Selflessness isn’t a good idea. It’s literally the job.
“Coaching isn’t about Coaches.
It’ about Athletes.
The objective of a Coach is to pour into them so that THEY can benefit from your knowledge.
It’s so THEY can get the results and THEY can get the credit.
If you don’t like that, find something else, because that’s the gig.”
-Ray Zingler on Twitter
(Correct) Coaching is nothing short of selflessness displayed.
Think about it.
Coaching is one of the only fields in the world where you invest an INSANE amount of time studying, learning, practicing, & giving away what you’ve earned to others, so that others may experience success and earn credit.
This is done while you’re working tirelessly in the background and being ridiculed when things go wrong.
Talk about having to have thick skin.
But now more than ever, thanks to social media and the good ‘ol ego, this concept of selflessness in the coaching world is dying by the day.
It started with coaches taking credit for athletes success. You know what I’m talking about. The arm around the shoulder photos talking about how that coach “created” that player.
Or the list of elite athletes they coached (who would have easily been elite with or without their direction).
I hate to break it to you coach, but the only folks who created those players were their mommas and daddys.
But now, we’ve taken it a step further.
We have coaches literally hiring photographers and videographers to capture THEM coaching.
So that they can show and tell everybody what it is they do.
While I have no problem with personal branding, marketing, and taking pride in what you do, when the job is about selflessness and you’re intentionally making it about you, what is that projecting to your athletes and the parents of your athletes?
“But, but what about my clout!?”
I’ll tell you about your clout, Coach.
You work in an ATHLETE-CENTRIC field.
This is about THEM, not you.
Don’t think so?
Remove the athlete from the equation and then explain to me the value of a coach.
I’ll do the leg work for you. There is no value.
This job is about accepting fault when things go wrong, and deffering credit when things go right
.
If you cannot attain internal satisfaction and fulfillment by pouring into the lives of others (the next generation, I might add) and you feel the need to clout chase for yourself because the fragility of your ego is leading you to believe this coaching thing is about you..
You need to find a different field.
