Some of you have really enjoyed this series. 6 more things to add to my growing list of things that coaching has taught me.
Lessons 1-10 can be found HERE.
Lessons 11-20 can be found HERE.
Lessons 21-25 can be found HERE.
26.) Everyone has their own agendas, and they aren't always in the best interest of everyone else - Swim Parents are not immune to this phenomenon. Athletes have different reasons for getting involved in sports; just as parents have different reasons for getting involved in the running of their kids sports. Sometimes it's to prove a point, or to put it on a resume or just so that they can control the club colours. In any event, I have learned that the intentions of volunteers are not always altruistic. Usually harmless... but not always altruistic.
27.) Meeting deadlines, punctuality & effective communication are all life skills; coaches should not miss the opportunity to teach those skills.
28.) "Do Not Disturb" or "Blocking Mode" are great tools for cell phones especially if your phone is glued to you like mine is. Smart phones created the 24 hour work day. This season I did 2 great things for my sanity: a.) I stopped forwarding my work email to my smart phone. I could still get it, but it wouldn't be pushed to it. This made me not cringe with anticipation of a problem every time my phone buzzed. b.) I put my phone on "Blocking Mode" between 10pm and 7am - meaning it would not alert me of anything or ring between those hours (unless I pre-allowed the number to contact me). Thus, no more work emails at 4:45am right when I wake up and no more late night texts or emails stressing me out. If you do not have this function on your phone, look into it!
29.) Money does not equal success. Just because a coach makes a lot of money does not mean that they are a great coach. When speaking to a high level Canadian coach in California, it came up that Canadian coaches in general make a lot of money but have not produced nearly enough to warrant that cost. Being a head coach is nice because the money is alright - but right now, I value the information that will help me warrant that cost more.
30.) It's only great until it isn't. People always have shorter memories for the good things and longer memories for the bad things... until its over... then we tend to remember how great things were.
31.) "If you don't want something repeated, don't tell anyone." ~ John C. Thompson (my Dad). Technically coaching didn't teach me this one... but it's always good to remember as a coach.
