Leadership Lessons from World Champion Coach Tony Dungy

1. Direction.

2. Perseverence - Staying the Course

Tony talked about how people told him his laid
back style of coaching would never work as a head
coach in the NFL, but he wasn't going to change
his philosophy based on other peoples' opinions.

As coaches, it's important that we stay the course
once we have decided on the direction we want to
go.

It's not about stubbornly refusing to make changes
when things aren't working, we see the results of
that on the world scene right now.

Instead, it's about showing consistency in the
application of the plan of action we believe in.

I can promise you that even the best prepared, best
written training plans are going to give you
moments of doubt.

Athletes aren't improving like you expected, they're
sucking wind at the end of the game, they're
getting beat to the ball and off the line.

You'll start second guessing yourself, your program,
your ability.

And your athletes will be able to see the doubt
and frustration in your body language. I'm a firm
believer in the idea that your team, your group, etc.
takes on the personality of the coach.

It's why I always (ok, almost always) try to
stay positive. I try to act like everything that
happens is part of the plan.

Did we get our butts kicked this week? No problem
guys, we're training through it.

Even during times I had no idea how to steer what
I thought was a flaming train wreck, I always
stayed the course.

Again, because my plan was researched, based on
science and physiologically sound, I had every
reason to believe that things would come together
when it mattered.

And the vast majority of time it did.

Because I knew that if I wanted my athletes to
naturally trust and follow me (not out of fear or
because I'm the adult in charge) I could not
flip flop in ideology or change course mid season.

Athletes will take on the underlying belief and
expectations of the person/people coaching them.

And if I'm all over the place because I don't have
utmost confidence in the preparation I put into
planning the season, then my athletes won't
either and we'll all fail to reach our goals.

<$firstname$>, if you're operating with a solid
base of knowledge and designing your athletes'
training with a proven system, stay the course
and things will come together.

If you have any doubts about the effectiveness of
your training program, here is the program that
will give you the Direction to Persevere:

Complete Speed Training

In speed,

Latif Thomas


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