Becoming a Players Coach

We all know in every sport that you need a good coach to be successful.  Some of the best coaches though do more than the traditional X's and O's.  By establishing a core relationship with each of their players, coaches often get better results than expected.  Of course, there is a need to teach the fundamentals of how to play a sport but more importantly, you need to build relationships to move your players forward.

Look at some of the best coaches in the sports world: Gregg Popovich, Mike Krzyzewski, Bill Belichick, and the list could go on.  The one thing these coaches have in common is, of course, they know their sport but more importantly, they know their players.  These coaches take the time to build the relationships with their players, the trust and study their strengths/weaknesses.  This, in turn, helps when trying to move players forward.  I am sure it is not easy to coach some of the greatest athletes and personalities in the game but these coaches have had success as well as made their players better.  When meeting with their players, I wonder if the questions are that we ask in education.  What can I do to make you better?  What obstacles are you facing now?  What do you need to grow?  What could you have done differently?  

   As a new instructional coach, this is the framework that I am using to better serve the teachers in my building.  I not only want to talk X's and O's of their teaching but also build those relationships that are needed to be successful.  When working with teachers, I try to highlight the greatness that they bring day in and day out, but also want to find ways to help them grow.  This being myself modeling, finding resources, assisting in technology integration, or whatever the case may be.  I believe my sole purpose is to serve as a support so that on game day, they are performing at a high level.  The only difference is that their game day is every day.