WHAT RICK CARLISLE CAN TEACH US ABOUT LEADING A TEAM TO A CHAMPIONSHIP

Championship teams require a leader that leads like a champion. Many talented teams have not become champions due to a lack of leadership. This time of the year, with a few days off for Christmas and right before conference season is about to start, is a valuable opportunity to perform a self evaluation of our leadership mindset. Is the way we are leading championship quality? Because if it isn't we can't expect our teams to perform like champions during conference season. I was reading an article by Dwain Price of the Star-Telgram about Rick Carlisle. From this article I find 3 things that Rick Carlisle can teach us about leading our team to a championship.

1. He find ways to keep his players out of their comfort zone. We must take time to think about ways to make our teams uncomfortable that lead to improvement, but that doesn't cause them to lose their confidence. Rick Carlisle, "We won the championship last year because we were uncomfortable the whole time. Part of my job is to make sure that we have a healthy discomfort every day knowing that there are the things that we're going to have to do extremely well--even better than last year--to put ourselves in a position to defend the title.
2. He not only defines roles, but he works with players to get them to accept their role. At times coaches are quick to define roles and stop there. We must make a focused effort to help our players understand and accept their roles. The influence of getting one player to accept their role can be huge. Rick Carlisle, "There won't be any doubt about what people's roles are. Role definition is one of the things that has been a real positive with our group. It's not just the definition of roles; it's the acceptance of roles. You can define roles all you want, but if you have guys that are hesitant or unwilling to accept them, then you're going to have problems. Shawn Marion, from the beginning of the season was more than willing to come off the bench and do what he had to do to help the team win and that set an unbelievably great positive tone."
3. He welcomes the challenges of leadership. Championship coaches approach leadership with a champion mindset. They understand the power of choice, they choose to respond to challenges and obstacles with positivity even before the challenges and opportunities rear their ugly heads. Rick Carlisle, "I hop the job is tougher. I'm not looking for it to be easy, I promise you."

BASKETBALL THOUGHTS FROM RICK CARLISLE

How to get your players to conform to their roles:

• At som point you're going to hit a tough stretch and guys are going to complain about their roles
• We laminated cards with exact definition of each player's role.
• "Jermaine O'Neal: Leader, scorer, rebounder, defender, game closer."

Ideas during film

• Ask your players questions during film, keeps them on their toes.
• Make players accountable to know game assignments.
• Break film into 3 segments
• How bad we were
• What we did well
• How we want to do it. (If there isn't a lot of footage of your team doin g what you want, substitute with another team that does do it well.)

Be posititive:

• A lot of times you need to more positive than negative
• As coaches we have a tendency to scrutinize
• Show them how close they are to winning
• Show them the mistakes that cost them the games.

Losing:

• Who in hasn't been a head coach? Well look forward to your first losing streak.
• You will find out more about yourself and your team when you have a losing streak.
• At the beginning of the season talk about losing, and how it can mess up a team.
• When it happens we are going to commit even more to who we are.
• When a tema loses your going to have to make adjustments, gives you a sense of urgency, change rotations.

Stretching:

• When teams do it well, it's a spring to a great practice
• Shane Battier used to get his Duke team going while they are stretching
• Make stretching analogous to a great start in practice

Communication:

• Tape yourself talking to your team. First reaction will be yuck.
• Pause mid sentence when you speak.
• Less is more.
• Keeps the audience engaged
• Generates anticipation
• Also helped me become a clearer thinker.