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Don Meyer on Basketball Coaching Leadership Part 2

By Brian Williams on November 2, 2010

Don Meyer on Basketball Coaching Leadership Part 2

Here is the second part of the notes from Coach Meyer’s leadership academy.

Here is the link to the first part:  Don Meyer Leadership Concepts

3 Traits of an Addict

1) perfectionist
2) have high control needs
3) people pleaser (get self-esteem by pleasing people)

Low Expectations = No Disappointments

-Adapt a few new ideas, don’t adopt everything.
-“It don’t cost a thing to do things right or be nice.”  Bear Bryant

Needs Assessment:  What is  –  What should be  =  The Need

Promise less, deliver more

Warren Buffet on hiring:

1) Work Ethic
2) Intelligence
3) Character

*the first 2 without the last will undermine the operation

Leaders and their company

“You can’t tell an eagle from a buzzard when they are flying together.”

3 People to Hire

Paul: older, experienced, always positive
Barnabus: your accountability partner, your moral compass
Timothy: the bear, the young guy that you are going to teach and learn a lot by doing it

Don’t Hire:

1) gossip guy-will always be talking behind your back
2) flatterer-(perfume-OK to smell, terrible to drink)

-Good enough is the enemy of Great
-Whisper criticize and Yell praise
-Check, Check and Recheck

Lieutenant in the Army helicopter checked his maps 6 times in Vietnam, “their lives are in my hands”

Rules of Basketball Camp

1) everyone takes notes / always have your notebook
2) be polite yes sir/no sir, yes maam/no maam,  please and thank you sir/maam
3) everyone picks up trash, we are all on the grounds crew

-retrieve, review, and reinforce info.

McDonald’s Story

-Des Plaines, IL, ran out of pepsi on Saturday and called the store, employee said, “we don’t deliver no pepsi on Saturday”, Monday a.m. McDonald’s signed an exclusive deal with Coca-Cola

4 Types of Players:

Unconscious and incompetent -they don’t know they don’t know
Conscious and incompetent-they know they don’t know
Conscious and competent-they know, but there is no flow
Unconscious and competent-they know and it flows (Jordan)

MJ:”If people knew how hard I have worked, they wouldn’t think what I do is so easy.”

-No task too small, no sacrifice too big.
-Great leader, will not give them a reason to leave the team
-Bad leader, will give them several everyday

1 min. assessment (praise, prompt, and leave)

-1 thing you are doing well and why, 1 thing we can do better and how

Bobby Knight  “It is not enough to know we are going to win, but how we are going to win.”

Jerry Krause, Gonzaga Bulldogs

1) find your unique gift or talent
2) develop it
3) give it away

How to build a TEAM

-shared ownership, own vs rent, you succeed, we succeed, you succeed
-invest vs rent
-You learn a lot more at a funeral than at a wedding

Collective Pride, We Did It

-You only shine when you reflect credit to others.

“I have decided to make my life my argument.”  Albert Schweiter

Fire yourself every year and come back with the energy of a first year coach

-For every 100 who can handle failure, but 1 can handle success.

Winston Churchill graduation speech: “Never, never, never, never, never quit.”

Larry Bird Story:

Playing HORSE against 10-day contract guys for paychecks, Bird wins and rookie walks by locker to hand check over, Bird doesn’t want his check, rookie glances into Bird’s locker, on top shelf is 5-6 uncashed paychecks

-it wasn’t about the $ for Bird

-Want a team of left tackles, who has your blind side

MJ and Nike contract:

Nike offered MJ mere pennies on the dollar for the new “Jordan” line of apparel, MJ said no, you will pay me 17% or I am gone after my contract is up, I am going to play a round of golf and when I come back in 4 hours I want the contract changed.

5 vitamin C’s

Concentration + courtesy + communications + compete = consistency

-Only give orders that can not be misunderstood
-Quiet team is a sacred team
-Necessity is the Mother of Invention
-Instruction vs Criticism

5 Stages of Coaches

1) survival / blind enthusiasm
2) striving for success, being recognized by your peers
3) satisfied, very dangerous stage
4) significant, UCLA = Wooden, Penn State = Paterno
5) spent, exhausted, no juice left

Lou Holtz 3 questions to players

1) Are you committed to excellence?
2) Can I trust you?
3) Do you care about me?

W.I.N. Approach

What’s Important Now

-Measure yourself by the response to disaster

-Most empires have been destroyed from within

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