There are many skills that a coach needs as a leader. One such important skill is to be a storyteller. This may seem to be a silly idea but think about it.
As coaches, we are constantly sharing stories of past athletes at our school as well as stories of college and pro athletes. Our stories are designed to point out approaches and attitudes of athletes that led to success or led to failures.
To be effective, our stories need to have several components:
1- Description of the individual or team.
2- Challenges they had to overcome.
3- Choices they made to handle the challenge- approach and attitude.
4- The result of their choices- the outcome.
5- What can be learned from their story? The morale of the story.
To be an effective storyteller, a coach must “land the plane.” This means that a coach needs learn to give the necessary details, get to the point, and finish. A coach who talks too long can turn an effective story into an ineffective story.
As coaches, we are apt to share stories of athletes who spell out the importance of the following kind of things:
1- Energy
2- Commitment
3- Team work and unity
4- Unselfishness
5- Work Ethic
6- Focus and details
7- Competitiveness
8- Handling adversity- next play mentality
9- Handling success
19- Effective leadership
11- Exceeding expectations
As coaches, we want to use examples of our past athletes. We can also use our opponents to point out both examples of success and failure. College and pro athletes are great to use in our stories. And there are thousands of people in all walks of life who can be used in our stories.
Effective coaches create stories with important lessons for their athletes.
