What Youth Sports Taught Me About Leadership

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Maybe you’ll have to turn off Netflix a little sooner at night so you can wake up a bit earlier. Maybe the coffee will need to be stronger because you’ve never been a morning person. Maybe it’ll be the hour before the kids wake up and start storming around the house. Or maybe it’ll be as simple as not turning on the news first thing in the morning. (Don’t get me started.)

Whatever morning routine you currently have, ask yourself: Are my morning habits setting myself up for my best possible day?

The first hour of the morning can make or break your day. It’s the difference of controlling your energy, your inner thoughts, and your attention units or allowing them to be controlled by the outside world. The greatest leaders in the world don’t roll out of bed and rush to work. They set themselves up for success through their morning habits. After all, we can only respect and ask for greatness of others if we are respecting and demanding greatness of ourselves.

The following is a 1-hour, 1-minute guideline for a morning routine to put your mind, body, and spirit in the right place each morning. Try it for 30 days. We promise this: Not only will you notice a difference in your life, but others will notice a difference too.

When you’re a kid, you don’t realize how much you’re actually learning. You’re only concerned about making contact with the ball, making the right pass, playing defense, and running as fast as you can. The feeling was simple: You were just playing a game and kicking up some dirt with your best friends; beyond that you’re not concerned about anything else.

But in hindsight, under the good times and high-fives, getting involved in youth sports allowed an avenue to learn more about yourself. You were throwing yourself in a spotlight, putting a little pressure on yourself, and understanding the feeling of competition. Youth sports allowed you to grow, develop, and understand what you’re capable of through hard work and discipline. It was a glimpse into how to lead yourself and, more importantly, how to lead others to be their best.

As I watched my 9-year-old nephew play baseball last week, it took me back to those summer days of sunshine, best friends, and overzealous, vicarious parents who thought they knew all the answers. Most importantly, it reminded me of the life lessons I was blessed to have instilled upon me at a young age. Here are the 9 life and leadership lessons that quickly came to mind as I watched my nephew and his friends:

9 life and leadership lessons that quickly came to mind as I watched my nephew and his friends:

The first hour of the morning can make or break your day. It’s the difference of controlling your energy, your inner thoughts, and your attention units, or allowing them to be controlled by the outside world.

1.

Team First, “Me” Second

  • Being on teams at an early age is a crash course in understanding that a team can accomplish more than an individual. When I played organized basketball for the first time, we had a ball hog that shot every time he touched the ball. We didn’t win a single game, and my other teammates and I didn’t enjoy coming to games and playing with him. The last game of the season, he was out of town and, of course, we won without him. I can still remember how much fun we had and going out for pizza with teammates after that game. It doesn’t matter if one player hits four home runs or scores 30 points in a basketball game: If the team doesn’t win there’s nothing to celebrate at the end.
  • Advice for coaches: Come up with a strategy to get everyone on the team involved. Play everyone equally, rotate positions in the field, set plays for everyone to get their shots. Never lose sight that it’s not about winning games at a young age, it’s about developing skills, abilities, leadership, and self-confidence.

2.

Learning Requires Listening

  • Of course, we all need to listen to our parents, but what do they know about sports!? When we work with a coach for the first time, listening is crucial to getting better and learning more about the game we love. New techniques, rules, play calls, and approaches to situations require listening closely so we can execute when the game begins and we are thrown into competition.
  • Advice for coaches: Don’t be overly sure you know all the answers as well. Great coaches are always learning the game and learning how to lead and coach more effectively. Search for books that will make you a better mentor to young minds.

3.

3. Getting Better is a Process...

  • We all know that nobody walks onto the field or court the first time and achieves greatness. It takes practice, discipline, and a desire to get better. Even as we advance in our careers, we know that effective leading, teamwork, and developed skill sets take time to improve.

4.

...And Champions Are Made in Practice, Not in Games

  • The games are where we shine, but practice is where the team got better through repetition. Ask any champion in any aspect of life and they will tell you: Behind the scenes when nobody is watching is where greatness is achieved.
  • Advice to coaches: If you have frustrated kids that don’t have a high skill set at the moment, do your best to reassure them that they ARE getting better and that they WILL get better if they continue to practice and play hard. A little bit of encouragement and nurturing can go a long way for anybody, especially children.

5.

You’ll Have Doubters, Even at a Young Age

  • During one of my nephew’s games, the third baseman missed three pop flies, and of course that’s going to be hard on any child’s self-confidence. To make matters worse, I heard one of the parents yell “We need a new third baseman, coach!” Initially I was mad at the parent, but I decided to throw as much kindness and support to the third baseman and let him know the crowd supported him and not to listen to his doubter. Pretty soon the whole crowd was clapping for him and supporting him, and he ended up smacking a double in his next at-bat.
  • Advice for coaches: Meet with parents before the season starts and let them know you won’t tolerate nonsense from the crowd. At a young age, the game is meant to be learned to further develop skills, and more importantly, to shape better men and women by helping them gain confidence. Competition is valuable, but the score really isn’t what’s important. Nobody will remember who won a 10-year-old basketball game years later, but a child’s future and self-worth just might be shaped by your support during those moments on the field.

6.

Momentum is a Real Thing

  • And a powerful thing! There’s something that feels almost tangible when a team begins to rally around each other. Teammates begin to BELIEVE in each other, and when you believe in someone, they start to believe in themselves, and from there great things can happen!
  • Advice for coaches: Find the vocal leaders on the team and have them use their gifts to spread the energy to build momentum. Encourage your team to stand up for one another and give fellow teammates support during an entire game. Start chants, high-five, bang on the dugout walls; make every inning feel like momentum is building and the big rally is on the way.

7.

You Can’t Hit a Grand Slam Without Good Teammates

  • Is there a more exciting crack of the bat in baseball than the hit with the bases loaded? Of course, we can’t hit a grand slam when the bases are empty. We need our teammates to do their part to get on base and set us up for our big moment, and we need to be sure to capitalize on the big opportunity when presented. Grand slams are about everyone contributing and doing their part, and when the bases are cleared everyone should celebrate together.
  • Advice for coaches: Have some fun in practice and load the bases from time to time. If players know that feeling of excitement when they come up to the plate, that feeling will be familiar during the game situation.

8.

Positioning Matters

  • This is a leadership lesson from John Maxwell. When you take the starting five of a basketball lineup and put them out of position, the bottom five will beat that team every time. “No matter how good you are, when you’re out of position, people that are less than you will always win.”
  • Advice for coaches: Try this out with your team. Shakeup the positioning from the starting rotation and see what happens when you hold a scrimmage. It will be a fun learning lesson for all the kids involved.

9.

There’s Always Another Game to Look Forward To

  • No matter how much a strikeout, missed jump shot, error, fumble, or loss hurts, there is always another opportunity to look forward to. Losing and failure are often very powerful, important life lessons we must all go through. They are the fuel that keep us moving forward, and the sooner we realize this, the sooner we extend ourselves to achieve greatness.
  • Advice for coaches: Be sure to instill this upon your players after each loss. Let them know that you can’t win every game, that a loss is a lesson that they are on the right track, and with hard work they can win the next one.

Contact Us

Need advice on the best strategies to share your story and inspire your team? We want to help you raise your influence, and we have strategies to use your past experiences to your advantage.

Email us at info@nav2lead.com or call us at 888-771-5812 for more information about how we can get you on the right track to develop the leadership capabilities of those around you.