these things in that and it's about a six 0:05:09.720 --> 0:05:10.239 page dogment. 0:05:10.240 --> 0:05:12.800 It's a free download online. But I think it's really. 0:05:12.680 --> 0:05:15.800 Good for coaches administrators to give to parents. 0:05:16.000 --> 0:05:18.760 I say there's two things. Number one is. 0:05:19.160 --> 0:05:21.680 Parents have to remember that this is their child's experience, 0:05:21.760 --> 0:05:24.560 not theirs. First and foremost, that's the most important part 0:05:24.560 --> 0:05:27.640 of being a parent. And you know when when parents 0:05:27.680 --> 0:05:32.560 oftentimes get into trouble, it's because they're thinking it's their experience, 0:05:32.600 --> 0:05:35.000 and it's it's really not. It's it's their kids. And 0:05:35.080 --> 0:05:38.440 Number two is to accept the struggle of team sports. 0:05:39.120 --> 0:05:42.360 And we all know when you're part of a team, 0:05:43.120 --> 0:05:45.680 there are so many unique challenges that go into that. 0:05:45.680 --> 0:05:50.320 That's what makes coaching such a difficult job. You're managing, 0:05:50.520 --> 0:05:54.760 however many people basketballs, you know, fifteen people and all 0:05:54.800 --> 0:05:56.800 their wants and needs and goals and dreams, and you're 0:05:56.839 --> 0:05:59.600 trying to bring them together as one group, as one team, and. 0:05:59.560 --> 0:06:01.039 That's incredibly tough. 0:06:01.200 --> 0:06:03.640 And so there's going to be struggles, and I think 0:06:05.080 --> 0:06:07.640 parents needing to just accept the fact that there's going 0:06:07.680 --> 0:06:08.479 to be ups and downs. 0:06:08.480 --> 0:06:11.000 There's going to be struggles, and my job as a parent. 0:06:10.920 --> 0:06:15.320 Is to help my kid navigate that through their experience 0:06:15.520 --> 0:06:19.360 and not try to solve their problems for them. But 0:06:19.400 --> 0:06:22.640 the lessons learned, as we know, in team sports are 0:06:22.680 --> 0:06:25.640 incredible and if we do it right and we help 0:06:25.680 --> 0:06:28.560 our kids navigate that, the people they become on the 0:06:28.600 --> 0:06:33.560 back end is way worth any accolades they get through 0:06:33.600 --> 0:06:34.160 the process. 0:06:34.680 --> 0:06:38.440 So hypothetically, you know, my son or daughter is trying 0:06:38.440 --> 0:06:41.479 out for the varsity basketball team. Right, there are sophomore 0:06:41.480 --> 0:06:44.640 in high school and they're on the cusp, right, you know, 0:06:44.640 --> 0:06:46.640 they don't get put on the varsity team and they're 0:06:46.640 --> 0:06:49.440 on the JV. And oftentimes you hear it's not fair. 0:06:49.600 --> 0:06:51.520 You know it's not fair. And I had a guest 0:06:51.520 --> 0:06:54.760 on recently he's a college coach, talked about fear doesn't 0:06:54.800 --> 0:06:58.800 exist in his world in college coaching, and opportunity does. 0:06:59.160 --> 0:07:02.719 But is there difference between the collegiate aspect and high school? 0:07:02.720 --> 0:07:05.080 Like where do we draw the line between you know, 0:07:05.279 --> 0:07:08.520 what's owed? Like people think at times everyone deserves the 0:07:08.520 --> 0:07:11.200 same amount of playing time, but I always advocate for 0:07:11.320 --> 0:07:14.800 like high school's a different animal versus the youth level, 0:07:14.840 --> 0:07:17.200 Like obviously everything needs to be earned, but there's not 0:07:17.360 --> 0:07:20.080 equal playing to How do you navigate the playing time 0:07:20.160 --> 0:07:23.360 situation when it comes to high school athletics from a JV, 0:07:23.480 --> 0:07:25.040 varsity even freshman standpoint? 0:07:25.360 --> 0:07:28.280 Yeah, I think you know it's it's a competitive level 0:07:28.520 --> 0:07:29.480 at that level. 