Team Success
10 Steps Towards Leading Your Team to Success

When taking a leadership position in any field, there are some key steps a leader must take. A coach is not just seen as a leader by his players but also by the other coaches (on the same team and others), parents and fans in the community, boosters, and other people from outside the immediate team.
I have seen first hand how these steps have enabled countless coaches to achieve great success regardless of the sport they coached. By utilizing leadership strategies, teams will bond together and achieve the highest possible success in their respective sport.

STEP 1: Familiarize yourself with the terrain
Who are the key people in your environment? (Key Players, Coaches, Parents, Boosters, influential people within the organization.) How will they measure your success? How is the competition responding to changes in the organization? What can you learn from them?

STEP 2: Look for trends
Can you see any trends that need to be addressed?

STEP 3: Think Big (Aim Big Miss Big)
What opportunities are in front of you? Be creative - don't limit your thinking.

STEP 4: Think long-term (Slow is Fast)
Make sure that you are taking a long-term view, and not being side tracked with short-term needs or personal ambition.

STEP 5: Dream your vision
What will be different a year from now? How have you achieved success for your organization? Be as precise as possible about who is involved, what are the benefits, what is achieved

STEP 6: Have passion
Are you excited and motivated by your vision? If not, what would make you feel passionate about it? Adjust it accordingly.

STEP 7: What resources are available to you?
Do you have the resources to implement your vision? If not, where are the gaps?

STEP 8: Bring others in
This is the key to motivating others. Be open to other people's ideas and share your visions with them. Allow the vision to become more complete and start to plan how it can be implemented.

STEP 9: Take a balanced approach
Be flexible in allowing others to contribute but don't be bulldozed. You will need conviction but you will also need others to help you succeed.

STEP 10: Keep objective
Do not take criticism of your ideas personally. Stay objective so you can be open to other people's suggestions. They could make the vision even more powerful.