Why Donald Trump doesn't wear blue jeans.

"There are few things more powerful in our lives than a journey into the unknown." Terry Pettit in the book A Fresh Season.

Okay, I have a confession to make. I have no earthly idea if Trump does or does not wear blue jeans, nor do I care.  The drive from Louisville, Kentucky is a long one and it included A LOT of news, commentary and random audio book excerpts. In one of them, the talking heads were making a point about why the media isn't totally to blame for Trump's standing in the polls.  Never mind that they have given him a billion dollars of free coverage.  Literally, a billion.  This particular member of the media wanted to at least share the blame with the citizens.  His point was that every member of the media knows that if you add Trump's name to the title of the whatever it is you're working on, you're ratings, clicks, views or whatevers goes up dramatically.  So, here we are, not talking about his blue jeans.  Well that and I've been re-reading Terry Pettit's books as of late.  No one and I mean NO ONE titles chapters better than the former University of Nebraska volleyball coach turned author and sport elder.

The quote on the wall in the University of Louisville's practice gym caught my eye.  It's in the upper left hand corner of the PI results for the entire team and staff.  It's not in color or bigger than anything else there and it's not on some special lamented card stock for long keeping, it doesn't have to be.  The spirit of the quote is so adamantly lived out by their head coach - in every word spoken and action - this is her to the core.  The quote is by Winston Churchill and although he didn't know it when said it, it so eloquently describes what great coaches do on a daily basis.  They adapt and they adapt in positive and constructive ways.  The quote:

 "The pessimist sees difficulty in every opportunity.  The optimist sees opportunity in every difficulty."

On the four day learning tour that included Louisville, University of Indy, Purdue and Illinois, I saw example after example of coaches adapting to players. All four programs were unbelievably generous with their time, and all four had different ways of doing a very hard thing very well.  I'm not going to go into what each of the programs do and I refuse to compare them.  They were all great and I learned a so much from all four.

What I will leave you with are the Top 10 things that I learned or were confirmed for me during my recent journey:

1. There is no end line to culture cultivation.  There are also no shortcuts to good culture.  It comes in little moments, it comes through consistent communication from coaches and should be looked at as a living, breathing and growing thing that serves as the oil that allows the engine to run smoothly.  A dysfunctional culture is like dirty oil-neither is good for motor.
2. All four coaches/programs have drastically different styles, but importantly all of them give off the impression that they don't, even for a second, think that their's is the only way or even the best way-but just the right way for them.
3. Self Awareness is the key to building great culture.  You have to know your values, your roots in order to lead other people successfully.
4. Great coaches collaborate with today's players who expect input.
5. Players were asked to evaluate almost every drill along the way.
6. Practice tempo can vary wildly and still be successful.
7. Consistent communication about behavior not in line with a team's culture is important, but not more important that patience and understanding.  Great coaches take an educational approach to discipline.
8. There is more than one way to skin a cat when it comes to parent communication.  The range goes from not talking to parents about anything volleyball related to talking to them about whatever they need to talk about, including playing time.  As long as the coach believes in the policy and carries it out consistency and artfully, the canvas is the coach's to paint.
9. Great coaches express vulnerability to their teams, regularly and without regret or hesitation.
10. Simon Sinek would be proud of the programs I saw this week.  The level of safety in the gyms I stood in was very high. When I speak of safety, I don't mean that the players know they won't get shanked if they miss a serve.  I mean the safety to give advice to a teammate without fear for being told they're wrong, safety to speak up and take the team aside for a pep talk after poor performance in a drill, safety to ask questions of the coaches or ask for a more complete explanation if needed.  The kind of safety that allows a team to take risks in the pursuit of improvement.

More to come...In the meantime, if you know about the blue jeans, let me know at Tree@TreeRootsLLC.com  Happy Coaching!