👋 Good morning! ‘Great Teams Better Leaders’ is written by Greg Berge. Have an idea or something to share? Just hit reply. I read and respond to every message.
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💭 ONE THOUGHT
5 Lies Coaches Tell Themselves
There is one job that sits above everything else you do as a coach. And it’s not the scheme, film, or X’s and O’s.
Your number one job is to build culture. Your number two job is to develop leaders.
Everything else is a byproduct.
Culture is not a feeling. It is not a poster on your wall. I define culture this way:
Culture is what you allow.
Culture is what you emphasize.
Culture is everyday.
And leadership doesn’t just appear. It is built. Through players who hold each other accountable before you ever have to say a word.
That is what I call collective leadership, and it is what separates good programs from great ones.
But first, you have to get honest with yourself.
Because most culture problems don’t start with the players. They start with these five lies that coaches tell themselves.
Lie #1: “My kids just aren’t leaders.”
I waited for leaders to emerge early in my career. Practice after practice. Nobody stepped up.
Nobody stepped up because I never taught them what stepping up looked like. I never defined it. Never modeled it. Never built the structure for it to grow.
Leadership is not a personality trait. It is a skill. It is a standard. And it’s our job as coaches to build it.
How do you build your team leaders? It is exactly why I created the Team Leader OS.
Lie #2: “We have a great culture.”
Culture isn’t what it looks like when you’re watching. It’s what happens when you’re not.
What do your players do in the locker room before you walk in?
How do they treat the last kid on the bench?
What happens on the bus after a bad loss?
That’s your culture.
If you haven’t defined it, taught it, and held people to it daily, you don’t have a culture. You have a vibe. Vibes disappear when things get hard. Culture doesn’t.
Lie #3: “That’s just how this kid is.”
Translation: I stopped coaching him.
When you work around a player’s attitude instead of addressing it, you send a message to every other kid in the program. If you’re talented enough, the rules don’t apply to you.
That one decision costs more culture capital than a losing season ever will.
Culture is what you allow. Nothing more. Nothing less.
Lie #4: “My players know I care.”
You feel it. You assume they feel it. They don’t always.
The quiet kid at the end of the bench. Three years. Never started. Never complained. Did he know his value? Did you say it out loud?
Caring without communicating is invisible leadership. Collective leadership means every player feels seen. That doesn’t happen by accident.
Lie #5: “We’ll be fine when it matters.”
You won’t rise to the moment. You will fall to your standard.
If you allowed shortcuts in October, they show up in January. If you never defined what your culture looks like under pressure, your team will improvise. Improvised culture looks like panic and finger-pointing.
Programs that finish strong in March built that in September. Not through talent. Through a standard.
The common thread in every one of these lies?
The finger is pointing OUT. At the players. At the roster. At the circumstances.
The coaches who build great programs point the finger IN first.
Your number one job is culture.
Your number two job is leaders.
Both start with you.
Forward this to a coach who needs to hear it. And if you want the tools to build this in your program.
Be great!
Greg
P.S. Culture doesn't happen by accident. Leadership doesn't develop itself.
Get the Team Leader OS today for only $99 (Save $30) and give your players the tools they need to lead and build a championship culture.
Click the link below and use the code = SAVE30
📜 GREAT QUOTE
"The culture precedes positive results. It doesn't get tacked on as an afterthought on your way to the victory stand."
🔗 LINKS FOR LEADERS
🎥 Video: The Difference Between Winning and Succeeding - Wooden [LINK]
🆇 ICYMI: The Lion Mindset - Cori Close [LINK]
📰 Article: The Most Important Player No One Talks About
👀 LOOKING FOR MORE?
My website has all my products and resources → gregberge.beehiiv.com.
Contact Greg for a Culture or Leadership workshop for your team or school.
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Contact Me: Greg Berge, [email protected]