0:07:29.840 --> 0:07:31.640 And I tell this with our parents. 0:07:32.680 --> 0:07:36.119 We have a pack meing parent athlete coaches meeting seven 0:07:36.200 --> 0:07:40.000 through twelve, and I share this philosophy at a very 0:07:40.080 --> 0:07:43.440 young age, and I kind of work backwards and I say, 0:07:43.440 --> 0:07:47.400 you know, what the varsity level is competitive basketball. There 0:07:47.440 --> 0:07:49.160 are opportunities to play basketball. 0:07:49.320 --> 0:07:50.120 You can play. 0:07:50.320 --> 0:07:52.760 You know, we don't have ermurals, but a lot of 0:07:52.760 --> 0:07:55.680 bigger schools might have innermurals. It might have you know, 0:07:56.040 --> 0:07:58.920 less competitive AAU teams. There's a lot of opportunities to play. 0:07:59.000 --> 0:07:59.640 But at the high. 0:07:59.520 --> 0:08:04.840 School ursity levels, it's competitive and your team is the 0:08:04.840 --> 0:08:07.520 best team that you can put on the court for your. 0:08:07.480 --> 0:08:11.040 School, regardless of grade. You know, that's the best team 0:08:11.080 --> 0:08:11.800 you can put on the court. 0:08:11.840 --> 0:08:13.680 Now, as you get down to JV level, that's kind 0:08:13.720 --> 0:08:16.120 of tenth grade and below for us, and then the 0:08:16.120 --> 0:08:18.920 C squad level would be ninth grade and below. And 0:08:19.400 --> 0:08:22.760 the playing time changes at each level. And in middle school, 0:08:22.960 --> 0:08:25.440 you know, we ensure quality playing time for all kids 0:08:25.480 --> 0:08:28.600 that show up and are committed, you know, and come. 0:08:28.480 --> 0:08:29.720 To practice and so forth. 0:08:30.040 --> 0:08:33.920 We never use equal because it's impossible, and but we 0:08:34.000 --> 0:08:35.280 use quality playing time. 0:08:35.640 --> 0:08:37.960 And the same thing at the elementary level. All kids 0:08:37.960 --> 0:08:38.600 are going to play. 0:08:38.840 --> 0:08:41.240 It's going to be quality playing time because it's part 0:08:41.280 --> 0:08:43.320 of the normal growth and development of being a kid 0:08:43.440 --> 0:08:46.760 is you need that opportunity, that experience to play. As 0:08:46.800 --> 0:08:50.000 you get into the high school level, there's a little. 0:08:49.760 --> 0:08:51.240 Bit more of a commitment expectation. 0:08:51.960 --> 0:08:55.120 And we're also really we talk about roles a lot 0:08:55.280 --> 0:08:57.760 on teams, especially at a varsity level, and we do 0:08:57.800 --> 0:09:00.480 a lot of unique things to help communicate that with kids. 0:09:01.120 --> 0:09:03.679 And we've had I've had I mean, I could probably 0:09:03.679 --> 0:09:06.400 tell you on one hand in my eighteen nineteen years 0:09:06.440 --> 0:09:08.120 that I've had to talk to a parent about anything. 0:09:08.200 --> 0:09:10.160 And I think, you know, the key is a coach 0:09:10.240 --> 0:09:14.000 is to be very proactive, to be a very good communicator, 0:09:14.040 --> 0:09:15.640 to be very upfront and honest. 0:09:16.080 --> 0:09:18.120 I think a lot of coaches make that mistake because 0:09:18.120 --> 0:09:20.400 they're not honest with kids. 0:09:20.400 --> 0:09:21.880 They're they're trying to please them. 0:09:21.960 --> 0:09:25.760 They try to promise things to them, and that usually 0:09:25.760 --> 0:09:28.760 gets you know, coaches in drouble and so a lot 0:09:28.760 --> 0:09:31.439 of things. But I do think at the varsity levels 0:09:31.520 --> 0:09:35.520 it's a competitive environment and that's okay. The mantra of 0:09:35.559 --> 0:09:37.840 our program is no deposit, no return, So we do 0:09:37.920 --> 0:09:40.480 have this mindset of want everything to be earned. I 0:09:40.480 --> 0:09:43.600 think that's a great life lesson for kids. But yeah, 0:09:43.760 --> 0:09:46.600 I think it's a progression. And obviously the youth level 0:09:47.720 --> 0:09:50.520 all kids are playing, it's quality playing time for everyone, 0:09:50.559 --> 0:09:53.680 and it kind of gradually changes as they get older. 