Commitment

What is the lack of commitment in our society and within sports?  Some say its generational, but we cannot settle for the cause being a trend and be done with it.  After doing some research we found that 53% of Americans are not happy on their job.  Another study said that 78% of college freshman transfer.  There must be a connection from people not being happy and lack of commitment.

Leaders: If you are lacking commitment from your team or employees, then here are some suggestions to help them let their guard down to get better commitment.  

1. Give your expectations early and often - set the environment!
2. Treat your players fair and don't show favoritism.
3. Give Feedback and give them time to adjust and confidence to work on their weaknesses.
4. Verbalize and show your commitment to your players/employees.

It's not going to be a quick fix so a trip to go bowling is not the fix to building trust to get commitment.  People need to know you care about them - outside of what they do for you.  You have to show compassion outside of just when they are doing everything right.  That includes when they make mistakes.

Players or Employees:  If you feel like your authority does not have commitment to you and is making you feel uneasy then here are some steps you can take:

1. Communicate directly with your supervisor/coach about your frustrations.  Do it with all discretion and with the utmost respect.
2. Show compassion to your supervisor and give them the benefit of the doubt that they may not even realize what they are doing.
3. DO NOT EVER LET IT CHANGE YOUR WORK ETHIC OR YOUR LEVEL OF COMMITMENT!  Understand that you cannot control how people treat you, but don't let it change you from being a good person who is dependable.  Keep working hard and know that you will not always get back what you give to others.  Don't let it change you! 

You can hear the Jackson's Podcast on commitment on spreaker.com or by following this link:  https://www.spreaker.com/user/kbjacademy   

We air motivational podcasts Mondays at 7:30 pm CST on spreaker or you can like us on Facebook: KBJ Academy   to see us recording live.

  

Are You Coachable

Being coachable can be applied in so many areas of our lives on a day to day bases. Everyone has been coached by someone in some way, shape, or form at some point in their life. Whether you are a player or a coach, with that thought in mind, "Are You Coachable?" Let's look at a word like coachability. Coachability means the willingness to be corrected and to act on that correction. When we are coachable, the application of the information that we are given is where coachability is in affect. Another way to determine if you are coachable or not is your willingness to learn. A lot of players and coaches struggle with the tall task of learning. Coaches get to the point sometimes where they feel as though they have arrived and their ideas are the greatest invention to their sport and players can have one successful game and they turn off the listening switch because they reached their peak. If you get to the point where you think you can't learn anything else, you just put yourself out of the running of being coachable.

As a player or coach, how can you become coachable?
1.) Always be willing to learn and grow into what you are learning.
2.) Develop the ability to apply the information that someone gives you correctly.
3.) Get around great examples of someone that is coachable so you can always identify it when you need reminders.
4.) Practice being a great listener.

A lot of people sometimes say that being coachable is something you have or you don't but I very well believe you can develop this skill if you will just put in the effort. Michael Jordan said "My best skill was that I was coachable. I had an aggressiveness to learn." If you are a player and you are struggling with your production in your sport or if you are a coach struggling to be the best coach you can be, I encourage you to ask yourself "Are You Coachable?"

#BE BELESSED

Feedback

I often hear coaches say they give their players constructive criticism.  Some have said that this generation of players are too "sensitive" to receive it.  I want to challenge all coaches and really any person in authority to try the concept of giving feedback instead.

Here is the difference. See constructive criticism - although in your eyes - you think you are really helping. As a coach and even a player I received constructive criticism and gave it. What I came to finally realize....At the end of the day - it's still criticism. It's like saying this will be a "friendly tornado." It very well could be friendly, but you better get in a closet because it's still deadly! A tornado is a tornado! So you can dress constructive criticism up however pretty you like, it is still criticism.

Coaches are not critics. Coaches are teachers of a specific sport. With that being said,we are not called to criticize, but instead to teach. So to sum this up - I encourage you wherever you are to give feedback.


When we break that word down - the first part says feed. Which means to give nourishment, vitamins, nutrients to someone. Ask yourself - am I pointing out the obvious "you missed 6 lay-ups last night" or am I giving them something nutritious to chew on? Instead you could say "Last night wasn't the best performance that I know you're capable of. Today I want you to practice your form, focus and finish of every lay up in practice. That is a priority for this team that you can address and help us get better today if your willing to?" - See I just said the same thing but which one motivates you to get in the gym and get better? Definitely not the first one!

The second part of the word feedback says back. Which means - metaphorically- speak back to this person (not down-huge difference). Remember you are in authority for a reason - you have passed their level of comprehension. You have probably been in their shoes at some point but you are now past it. So take a step back to their level and explain things in a way that will resonate with them. I'm not saying dumb down your material at all! I'm saying think about their perspective is not yet where yours is. Now they can grow to reach your level with proper teaching from their coach. You can encourage them to progress forward  with proper nutrition you feed them or they may shrivel up from embarrassment or low self-esteem from criticism overload!

It could be that this generation is different, but they aren't going away anytime soon. So we can all either keep holding onto old mindsets with new players or we can try a new concept that would give everyone what they seek. Let's choose what works best for the people we coach, teach or manage.