Coach K's Most Important Ingredient for Success

-Post written by Stephanie Zonars (www.LifeBeyondSport.com)

Coach Mike Krzyzewski won his 903rd game a week ago, surpassing Bobby Knight as the winningest coach in men’s collegiate basketball. (Basketball super-fans know that Pat Summitt holds the overall coaching record with 1,071 and counting).

Amazing accomplishment for Coach K! He’s built the strong, winning tradition of Duke basketball through qualities like dedication, hard work and perseverance. Yet, when asked after the win for the single most important characteristic for a coach to have in order to achieve success, Coach K said “trustworthiness.”

With the myriad of answers he could have given, he says trustworthiness? Yes. And I couldn’t agree more.

Trust to a team is like the foundation of a house. If you build a house on a foundation that’s been poured correctly, when the storms come up against that house it will still stand. But if your foundation has cracks and fissures, the rain and wind will tear your house apart.

Same is true for your team. If you create strong team trust, your team will stand in the face of adversity like injuries, losses or other drama. But if your team trust has cracks and fissures, the tough times will tear it apart.

3 ways to build Team Trust: http://lifebeyondsport.com/2011/02/3-ways-to-build-team-trust/

Quote of the Day:

"If we're playing hard in practice, under gamelike conditions, then we're just naturally going to play smarter and better during a game. That's why all our practice drills are as gamelike as possible." - Mike Krzyzewski

Build a Shelter Against the Storm

Duke men's head basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski talks about crisis management in his book Beyond Basketball and, as the title suggests, provides lessons for leaders and team members across all backgrounds.

"As a leader, I am often asked about how to act and lead your team in a time of crisis. My response is that, once you find yourself in crisis...it may already be too late."

"Crises are not handled in the instant they occur but are prepared for in all of the moments that you and your team spend leading up to that one. You prepare for the crisis well ahead of time be establishing trusting relationships among all team members. For me, every team meeting, every practice, every individual conversation...establishes who we will collectively be when a crisis occurs".