0:09:53.920 --> 0:09:55.920 I love how you brought up communication. I feel like 0:09:55.920 --> 0:09:58.880 there's so much lost when walls are put up in 0:09:58.920 --> 0:10:03.080 boundaries about you know, parents, guardians have at times they 0:10:03.080 --> 0:10:05.600 feel like they can't approach a coach. Some put up 0:10:05.600 --> 0:10:10.720 a wall, others are very communicative. What is the fine balance? 0:10:10.720 --> 0:10:13.640 I mean, is it an open door policy? Is it 0:10:13.679 --> 0:10:15.280 because you said you can count on one hand and 0:10:15.360 --> 0:10:17.280 roughly I guess you said eighteen nineteen years in which 0:10:17.320 --> 0:10:19.959 you've had issues like that's I've heard coaches that are 0:10:20.280 --> 0:10:23.560 one or two years in that that are overwhelmed. A 0:10:23.559 --> 0:10:26.960 lot of that could be due to experience and learning 0:10:27.000 --> 0:10:30.160 these things. But like when you talk about communication and 0:10:30.840 --> 0:10:33.040 making sure the lines of communication are open with how 0:10:33.080 --> 0:10:35.960 do you do that? Where the boundaries? How do you 0:10:35.960 --> 0:10:38.000 communicate with the parents to keep it where it's where 0:10:38.000 --> 0:10:38.520 it's smooth? 0:10:39.160 --> 0:10:41.880 Yeah, you know a few things, and obviously when you've 0:10:41.880 --> 0:10:44.320 been in it a little bit longer, you've kind of 0:10:44.320 --> 0:10:47.200 developed some credibility that helps. But I you know, I 0:10:47.200 --> 0:10:48.559 did a lot of this stuff as a really young 0:10:48.640 --> 0:10:51.440 coach too, and you know, the first thing I would 0:10:51.480 --> 0:10:55.360 say is, you know, be very honest about playing time, 0:10:55.480 --> 0:10:59.000 about team makeup, about what they're going to expect. 0:10:59.080 --> 0:11:00.959 You know. I tell her parents, you know, in. 0:11:00.960 --> 0:11:06.000 A typical competitive game, most teams, most coaches, including myself, 0:11:06.000 --> 0:11:07.880 are probably going to play eight. 0:11:07.760 --> 0:11:09.600 Kids, you know, consistently. 0:11:09.720 --> 0:11:11.320 You know, you might get a ninth or tenth then 0:11:11.400 --> 0:11:13.360 dependent on a situation, but it's not going to be 0:11:13.400 --> 0:11:16.840 for tons of minutes. That's pretty typical across the sport 0:11:16.880 --> 0:11:19.680 of basketball. And so I also tell them, you know, 0:11:19.920 --> 0:11:23.960 in any situation where we have a lead or we're behind, 0:11:24.000 --> 0:11:25.480 I'm going to get everyone in. I'm gonna do what 0:11:25.520 --> 0:11:27.160 I can and any time to get them in, and 0:11:27.400 --> 0:11:31.360 we'll set up other you know, like non varsity games 0:11:31.400 --> 0:11:33.480 on a weekend to get some kids some playing time. 0:11:33.520 --> 0:11:36.800 But you gotta be very honest with them because if 0:11:36.840 --> 0:11:39.520 they ever come back to you later on, you want 0:11:39.559 --> 0:11:41.319 to have something that you can fall back on and say, 0:11:41.320 --> 0:11:43.360 you know what. I was very clear with this at 0:11:43.400 --> 0:11:45.080 our pack meeting at the beginning of the year. What 0:11:45.960 --> 0:11:47.880 you know, my expectations were in how this is going 0:11:47.960 --> 0:11:49.600 to work. Your child is very aware of it. 0:11:50.720 --> 0:11:50.880 You know. 0:11:50.960 --> 0:11:53.160 The second thing is, you know, if you're going to 0:11:53.200 --> 0:11:55.360 talk with a parent, the kid has to be with them. 0:11:55.400 --> 0:11:58.439 I mean, unless you're talking about something that is very sensitive, 0:11:59.360 --> 0:12:02.120 the child needs to be there. It's their experience. And 0:12:02.320 --> 0:12:05.600 I keep going back to that with parents, it's not 0:12:05.640 --> 0:12:07.840 your experience at your child's. And a lot of times 0:12:07.880 --> 0:12:11.200 the kid has a different perspective. You know what they 0:12:12.000 --> 0:12:14.280 you know, what they talk about at home with the parents. 0:12:14.440 --> 0:12:17.280 At times they're appeasing their parents' conversation. It's not really 0:12:17.320 --> 0:12:20.280 what they want. So that's really important. And then one 0:12:20.320 --> 0:12:22.640 really unique thing that I do at the beginning of 0:12:22.679 --> 0:12:25.360 the year, and I do this to help define roles 0:12:25.360 --> 0:12:29.040 with kids, is I have them fill out this pretty 0:12:29.080 --> 0:12:31.800 lengthy self perception form and I ask them a lot 0:12:31.800 --> 0:12:34.439 of questions. I ask them about their role on the team. 0:12:34.520 --> 0:12:36.319 I asked them about the leaders on our team. And 0:12:37.000 --> 0:12:38.800 one thing I do in it is I said, if 0:12:38.800 --> 0:12:41.520 we had a game tomorrow, who would be probably our 0:12:41.559 --> 0:12:43.720 top five guys that would be starting, Who would be 0:12:43.720 --> 0:12:46.240 our first tier off the bench, and who would be 0:12:46.280 --> 0:12:48.400 our second tier off the bench. And I want you 0:12:48.440 --> 0:12:50.679 to put your name in the middle of this list 0:12:50.720 --> 0:12:53.160 as well. And so what I'm doing and I don't 0:12:53.200 --> 0:12:55.080 share this with kids or anything, but I want to 0:12:55.120 --> 0:12:58.640 know where do they see themselves, where do they see 0:12:58.679 --> 0:13:00.600 their teammates? And I want to come care that's where 0:13:00.600 --> 0:13:03.440 I see them right now. And so if everyone everyone 0:13:03.520 --> 0:13:06.040 does that, I take all that information and I put 0:13:06.040 --> 0:13:08.880 it on a spreadsheet just to get an idea, and 0:13:08.920 --> 0:13:11.280 I can say, you know that the team sees Johnny 0:13:11.920 --> 0:13:13.760 kind of in that first tier guy off the match, 0:13:13.840 --> 0:13:17.440 That's where I see him, But Johnny sees himself in 0:13:17.440 --> 0:13:19.640 our top five. Well, I know that I have to 0:13:19.679 --> 0:13:23.240 have a conversation with Johnny about maybe his role. And 0:13:23.400 --> 0:13:26.080 more times than that, kids are spot on with where 0:13:26.120 --> 0:13:28.520 they think they are, where the team thinks they are, 0:13:28.840 --> 0:13:29.480 and where I do. 0:13:29.679 --> 0:13:30.600 And so if I ever had a. 0:13:30.600 --> 0:13:34.640 Parent issue, you know, that's something that I can fall 0:13:34.679 --> 0:13:35.680 back on if I need to. 0:13:35.760 --> 0:13:37.439 Have never had to use it, but. 0:13:37.440 --> 0:13:40.160 I do that just to really start the discussion on roles, 0:13:40.240 --> 0:13:42.640 and so I think there's a lot of things that 0:13:42.679 --> 0:13:43.480 coaches need to do. 0:13:43.520 --> 0:13:46.000 Those are just a couple. I'm sure I could share 0:13:46.040 --> 0:13:46.640 more as well. 0:13:46.760 --> 0:13:49.240 When we return, Greg and I take a deep dive 0:13:49.360 --> 0:13:59.280 into leadership welcome back. Where we left off, Greg and 0:13:59.280 --> 0:14:01.520 I were about to do discussed the importance of collective 0:14:01.600 --> 0:14:06.040 leadership and a positive team culture. I feel like that 0:14:06.240 --> 0:14:08.960 piece that you are talking about there, when it