It’s a common scenario; we develop experience in a given area, and then decide there is little else we can learn. In this Pocket Sized Pep Talk, I’ll tell you how this recipe for failure almost caused me to miss one of the most important lessons I ever learned as a coach.
Originally Published: February 1, 2023
Rob Jolles (00:00):
It’s a common scenario. We develop experience in a given area, and then we decide there is little else we can learn. Let’s have ourselves our pocket size pep talk, and I’ll tell you how this recipe for failure almost caused me to miss out on one of the most important lessons I ever learned as a coach,
Intro (00:22):
A pocket size pep talk, the podcast that can help energize your business and your life with a quick inspiring message. Now, here’s your host, Rob Jolles.
Rob Jolles (00:34):
I’ve always been a basketball fan, played a lot as a kid. Various leagues began coaching at age 22. I coached both boys and girls in house leagues, select teams and travel teams. I created my own playbooks, ran full motion offenses. I always felt I knew the game better than any other coach who ever coached against me. So can you imagine my frustration when a few years ago I found out I was strongly encouraged to attend a coaching workshop with all the other coaches. I can assure you, if it wasn’t for the Great Falls Basketball coach shirt given to those who attended, I would not have shown up, but show up. I did, and I found out there was plenty left for me to learn. One of the things I didn’t know was that Kevin Greve was conducting the workshop as a lifetime. Washingtonian. I was a big fan of Kevin GRE’s and the championship he helped bring to the Washington Bullets in 1978.
(01:38)
It was a great workshop, but it was one of the last questions that Kevin greedy answered that I’ll never forget. The question someone asked was this, who was the best coach you ever played for? Without hesitation, Kevin answered, look, Don Nelson. The next question quickly followed Why Kevin said, because in two years of playing for Coach Nelson, he never once told us to go out and win. He used the word to appease a reporter from time to time in a press conference. But with us, he found other words. He told us, do the things we’ve been practicing, because that’s what we can truly control. If we do those things and we do ’em well, good things will happen for our team. I began to think about the many times I told the kids I was coached to go out and win. I even frequently broke huddles.
(02:38)
Having everyone on the team shout the word win from that day on. I never did it again as a basketball coach or as a business coach. Isn’t that the goal in business to do the things we’ve been practicing because that’s what we can truly control. But there was one other lesson from this story that needs to be remembered. If it wasn’t for a silly shirt giveaway, I would’ve never attended that workshop and learned that invaluable lesson and why? Because I made the mistake that those with a lot of experience often make. I thought I knew all I needed to know. In the words of John Wooden, perhaps the greatest basketball coach of all times. It’s what you learn after you know it. All that counts.
Outro (03:35):
Thanks so much for listening. If you enjoy today’s show, please rate and recommend it on iTunes, outcast, wherever you get your podcast. You can also get more information on this show and rob@jolles.com.