Jody Conradt Keynote Address

4/27/2012

Below are some notes I took from Coach Conradt's keynote address at A Step Up coaching symposium in Dallas this weekend. Watch for much more A Step Up information over the next few weeks!


This is a PROFESSION; teach one, reach one- each one.

Coaching is not just recruiting; what's most important is being a student of the game; setting your self apart and rising above. Coaching is teaching- be a lifetime coach.

Be a giver.

"Opportunities don't go to the best kept secret"

Make no mistake...coaching is a winning business. Accept the challenge. (Win every day, all day, in everything you do).

An important element of leadership is helping others love our passion for women's basketball.

Recruiting
-Culture is defined as the core values on which something is built. This is the hard part...trying to get your student-athletes to use their talents to be part of the team.
-Team is defined as a group of people brought together with common purpose.
-Need to lead SA's to "doing the right thing" by promoting and upholding standards of the team.
-Consider the PSA's culture when recruiting them to your team. Evaluate their home life and high school experience (AAU is temporary; mostly in the summer, limited practices, etc)

Important Player Qualities:
1. Focus/Intensity/Passion/Willingness to commit to goals and achieve them/Natural enthusiasm
-need athletes who believe its fun to compete in practice!
-todays athletes don't want to compete and make each other better....they're afraid of making each other "look bad" (it's almost like you need alter egos in practice so kids can leave emotions at home).
-It's up to us to create an environment where competition is fun and healthy
Remember....life's not fair; accept responsibility (the ABILITY to RESPOND! Event + Reaction = Outcome).
 
2. Willing to accept their role
-What happens when you wine and dine a player, then they sit on the bench their freshman year?
-Who on your team OWNS rebounding? Steals? This must be developed by coaching staff through repeated emphasis.
-The best compliment a player can get... "When you are on the floor, everyone plays better"
-As a coach, avoid saying "my" team. It's the players team! Help make them feel that way- allow them to create team rules. This creates a sense of ownership and shared responsibility. Avoid calling them "kids"- this is a built in out for immature behavior and other ills! Think of the qualities we hate to see in kids....do we ever display those? Lead by example!
-Selfishness and ego will kill teamwork more than anything.
 
3. Communication- listen, sense, feel.
Women are more preoccupied with relationships than achievement; they want to please their peers more than adults.
Often, a roommate or teammate will be the peril of one's academic/basketball woes. Ask the player- have you talked to this person about the issue you are having? Odds are there is a lack of communication.
-Create an environment of communicative efforts!
-Give examples of situations and ask the team to answer. For example: Your teammate is in the parking lot/cafeteria/room with their boyfriend or girlfriend. They show up to workouts late and tell the coach that they were finishing a test and talking to a professor. The entire team knows where that athlete was but the coach accepts the tardy excuse and moves on. What do you do? Answer: the team should police, protect the team and uphold its standards. Teammates should let that player know that is unacceptable behavior and if it happens again then there will be more serious consequences.
In life there are consequences just like in basketball- when you foul 5 times, you're out!

-Leadership is an art, not a science. Need to learn when to nudge and when to show...when to hide and when to be visible...when to use the stick or the carrot...when to shout or whisper.

Chemistry fits in with confidence. You have to like the sense of team and environment. Understand your team members! Encourage confidence in each other- it will only help you! Respect- don't have to like everyone.

Important qualities in assistants:
1. Teacher- on Coach Conradt's staff, no one ever missed more than 5 practices per year. Why would you punish an assistant with that?

2.  Mirror the HC's values

3. Competent piece for the program. What is their expertise and does it fit in/balance out staff?

4. Complete the HC's weaknesses and fill other assistant's voids

 
 Q&A

How do you delegate leadership? 
"If you're a senior, you're a captain"



What is coach's role in promoting the program and growing the game??
Regarding marketing: it IS your job to get people in the seats and newspapers to cover you!
MBB are like bankers...people with lines out the doors, plenty of business.
WBB are like insurance salesmen...must go door to door!

WBB sells on personality and story of players.

Think we do need players names on their jerseys for public recognition.

Vic Shaefer's talk at the Final Four

Below are some notes I took when Texas A&M Assistant Coach Vic Schaefer spoke at the WBCA Convention at the Final Four last year (the day his Aggies won the National Championship!).

-Assistants and Head Coaches can agree to disagree...but, when you disagree, it should be about what we think is best for the program or team.

-The Head Coach should talk to parents about intangibles, but let the Assistants handle the crises that arise.

-Knowledge of the game is so important!! WATCH THE GAME!! (See my post on "deliberate practice" here)

-Professionalism is so important...what you say, how you dress...

-Know you're stuff- we aren't paid to be wrong.

-Be a voice to your Head Coach. Sometimes, bosses need to think it's their idea about a game plan or something that will benefit the team/program.

-Go to work early and stay late.

-Emotionally invest in your team!

-Teach kids to be accountable and to hold each other accountable (it's not personal, only work!). For example, run on the 3rd missed block out.

-It's not WHAT we do...it's HOW we do it

-Trust is the foundation of A&M's defense....tight ball pressure = susceptible to penetration. Need to trust your teammates' rotations, etc.

-Post defense is played 35' from the basket (bump and get position early)

-Make your team uncomfortable in practice so they are better prepared to face adversity in games (and life!)

-Clear minds make plays. KISS (Keep It Simple Stupid)

-A&M has a foundation of the same 3-5 drills everyday

-BE WORTH POINTS EACH GAME (on defense!)

-Defense is a LEARNED response.

A simple way to be an effective leader...

The bottom line is this: if you want to inspire someone to give you their best, you have to stop looking and acting like a theater critic and, instead, come across with empathy and appreciation. To do that, you first need the mindset that the discussion should be less about you and more about the other person… and then you need to practice (with good help) to make it happen.

-Michael Hume
http://wisdomalacarte.net/blog/inspirational-leadership-its-about-them-not-you/2011/05/

Michael Jordan & 7 Ways to Listen

Pat Williams is an author, motivational speaker and senior vice president of the Orlando Magic who wrote a book called "How to Be Like Mike: Life Lessons About Basketball's Best" (link to Amazon).

I knew Michael Jordan was unusual from the second day of practice his freshman year. I was teaching some pressure defense principles and saw Michael was doing it incorrectly. I went over it with him. I thought it would take him two weeks to learn it. The next day, Michael had it down perfectly. I said, "What did you do, stay up all night studying?". He said, "Coach, I'm a good listener. I do what I'm supposed to do." -Dean Smith

There is no use even bothering with conversation if we are only preoccupied with our own concerns. The problem is that most of us don't utilize conversation the way we should- to absorb and consider the knowledge and view point of others. Instead, we filter everything through the lens of our own concerns, we worry about formulating an appropriate reply and we don't really listen.

Some simple solutions for listening more effectively:

1) Keep quiet. It signals your receptiveness.
2) Show positive non-verbal communication. Make eye contact and nod your head affirmatively.
3) Don't lead. Asking leading questions is a way of directing the conversation.
4) Resist giving advice unless they ask directly. Often, people are not searching for solutions to their problems; they just want someone to engage them.
5) Remain neutral. Don't agree or disagree, approve or disapprove.
6) Don't react defensively. If you hear something that bothers you, avoid showing it.
7) Avoid cliches. This only leads people to think you're anxious to get away from them.