comes 0:14:09.040 --> 0:14:11.560 to leadership in particular, I know that's something that you're very, 0:14:11.640 --> 0:14:14.840 very big on. How do you establish and I guess 0:14:14.960 --> 0:14:18.200 empower leaders? I know from my own experience, like it's 0:14:18.200 --> 0:14:21.880 often known amongst the kids like who are quote unquote 0:14:21.920 --> 0:14:24.480 the alphas or whatever the case is. But do you 0:14:24.560 --> 0:14:27.400 kind of let it work itself out? How do you know, 0:14:27.520 --> 0:14:31.720 promote an environment which allows kids to become leaders and 0:14:31.920 --> 0:14:34.800 foster that and empower those that might not be the 0:14:34.880 --> 0:14:38.960 quote unquote alpha but can help be a productive role. 0:14:39.080 --> 0:14:41.120 And I mean I think leadership. You know, some people 0:14:41.120 --> 0:14:43.240 will say can't be taught, You're born a leader. I 0:14:43.720 --> 0:14:46.320 think that there's different ways to be a leader. Some 0:14:46.440 --> 0:14:49.120 are very vocal, some are not. How do you foster 0:14:49.280 --> 0:14:52.359 leadership from a coaching standpoint but also from a classroom 0:14:52.400 --> 0:14:54.000 an even administrative standpoint. 0:14:54.200 --> 0:14:57.280 Yeah, this is something I'm real passionate about. I wrote 0:14:57.320 --> 0:15:01.960 a big course and course called the Team Leader OS 0:15:02.000 --> 0:15:04.880 to help coaches develop team leaders on their team. For 0:15:04.920 --> 0:15:09.560 this reason because ultimately, the reason that teams and programs 0:15:09.600 --> 0:15:11.960 are successful, Number one is it always starts with a 0:15:12.000 --> 0:15:14.560 positive culture, a good culture. That's the number one job 0:15:14.600 --> 0:15:17.800 of a coach is to build a culture, and culture 0:15:18.080 --> 0:15:20.120 I define it three ways. Culture is what you allow, 0:15:20.160 --> 0:15:24.120 it's what you emphasize, and it's every day. And number two, 0:15:24.280 --> 0:15:28.040 you need player leadership because player let teams win, and 0:15:28.520 --> 0:15:31.640 coaches can't wait and wish for team leaders. Coaches need 0:15:31.680 --> 0:15:35.760 to systemically, purposely develop and build leaders on their team. 0:15:36.200 --> 0:15:38.520 And then once you get those things, then you can 0:15:38.560 --> 0:15:40.560 look at the x's and o's and all of that. 0:15:40.640 --> 0:15:44.560 But the reality is the two things that hurt coaches 0:15:44.560 --> 0:15:46.800 more than anything and get them in trouble more than 0:15:46.800 --> 0:15:49.800 anything is lack of culture and lack of leadership. So 0:15:50.120 --> 0:15:53.040 we need to be more purposeful in how we develop that. 0:15:53.720 --> 0:15:54.440 And so with. 0:15:54.480 --> 0:15:57.840 Leadership, I'm a big believer, like you said, in collective leadership, 0:15:57.960 --> 0:16:01.120 there are multiple ways to lead, and there are multiple 0:16:01.160 --> 0:16:03.560 types of leaders on a team. You mentioned the alpha. 0:16:03.680 --> 0:16:06.520 Sometimes that's what I call the gamer. You know, that's 0:16:06.560 --> 0:16:09.000 the one that you know in a game when the 0:16:09.040 --> 0:16:11.440 games on the line and someone needs the ball in 0:16:11.480 --> 0:16:13.960 their hands, you know, the kids know who that is 0:16:14.000 --> 0:16:16.840 and that person is going to be your decision maker. 