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Hi Coach,
Today, we’re diving into building trust with your athletes.
I hope these newsletters serve you on your coaching journey!
QUOTE
“Trust is the foundation of leadership.”
NEWSLETTER
A few years ago, when I was taking over a new team, I wanted to build trust fast.
I came across a strategy, or rather a simple question, from a fellow coach (I believe it was J.P. Nerbun’s idea) that I used and found incredibly helpful in building trust quickly.
I now use this question with every new team I coach in our first practice. We also use it in our welcome to camp meeting with hundreds of athletes each summer.
The question:
“What do you need from me as your coach to grow as a player this season?”
If it’s at a camp, we just swap the word season for “week.”
This question is powerful for several reasons:
They have likely never had a coach/leader ask them something like this
It makes it clear that our purpose is to help them grow
It forces them to consider what they want and value in a coach
The question recognizes that it’s their journey, and we’re just guides trying to help them get to where they want to go.
Now before you go use this question with your team, let me offer some advice of HOW to use the question because simply posing the question is unlikely to create a meaningful dialogue.
Get into a classroom space or circle up for a huddle before practice if a classroom space isn’t available.
Tell your athletes you have a question you’re going to ask them and that you’d like them to discuss it in groups of 2-3.
For the sake of time and group dynamics, it might be helpful to identify for them which 2-3 people you’d like them to talk with (just the people standing next to them).
Tell them that you’d like for them to discuss the question for 2 minutes, then you’ll be randomly calling on people to share one thing from their group’s conversation.
Ask the question, then tell them to discuss their answers.
After they talk for a minute or two, get the groups’ attention and start calling on people to share what they discussed.
If you’re in a classroom, jot down words and phrases that they mention on a whiteboard.
After you’ve randomly called on several people, ask for volunteers that have anything else they’d like to add.
Every time I’ve done the activity, athletes generally share things that fall into these buckets:
Challenge us
Encourage us
Respect us
After the discussion concludes, tell your athletes you and your staff will commit to doing the things they’ve asked of you.
The question and activity quickly lay a solid foundation for trust to be built upon.
But obviously we have to build on that foundation by following through on those commitments.
Our actions must build trust day in and day out.
Bonus Tip: After I have this discussion with my team or with athletes at a camp, I then transition and say, “Okay, here are the things we as coaches need from you as players to be successful at our job,” then I share our non-negotiables. It’s incredible how receptive they are to these things after we’ve taken the time to hear what they want first.
COACHING APPLICATION
A few thoughts on how this could apply in your coaching or leadership context…
Do this activity with your team in your first meeting or practice
If you feel you’ve lost trust with a current team, try this activity and be honest with your team about why you’re doing it. I.e., “I feel like we’ve lost your trust as players, and we want to regain it, so we want to talk about something.”
CLOSING
Thanks for reading, I hope this serves you on your journey.
To your growth,
Luke Gromer, RYG Athletics
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