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I’m a huge fan of Seth Godin. I get an email from his blog site every day. Here’s a recent one:

“Banks should close at 4, books should be 200 pages long, CEOs should go to college, blogs should have comments, businessmen should be men, big deals should be done by lawyers, good food should be processed, surgeons should never advertise, hit musicians should be Americans, good employees should work at the same company for years…

Find your should and make it go away.”

Just like most things in life, I can’t help but view things through the lens of basketball: Finding our “SHOULDS” and making them going away is the essence of coaching, isn’t it? Let me start a list:

My players SHOULD know what Spacing means; she SHOULD be able to hit that lay-up; we SHOULD be able to get those rebounds – we’re bigger than they are; he SHOULD be able to pressure the ball without giving up the drive down the middle one-third; they SHOULD know how to get open; they SHOULD know how to run the floor; they SHOULD be able to get themselves to the right emotional level for maximum performance; they SHOULD arrive at the first practice in condition; they SHOULD know the practice schedule; they SHOULD get to class on time, sit up front, give eye-contact, be the first to greet, bring energy to practice and know what I mean when I say, “…….”

What about my own personal “SHOULDS”? Ouch…

2 Responses

  1. thank you for recent article. I read Seth’s book “Poke the Box” and used your article to connect to his blog and free manifesto page. “Brainwashed: Seven Ways to Reinvent Yourself” was helpful not only as a coach and teacher, but also as a parent and citizen. The hard part for me now is to convince my fellow coaches, players, students, and children that all of this is possible. From the Read and React to the realities of real-world economics, a new paradigm can make (or break) the bank.

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