Jimmie Johnson, winning Super Bowl coach, describes positive coaching
with an example during the key moment of a game. Your team is down by
two points with only seconds remaining but you are in position to win it
with a field goal kick. If the coach says "Don't miss," the kicker
hears two negatives, "don't" and "miss." Thinking about avoiding the
negatives, the kicker sees the goal posts or the edges of failure.
Instead, suggests Jimmie, the coach should say, "Make the kick." Now
the kicker looks right down the middle and the goal posts seem to get
wider. Odds are now better the kicker will indeed make the kick to win
the game.
This kind of coaching can be applied to many mentoring suggestions.
Here are but a few examples. Your college sailing team is up by 12 with
one race to go. Instead of "Don't foul," how about "Sail a clean race."
Race two, instead of "Don't heel, it's slow," how about "Sail flat,
the flatter your sail, the faster you go." Instead of "Don't jam it in
at the mark," how about "Overstand by just enough to make a clean and
fast rounding."
Parents to toddlers walking near puddles, instead of "Don't get your
feet wet," how about "Keep your feet dry."
Orange Bowl coaches, instead of "Don't be OCS or get black flagged," how
about "Start right behind the line each race."
Skipper to crew, instead of "We can't blow this tack," how about "Let's
make a great tack."
The Positive Coaching Alliance http://www.positivecoach.org developed a
magic ratio for offering critical advice. Praise should out number
critique 5:1. This was found to work at every level, from beginners in
youth soccer to the elite of the NBA. Every coach (and sports parent)
can improve their results by following that advice and much more via the
Positive Coaching Alliance. From their home page, click on free tips
and tools/coaching tools/tips. Great stuff there.
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