Two examples for you on coaching and relationships.
Perhaps you weren’t one of those who had tuned in to TSN on Sunday morning to watch the 2011 World Cup of Rugby final between France and the favoured home side, New Zealand. (Yes, I was up at 4am and decided to watch, as I was suffering from jet lag from my recent trip to Japan).
It’s isn’t the game in particular that I wanted to comment on. Rather, did you happen to notice who brought out the Webb Ellis Cup at the end of the game? The Past President of the Rugby Union, accompanied by a 11-year-old rugby player from Christchurch – who also happens to be featured in at least one of the promotional videos for the World Cup that were shown around the world (and of course on YouTube). After bringing the cup onto the pitch, they hugged each other while walking back to the stands. Talk about being inspired. I’ll bet money that lad plays for the New Zealand national rugby team when he gets older.
Wouldn’t it be awesome if the CCA did that at major tournaments?
A second example. While in Japan I read each day’s morning paper to get news from the opening few games of the World Series; game six is tonight in St. Louis. While in Tokyo, I tripped over this article by Tyler Kepner that appeared in the 12 October 2011 issue of the International Herald Tribune (the global edition of the New York Times) on page 13. In the article, Mr. Kepner quotes St. Louis Cardinals manager Tony La Russa:
“Our staff, we believe in being very personal, up-close with our players”, La Russa said. “It’s not about a line drawn, and you rarely step over it. We really believe in a lot of intermingling and making each other personally accountable to each other. In other words, you care for your players. Actually, it’s a harder way to lead, because you spend a lot of time as a staff thinking about each and every guy, every day”.
[snip]
“There’s a lot of smart baseball people around”, La Russa said. “Nowadays, with all the distractions, you better get kids that care for your message. And how do you get them to care? You care for them as people”.
Words to live by.