For coaches who have been at the top, it may be surprising how quickly that feeling passes and how it feels a lot more like relief than jubilation.
Wins and losses are not the measure of a coach but merely one fleeting accounting of the competitive landscape. When coaches are clear about why they’re coaching, they can tally up their wins, and losses, in order to achieve lasting, repeatable, sustainable victory.
The peak of spring season may not feel like the time to contemplate such heady ideas but it is, in fact, the most important time to be doing just that. If not now, when freshly singed by the fire of competition, when else will you be able to look yourself squarely in the eye and assess, truly assess, your reasons for coaching? When emotions are heightened and nerves are frayed, we have a clearer view into our own hearts and have a better chance of reading what’s written there.
Wins and losses are fleeting. I’ve won national championships and been back on the recruiting trail mere hours later. I’ve suffered heartbreaking losses and found quick solace in the resiliency and perspective of young people. As hooks on which to hang your self-worth, both states are too evanescent. And, crucially, others get a say in your race results; the enemy gets a vote.
For a long and fulfilling career, coaches must identify what it is that lights their fire, regardless of outside factors. I hope we’d all agree that there isn’t just one coach or team, the national champion, that has had a successful year. And for those who have been at the top, it may be surprising how quickly that feeling passes and how it feels a lot more like relief than jubilation. So we need to take the next step of defining what it is exactly that we’re working so hard to achieve each year.
None of this is to imply that achieving competitiveness means sacrificing lasting success. Quite the contrary: Competitive excellence follows from leaders who are clear about their values and priorities, who are sure of themselves and why they do what they do.
Time can teach you a lot, but not everything and not without your active participation. Be curious about yourself. Elevate the expectations and aspirations you have for yourself and others. Do the work to find your own victories and build a career, and life, that allows you to be victorious as often as possible. You are more than your wins and losses.
So, as you reach the end of your spring season, I challenge you to find what gave you energy and joy this year, what kept you motivated, engaged, and creative. Write that down clearly and succinctly. Put it somewhere you can see it and work to have more of that next year. Start there.
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