0:16:16.840 --> 0:16:17.640 That doesn't mean. 0:16:17.440 --> 0:16:21.640 That that person is the best practice leader, the best 0:16:21.720 --> 0:16:26.240 locker room leader. I think sometimes as coaches, we we 0:16:26.440 --> 0:16:28.880 just wait and wish for our best player to be 0:16:28.960 --> 0:16:33.120 our best leader. It might happen once in a lifetime 0:16:33.160 --> 0:16:36.080 as a coach. To be honest, I think there's a 0:16:36.120 --> 0:16:39.040 statistic out there that like, at twenty percent of the time, 0:16:39.120 --> 0:16:41.960 your best player is your best leader, and I think 0:16:41.960 --> 0:16:46.520 that's very accurate. So you really need to encourage the 0:16:46.640 --> 0:16:50.280 other types of leaders. You know, I have what I 0:16:50.320 --> 0:16:52.640 call energy leaders. I mean these are the people that 0:16:53.920 --> 0:16:56.160 maybe aren't getting a ton of playing time at your 0:16:56.240 --> 0:16:59.280 bench leaders and they're bringing this positive energy to games 0:16:59.280 --> 0:17:03.400 and practices. That's a critical role on winning teams, and 0:17:03.440 --> 0:17:05.280 as a coach, you got to celebrate those. 0:17:05.720 --> 0:17:07.360 You know, you get what you emphasize. 0:17:07.440 --> 0:17:09.800 So you know, one thing we're doing this year on 0:17:09.840 --> 0:17:14.160 our team is we are recognizing and celebrating egbs, which 0:17:14.200 --> 0:17:17.160 are energy giving behaviors. Well, a lot of the kids 0:17:17.200 --> 0:17:20.959 that are best with egbs on our team may not 0:17:21.000 --> 0:17:24.640 always be our best players talent wise, but they bring 0:17:24.800 --> 0:17:27.080 energy that is contagious to the rest of the team, 0:17:27.359 --> 0:17:30.040 and I want to recognize and support that because I'm 0:17:30.040 --> 0:17:32.520 developing a leadership skill in them when I do that. 0:17:32.760 --> 0:17:35.240 And so I think talking about that with your kids 0:17:35.280 --> 0:17:38.840 as a coach, letting them know that, you know, leadership 0:17:38.920 --> 0:17:41.840 is just influence, that's all it is. So you think 0:17:41.960 --> 0:17:44.800 you as a teammate, how do you influence your teammates 0:17:45.160 --> 0:17:48.120 a lot of different ways. You're you're all leaders when 0:17:48.160 --> 0:17:51.399 you influence others, and so how can we influence others? 0:17:51.400 --> 0:17:54.480 And I think having these conversations with kids and kind 0:17:54.480 --> 0:17:58.080 of opening the door to not just focus on that 0:17:58.480 --> 0:18:02.520 stereotypical captain alpha type of person is really important for coaches. 0:18:03.119 --> 0:18:05.760 What you allow. I think I've heard that, you know, 0:18:05.880 --> 0:18:08.240 one of my all time coaches that I ever had, 0:18:08.280 --> 0:18:11.720 Mike Fox. I talk about him quite a lot. It 0:18:11.800 --> 0:18:14.160 was the head baseball coach University of North Carolina for 0:18:14.240 --> 0:18:17.280 twenty three years and we talked, you know, almost daily, uh, 0:18:17.640 --> 0:18:20.960 just about ideas and such. And that often comes up 0:18:21.119 --> 0:18:24.480 your culture as a coach, and you know, it's what 0:18:24.560 --> 0:18:27.840 you allow, right, what you allow kids to happen in 0:18:27.880 --> 0:18:30.800 your program. And I've seen situations where and I've heard 0:18:30.840 --> 0:18:33.000 about it, and I've seen a firsthand with teams and 0:18:33.040 --> 0:18:35.600 my kids have been on where you know, the rules 0:18:35.600 --> 0:18:38.120 don't apply to everybody, you know, And that's a big 0:18:38.160 --> 0:18:41.159 problem I know with my old coach when I was 0:18:41.160 --> 0:18:43.920 in college with Coach Fox and even you know, Coach 0:18:43.960 --> 0:18:46.159 Long and these my assistants, like they didn't care if 0:18:46.160 --> 0:18:48.680 you were an All American, Like there were boundaries and 0:18:48.880 --> 0:18:50.560 no matter who crossed them, there was going to be 0:18:50.640 --> 0:18:53.720 a repercussion or you know whatever as a result of 0:18:53.760 --> 0:18:56.600