👋 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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🔥 Coaching is Hard Enough.
What do coaches struggle with the most?
• Parent communication
• Playing time conversations
• Building culture
• Practice planning
• Leadership development
• Accountability
• Team buy-in
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💭 ONE THOUGHT
The Most Important Player No One Talks About
In cycling, there’s a role most people have never heard of.
It’s called a domestique.
They’re not trying to win the race. Their job is to help someone else win.
They ride in front to block the wind.
They set the pace.
They chase down threats.
They sacrifice their race so the team leader can finish it. No spotlight. No stats. Just impact.
And here’s the truth most coaches already know…
Every championship team has one. They just call it something different.
Shane Battier…
I remember watching Shane Battier during his time with the Miami Heat.
He wasn’t the star. That was LeBron James.
And he wasn’t leading the box score most nights.
But if you watched him closely, you saw it.
He took the toughest defensive assignments.
He rotated early.
He made the extra pass.
He spaced the floor.
He did everything that allowed stars to be stars.
There’s a famous story from those finals runs about coaches tracking “winning plays” that never showed up on the stat sheet.
Battier led the team.
Not in points.
He led the team in impact.
That’s a domestique.
Battier was the basketball version of that.
Michael Lewis wrote about Battier in 2009, calling him 'The No-Stats All-Star.' Look it up. It is a great read.
What Do You Celebrate?
As coaches, we sometimes get it wrong. We celebrate production. Points. Stats. Highlights.
But culture isn’t built on production.
It’s built on behavior.
I define culture as…
What you allow
What you emphasize
Every day
If the only thing you praise and emphasize is what shows up in the box score, you slowly lose the players who actually hold your team together.
The best coaches flip that. They don’t just have these players.
They recognize them.
They reward them.
They build around them.
The EMPHASIZE them
They make it clear: “This is what matters here.”
Because whatever gets emphasized gets repeated. If you want more of this “domestique behavior” in your program, it starts simple:
Call it out when you see it.
Make it part of your standard.
Celebrate it louder than scoring.
Because players are always watching what matters most. And they will adjust their behavior to match it.
Closing Thought
Take a look at your team.
Who is your domestique?
And more importantly, do they know how valuable they are?
Be Great!
Greg
P.S. If you're looking for one resource to help with culture, leadership, accountability, practice planning, and parent communication, this is it. Better Coach OS + Parent Communication Playbook ($49 value) = just $129.
🔗 LINKS FOR LEADERS
🎧 Podcast: Rob Miller on why standards inspire (and rules restrict) and how coaches can make expectations actionable. [LINK]
🆇 ICYMI: Your Voice is a Weapon [LINK]
📰 Article: Leadership Shows Up In Small Moments
📜 GREAT QUOTE
“I hear what you say. I trust what you do.”
👀 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]