A Coach Sees the Athlete in Each of His Players

The coach spoke masterfully. His speech was memorable and motivating. I don’t know his speaking fee, but he was worth it. The audience’s reaction confirmed the company made a wise investment in retaining Rick Pitino, basketball coach of the University of Louisville Cardinals, to fire up the troops.

Basketball is not my favorite sport, football is. But, this basketball coach was good. Using illustrations from his experiences in professional and college basketball, Coach Pitino was like Michael Jordan driving to the basket or Shaq dunking. No PowerPoint, no video clips, no notes, just “heart talk.”

Talk is cheap and plentiful. Heart talk is rare and therefore, valuable. Scarcity drives up the value of anything. Coach Pitino made valuable points and exquisitely tied them together to paint a picture of how a successful coach brings out the athlete in each of his players. His speech was reminiscent of the words on a popular motivational poster, “A coach sees the athlete in each of his players.”

Though Pitino attributed much of his success to the great talent on the teams he coached, I was captivated by his comments on self-esteem. He spoke about how a successful coach or successful manager works to improve his player’s or employee’s self-esteem. The coach shared personal experiences with players he had coached as evidence that improvement in self-esteem greatly improves productivity. Coach Pitino made a three-point play when he said that a coach or leader can raise the output of the individuals on their team by helping increase the player or employee’s self esteem.

After the speech, I got thinking about the presentation. What about the person who has greatness within but isn’t fortunate enough to have a Pitino-type coach who senses this latent ability and works to help develop it? Unfortunately many people, especially sales people, don’t work for a coach-leader. These people need a “do-it-yourself” self-esteem development program.

Self-Esteem can be described as, how much you like yourself. It is your self approval rating. Self-Esteem is an evaluation of self-worth and stresses the striking contrast between your Self-Image and your Self-Ideal; between outward appearance and inner reality. The more you see your Self-Image matching your Self-Ideal the higher your Self-Esteem. The less you see your Self-Image matching your Self-Ideal the lower your self-esteem and the lower your opinion of yourself.

Self-Image is the way you see you and think about yourself today. Your actions throughout your life are consistent with the image you have of your self inside Your Self-image sets limits on what you can attain. In the absence of any deliberate change on our part, we will continue doing, thinking, saying, and feeling very much the same things indefinitely. To improve your Self-Image and change the way you act, you have to change your internal image.

Self-Ideal is the description of the person you would most like to be in the future—your self hero. It is an idealized image of what you want to be. When you see yourself closely resembling your Self-Ideal you will have a positive Self-Esteem.

We’re familiar with Abraham Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. After the three basic needs, Physical Needs, Security, and the need of Belonging, comes the need for Self-esteem. If you are healthy, reasonable secure and know you are loved, why not become what you are meant to be, your self-ideal. Inside you is a success waiting to be set free. Don’t wait for someone else to validate you.

Lots of people talk about wanting to develop more self esteem, to improve their self image, to become their self-ideal, but only a few are truly dedicated to spend the time and energy to do so. Commitment to self-improvement is the key.

Engage yourself in “heart talk”. Play the role of coach Pitino and bring out the successful “athlete” within. Coach yourself to a higher level of productivity by believing in yourself and daily executing to the fullest your talent. Don’t short change yourself and miss an easy layup. Not everyone can be number one but everyone can be someone. When you become the someone you should be, let that be enough.

HOG THOUGHT: Being a success is about a lot more than IQ and talent. It involves having a true picture of yourself in your head. Accept yourself. Love yourself. Be proud of you. You are unique, unlike anyone else who has ever lived or will ever live. You are like your finger prints— one of a kind.

HOG QUOTE: “It’s no exaggeration to say that a strong, positive self-image is the best possible preparation for success in life.” —Dr. Joyce Brothers

HOG ACTION: Self Esteem is something you can improve and every day your goal should be to improve. Every day is a new opportunity to see yourself as becoming the person you want to be. You can also help improve someone else’s self-esteem by accepting them for who they are and their uniqueness. After all, self-esteem is an evaluation process. Give the other person a reason for increasing their self evaluation score. Encouraging someone else is like using a lighted candle to light their candle, you lost nothing in the exchange but now there are two sources of light.