🏆 Culture is King. But how does Culture WIN?

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Here's what's coming:

• 8 Ways that Culture Wins! 🏆

• Lincoln on Success! 🎩

• Coach Beck and the power of Team Sports 👏

• Read Time ~ 5 minutes

Let's dive in.

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💭 ONE THOUGHT

How does Culture WIN?

Good coaches know that Culture Wins. Good coaches also know HOW Culture Wins. What do they know?

They know that the #1 job of ANY coach is to build their culture. Plain and Simple.

They also know what culture is and is not.

Culture is not the warm, fuzzy, sit-in-a-circle-and-play-games "stuff" that some people think it is.

Culture is much, much deeper and more purposeful than that.

Culture is the day-to-day decisions you make as a coach. It is very complex, and it needs to be thought about and decided upon each and every day.

I have written two practical books for Coaches on the topic of Culture. Culture WINS, and Culture WINS 2. Both have 50 Practical Ways for Coaches to Build a Winning Culture. Check them out here: gberge.gumroad.com.

So, HOW does Culture WIN? Here are my 8 thoughts on how culture wins.

1: Winning Culture knows the WHY

Culture is:

1. What you allow

2. What you emphasize

3. Every day

Leaders in winning cultures know WHY they make decisions. Culture is ALWAYS at the forefront of these decisions.

Successful coaches know that what they allow and what they emphasize will become their culture. They also know that every daily decision they make or don't make will impact their culture.

This is the art of coaching. When do you push? When do you pull?

Think about WHY you do the things you do as a coach. Reflect.

2: Winning Culture is About People

You are what you emphasize. And winning cultures emphasize the "people" in their culture. What traits and attributes do you emphasize in the people in your culture?

What type of player do you want in your program? What "soft skills" do you value? What "basketball skills/traits" do you value? If you want to know, think about what you emphasize day in and day out.

The people are your program. And what you emphasize is what you will get. The players in your program will slowly model the leader that leads them.

Over the years, I have learned that this is what I value the most as a basketball coach.

• High Character Kids

• Committed Kids

• Energy Givers

• We over Me ids

• High Skills over Athleticism

• High BB IQ and Decision Making

What you value becomes your culture. If you value it, you emphasize it. If you emphasize it, you will develop it. Figure out what is important to you, and your people will move in that direction.

3: Winning Culture is like Planting a Tree

Think like a BAMBOO 🎋. It takes years of growing underground before it sprouts above ground and grows incredibly fast in weeks!

It is strong.

Your culture is like a tree. Focus on the ROOT of the Tree before the FRUIT of the tree.

Creating a winning culture takes time. And once it is established, the work is not done. You must still nurture this culture each and every day with your decisions and what you emphasize.

Play the long game with culture. Be a BAMBOO 🎋.

4: Winning Culture is Energy

You cannot win with Negative Energy in your program. Value and create a POSITIVE energy mindset - every day.

This is non-negotiable in winning cultures.

There is no such thing as a perfect culture. You will have bumpy days each season, but the key to winning cultures is that these bumpy days are always addressed. It is when they are not addressed that issues arise.

5: Winning Culture Drives Success

Players must know that daily habits drive culture, and daily habits drive winning. This is a mindset of a winning culture. Share this message with your players. They need to know.

Culture drives success. Success drives tradition.

Share the success. Build the tradition. Share the tradition. It takes time, but is it so rewarding once you can get to that spot.

6: Winning Culture will beat X’s and O’s

I LOVE Xs and Os. But coaches spend way too much time worrying about Xs and Os. I believe that 9 Times out of 10, Culture and Habits will beat Xs and Os.

I have seen it happen over and over again. Now, you need a baseline of talent and skill, but in most cases, at the high school level, where the skill level may be close, the team with the better culture WINS.

Focus on the Root of your Tree and build your culture.

7: Winning Culture is Still Fragile

A culture can be destroyed in a VERY short period of time.

• Consistent poor decisions

• No accountability

• No follow through

• Negative energy

As a coach, you are the LEAD Gatekeeper of your Culture. Be a Gatekeeper. And encourage and teach your team leaders to be your Gatekeepers too. A team with no Gatekeepers turns into a toxic and negative culture very quickly.

8: Winning Culture is Open to Change

Good coaches are willing to keep an open mind. Culture can and should evolve.

You must remain vigilant in your core values. But be open to change with the times and with kids. It will create trust and allow your program to grow and evolve.

There you have it!

Culture WINS! A list of 8 reasons that help define HOW Culture WINS. Focus on building your team culture each and every day.

Be the BAMBOO! 🎋

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