Kevin Eastman Basketball » corporate locker room

George Steinbrenner and Coaching

wendy — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 09:36:10 +0000

I’ve read a number of articles on George Steinbrenner these past few days. We all know that he’s either loved or hated and not much in between, but we can learn a lot from his leadership practices. As with any person you study, you can learn what to do and what not to do.

A common thread when he dealt with all employees is a great reminder to keep things simple. And make sure everyone knows what is expected. In its simplest form, he demanded the following from all who worked for him:

talent
work ethic
accountability

There are many things we have read in all of our leadership and team building books and articles, but this gets back to the basics. It’s a great reminder that we need to continually let those who are part of our team know that there are clear expectations if they are to work for us or play for our teams!

Keep Eyes and Ears Open

wendy — Tue, 29 Jun 2010 10:29:51 +0000

I direct the Skills Academies for Nike and our goal is to hire the best teachers out there for these elite High School and College players. In doing that, it’s almost a mini clinic for me as I go around watching and listening to the different coaches at the different stations.

A few observations about these coaches:

they know a lot but are always looking to learn more from the other coaches here
they are very creative in their drills; you can tell they have thought long and hard about each drill — the variety keeps the players engaged
they teach with passion!
amazingly, they are drenched when the 2-hour workouts are over; they invest as much energy and effort as the players!

The only reason I blog about this today is that it is so energizing and uplifting to enter a gym where every person in there is invested…WOW!!

True Leadership

wendy — Thu, 24 Jun 2010 22:22:44 +0000

There are so many players in so many fields that want to be in a leadership position but don’t want to deal with the toughest part of leadership. To be an effective leader, you must be able to tell the truth.
Sounds simple, but there are lots of factors that go with this statement. First and foremost, a leader can’t discriminate as to who he leads. If you’re a leader, your job is to lead everyone, on your team, whether you like every person or not.

The hardest part often becomes: can you tell your best friend(s) the truth…especially when the truth will hurt their feelings and could jeopardize your relationship? Truth and leadership must work hand in hand! In order to be able to tell the truth, you have to be observant enough — and know enough — about what needs to be done for your group and that person to be successful. Before you can tell the truth, you must know what the truth is. True leaders are effective because they know and live what is right and wrong…on the floor and off the floor.

Are your leaders strong enough to deal with the truth? If not, they are simply filling a position of leadership and not executing the role of leadership!

Staff Construction

wendy — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 14:54:50 +0000

Putting together a staff requires a tremendous amount of thought. The staff you have is a big part of every Head Coach’s success. Here are some things about our staff that, I believe, make it one of the best around:

Loyalty: We all believe in and truly want to see Doc be successful.
Ego-less: We all understand this is not about us. There are no personal agendas; it’s about helping the players get better and helping them and Doc win games.
Work Ethic: We spend long hours making sure we do our parts to make the Celtics successful. We give whatever time it takes.
Role Fulfillment: We have each been given a role and we accept it and attempt to execute it every single day. We understand that in Doc’s eyes, the role he’s given each of us is what’s best for all of us to be successful.
Do your job: We all understand that the job we have as an assistant with the Boston Celtics is the most important job we have. It’s not about the next job; it’s this one. We work very hard to do this job to the best of our ability every day

So some may say Doc is lucky to have us, but I think if you ask him or anyone on our staff we would all say the same thing: we are lucky to have each other. That’s what makes staffs in any business successful!

Resolve

wendy — Fri, 04 Jun 2010 12:41:50 +0000

The NBA Finals pits two teams that have made winning a championship a priority. It’s two groups that have come together and understand that any group of players can wear the same uniform, but only those who sacrifice their individual goals for the betterment of the group can be called a team!

To get this far each team has gone through tremendous highs and some very tough lows. Both of us have experienced losing this season. Both of us have experienced brotherly issues. Both of us have experienced doubters.

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We’re Not Getting Younger

wendy — Tue, 01 Jun 2010 14:43:58 +0000

After our series with Cleveland ended, Lebron James and Kevin Garnett got together near mid court to exchange some words of respect. We all know that Lebron has some big decisions ahead. One of the things Kevin said (I am paraphrasing here) to Lebron was that it’s hard at times to get your youth back.

Well intentioned for Lebron but also a great lesson for all of us. The one thing “time” does better than anything else in this world is it keeps moving forward and it does not discriminate. We all know that we have 24 hours in each day. But the message here is that you can never get it back.

The direct lesson is twofold, in that we should not allow ourselves to (1) waste any of it or (2) misuse any of it.

Start today to be who you want to be; accomplish what you want to accomplish; do what you really want to do!

The underlying message was to never look back with regret. And that starts with taking care of things now. Make the right decisions with your time and your choices!

Answer these questions: Where would you be if you used your time better than everyone else? Is it a place you would feel good about being? Then get there!

When Leadership is Needed

wendy — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 13:23:44 +0000

Leader: every team needs one (or more). With some teams, a leader never seems to appear. Other teams mistake having captains as having leaders. And some teams have players that want to be leaders but can’t. They simply haven’t been able to gain the trust it takes to lead.

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Inspiration vs. Motivation

wendy — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 15:20:09 +0000

We can learn a lot from other coaches — how they operate, how they think, how they get their teams to accomplish what many thought was impossible. In particular, I found it very enlightening to follow Sean Payton (New Orleans Saints coach) in the papers and learn from articles written about him, his staff and his team.

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Regaining Trust

wendy — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 16:17:27 +0000

Trust is so important to success in any field or endeavor. Just like anything else, trust can be lost from time to time. When things don’t go as planned, when things take a turn for the worse, when everything that used to work doesn’t, trust can dissipate.

The key becomes…how do you get it back?

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Handle the Truth

wendy — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 15:37:36 +0000

All the great ones in any profession have the same curiosity about one thing for sure: how can I get better? Kobe Bryant, for example, is on a never-ending search for ways to improve. He doesn’t care what it takes; his goal is to strive for perfection.

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