Ownership... our dilemma, our solution, our TEAM

 Mercer County Practice Field.... 5:45 am

A few years ago at Mason County, our district began faculty meetings every Wednesday that would start at 2 pm and go to 4 pm. That meant that our kids would be released early from school and we would not be able to practice until at least 4:15. We couldn't have those guys unsupervised.  It was also very hot.

I told our guys they had a choice. They could practice before school every Wednesday at 6:30 am, or, we would have to go in the evening at 8 pm to avoid the heat and Wednesday night church. I thought the best choice was 6:30 am. But, I also knew that if I walked in and told everyone we WILL practice at 6:30 am, there would be significant pushback and it would not be well-received.   I had to be willing to go with the 8 pm practices if that is what the players chose.

They chose the 6:30 am practices...and it became their favorite practice of the week. They enjoyed getting it done and the extra 12 hours of recovery. The temperature was much cooler. It was "cool" to practice under the lights until the sun came up each morning.

Wednesday morning at Mason County, November 2013.....20 degrees

Several years later when the school ended those teacher meetings, our kids still wanted to stick with the Wednesday morning practices and we did so.

This past week at Mercer County, we had to adjust practice times due to teacher meetings. This time, our player council and staff met to discuss our options. As a group, we chose to go with 6 am practice times. Mercer is a larger county geographically than Mason and it was going to be a major adjustment for our kids. But, they did great. The 6 am practices were our best practices of the week. And, I think our council and staff made the best decision.

Once again, had I decreed that practice would be at 6 am, it would not have gone well.

As a leader or coach, next time you are facing a tough issue or need to make a major adjustment, try to include your staff and players in the decision. You can still say what you think is best. But, listening & learning makes you a better and more successful coach.  There is a good chance that someone in the room may have a better idea. And, even if your idea is the best one, this process leads to substantially more support and "buy-in" as opposed to forcing your will on everyone else.

Being a head coach has been different than I expected.  There is much less telling people what to do and much more listening than I anticipated.  The more ownership  our staff and players have in our team, the better we will be....and I need to remember that in 2017!