The Coaching Zone Building Blocks – The Coaching Zone Book

Build Psychological Capital (PsyCap) in Your Athletes, Your Teams and Yourself.

Competitive sport is a natural home for developing psychological capital or PsyCap in coaches, athletes, and teams. Remembered by the acronym HERO, PsyCap is the development and application of Hope, Efficacy (Confidence), Resilience, and Optimism. These qualities can be enhanced through effort and have positive impacts on individual and team performance. Building PsyCap results in greater self-awareness, more positive attitudes, greater teamwork, and sustained healthy cultures.

Outcomes:

- Self-reflect on your personal PsyCap and its influence on your athletes.
- Apply strategies to build PsyCap in your athletes.
- Manage collective PsyCap in your teams.

The Credo: Declare and Implement Core Values

A major component of a healthy team is for coaches and athletes collectively align the core values of the team with their actions in practice and in competition. Coaches are provided with the framework of the 5 D process of setting core values (Dialogue, Define, Deconstruct, Declare and Do), to help their team set core values with behavioral anchors.

Outcomes:

- Develop a collective understanding and application of core values for team success through following the 5 D framework.
- Create a 30-Second Commercial that advertises what the team believes to be most in important in a brief, clear, and concise manner.

Giving Athletes Feedback

Providing the right type of feedback at the right time to the right athlete is essential for athlete learning and growth. Coaches can develop the skills of quickly figuring out what kind of feedback the athlete needs in a particular context, and then deliver that feedback adeptly – whether it be appreciation, skill-development, or evaluation feedback. Effective coaches have a protocol for having tough conversations and are aware of triggers that prevent feedback from being heard.

Outcomes:

- Identify and provide the right type of feedback that athletes will accept and use.
- Motivate desirable behavior.
- Recognize triggers that might prevent feedback from being heard.

Manage Your Two Coaching Voices – System 1 and System 2 Thinking

Coaches have two different thinking systems. System 1 (automatic) is reactive and responds immediately to the situation at hand, and System 2 (reflective) involves deliberate reasoning and contemplation. Coaches use System 1 to make split-second decisions during a competition, provide quick feedback to athletes, and to make immediate course corrections in strategy. Coaches use System 2 in developing thoughtful practice plans, having a conversation with an athlete about how to improve a skill, or to re-group when things aren’t going well. Effective coaches are able to switch between them smoothly, using each when it is most effective. Effective coaches are emotionally flexible and are aware of how their emotions and impact their athlete’s environment.

Outcomes:

- Manage your use of System 1 and System 2 thinking.
- Assist athletes in identifying and acting on “hot and cold” moments.
- Recognize how your emotions impact your athletes.

Cultivate Connections with Athletes

Effective coaches show that their athletes matter through creating micro connections with them. This helps develop trust, which comes from feeling safe around each other and not having to put up a protective front. Coaches help athletes capitalize on their good news and are empathetic and compassionate when they have challenges and adversities. They also hold athletes accountable in a caring manner. Coaches are aware of their own biases and work to ensure that each athlete is individually cared for. Often our different expectations for different athletes remain under the surface, and it requires conscious effort to be fair to all. Effective coaches focus on each athlete independently, while at the same time see them in context of the whole team – their scope of contribution.

Outcomes:

- Expand your playbook of interpersonal communication skills with your athletes.
- Establish vulnerability trust with your athletes.
- Manage biases in your coaching.

Create A Systems Partnership – The Team Dance

The coaches (tops) develop and strengthen the system by sharing responsibilities and opportunities with the entire team. Team leaders (middles) connect and coordinate the coaches and the rest of the team. The rank-and-file athletes (bottoms) are central to the system. They mobilize resources to help the team succeed and participate in team decision-making. Effective coaches understand the status differential between the coach, team leaders (captains), and the team. When in partnership, everyone tends to thrive and flourish.

Outcomes:

- Understand the Team as a complex system.
- Recognize that the role of power shifts among coaches, team leaders, and the team.
- Encourage athletes who are “magnetic motivators” to bring their energy or quiet strength to the team.

Build Accountability and Support with the Four Drivers of Team Culture

There are four drivers that contribute to building and sustaining team culture: 1) Create – Innovate and take risks to meet new challenges and learn from mistakes; 2) Collaborate – Build an engaged and committed team. Take the collective wisdom from the entire team in making decisions; 3) Control – Pay attention to details, roles, and routines. Focus on stability and control; and 4) Compete – Results driven and goal achievement.

Outcomes:

- Become aware of the balance of culture drivers on your team.
- Acknowledge how you combine drivers for team success.
- Develop strategies to adjust behaviors to concentrate more or less on a driver.