COACHING THE PERSON & THE PLAYER

As a coach you will find through the course of a season or over many years you will come across a huge array of different personalities and traits for the people you will coach. Each player will have their own agenda and personal focus for being in the team. They key to getting the best out of your individuals and driving them to commit as a team will be vastly improved by knowing your people.

This is the reason that in my own coaching career I have sought to know the people I am involved with, not just the player. Not every person is cut from the same cloth. Not all upbringings have shaped the same values in the people in your group.

Through experience, you will be able to identify which people in your group gravitate towards leadership. You will identify your quiet achievers who go about their business without seeking constant praise. You will identify the people that are always second guessing themselves, will need regular assurance and feedback. You will identify the people that are highly strung and itching to perform, the ranter thats frothing at the mouth in the changing room prior to the match.

Knowing your people and having the ability to communicate to each personality type will hold you in good stead as a coach. If you approach the person, not just the player, then I'm sure you will be on the right path in your coaching journey.

Your teams values and standards will be driven by your ability to convey the message you wish to get across to your group. But the messages and feedback you get across to individuals and the personal relationships you forge will be just as vital as your group addresses. When individuals see and feel a genuine care, they will go bone deep in terms of their giving to the group and the cause. But, mismanage these relationships and it can cause all sorts of drama within the group. Players feeling that their relationship with the coach is poor or they are misunderstood will be prone to whinging and causing unrest in the group.

In my experience, you won't win over every individual on your journey. But having an open and honest approach, and reaching out personally to all your people in your group or team will go a long way to showing you care and you value the person.