Admirable Traits of Successful College Sports Coaches

 

My university and hospital work at work has connected me more closely to college sports, something I followed pretty closely as a fan in my younger days but have recently had little to no time for. The football season is the biggest deal and it's been quite an entertaining year no matter where you look. Maybe it's always this wild, but everywhere I turn there seems to be an amazing highlight or plot twist that leaves me slack-jawed in response.

In parallel, I feel like I've gravitated to the habits of the most successful coaches in the college sports space. Not that I ever aspire to the same role. But it's not a bad parallel to what I do as president of a consulting firm.

I've had two jobs in my 27+ year career. But I know that's not the norm. Especially right out of college, most people are at a position for two to four years tops, before changing jobs or going back to school or moving to a new city. I would love to keep every one of my co-workers for as long as possible, and I work hard so that they're happy and motivated and supported, so that they feel like there is room to mature and grow and thrive within the firm. But I know that we work for people for a stage in their career and that they will have many other stages in their career. It is a truth, and it is something to be celebrated.

Just like college coaches know that their players, the ones that actually achieve success and secure wins on the field, are not with them forever. So they must recruit, instruct, activate, and motivate...only to have those players move on to the rest of their lives.

Perhaps this frustrates coaches, particularly in basketball where "one and done" cases (players coming for a single season only to move on to the pros) are common. But, as with many firms like the one I am at, it is a characteristic of the business, and in fact it is something to be cherished. 

Indeed, the best coaches work hard to not only coach their players towards success on the field but also to create value for their next chapter at the professional level. They coach their players towards greater excellence in the sport, not only because that translates into wins for the team but also because it sets that player up for future success as a pro.

To be sure, there are coaches that are rigid and egotistical, who bend players to their system without regard to whether that helps players to maximize their personal upsides. But most successful coaches know that the path to sustained success is to be seen as a place that wins on the field by letting their players shine. That's what attracts future players to want to play for that team and coach, after all.

You can see a lot of parallels to a professional services firm that is perpetually saying hello to new hires while saying goodbye to others who are moving on to something new. I hope that those who I've had the privilege of working with would tell you that even as I was trying my best to maximize the success of the firm, I never lost sight of wanting individual people to thrive and grow in the process. I think that's what makes successful college coaches successful. I think that's what I want to emulate too.