Have you ever wondered what makes a truly successful coach? This is your chance to learn from our personal experiences as we pull back the curtain on the world of coaching. From dealing with varying expectations at different levels of sports to managing a team’s daily responsibilities, we break down the complexities of coaching, sharing insights gained from our own journeys.
Get set to challenge your views on coaching as we dive into the significance of a growth mindset and the art of managing expectations. We share anecdotes from our coaching lives, discussing the highs and lows, and how we learned the art of dealing with frustrations and disappointments. Join us in our conversation about creating supportive team environments, the importance of consistency, and how continuous learning and sharing can make you a better coach.
In this segment, we turn the spotlight on the often-overlooked aspects of coaching. Celebrating differences and leveraging them to create a winning mindset, maintaining consistency in interactions, and transforming obstacles into opportunities, we touch upon all these and more. Listen in to discover how staying engaged with oneself and others can fuel continuous growth. So, gear up to take a fresh look at coaching, and who knows, you might find yourself inspired to take up the whistle!
Follow McKenna: @mckennareitz
https://www.mckennareitz.com/
Have you ever wondered what makes a truly successful coach? This is your chance to learn from our personal experiences as we pull back the curtain on the world of coaching. From dealing with varying expectations at different levels of sports to managing a team’s daily responsibilities, we break down the complexities of coaching, sharing insights gained from our own journeys.
Get set to challenge your views on coaching as we dive into the significance of a growth mindset and the art of managing expectations. We share anecdotes from our coaching lives, discussing the highs and lows, and how we learned the art of dealing with frustrations and disappointments. Join us in our conversation about creating supportive team environments, the importance of consistency, and how continuous learning and sharing can make you a better coach.
In this segment, we turn the spotlight on the often-overlooked aspects of coaching. Celebrating differences and leveraging them to create a winning mindset, maintaining consistency in interactions, and transforming obstacles into opportunities, we touch upon all these and more. Listen in to discover how staying engaged with oneself and others can fuel continuous growth. So, gear up to take a fresh look at coaching, and who knows, you might find yourself inspired to take up the whistle!
Follow McKenna: @mckennareitz
https://www.mckennareitz.com/
Welcome everyone to another episode of Challenge Yourself. Obstacles to opportunities. I am Greg and I'm McKenna and apparently I am being more like McKenna today. Let's go. No, we're not ready for this episode yet.
Speaker 1:It's not, let's go.
Speaker 2:That's yours? Oh sorry, that's me. Oh, welcome. If you haven't got to know us yet, you're getting to know us right now. Except, let me get back into my persona.
Speaker 1:No, please, no please.
Speaker 2:No. What are we talking about today?
Speaker 1:I don't know, why don't you tell me?
Speaker 2:I mean, one thing that's near and dear to our hearts is coaching, whether it's for us, specifically, volleyball, but for anyone coaching a sport that they are passionate about. I think we have found our passion in volleyball, but usually, hopefully, when you're coaching and especially young, all the way through professional athletes you're coaching because you're passionate about that sport, right.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, I couldn't sleep last night and this is something you don't deal with, but I because coaching is ingrained in my blood and in your blood Like I, just I take it home with me. I am, I'm constantly thinking about my team, I'm constantly thinking about our daughters, I'm constantly thinking about myself and coaching myself and and while also looking at other coaches that were surrounded by, whether it's community or on TV, and so I'm constantly reflecting upon myself what did I do? What could I've done? How can I do it better? And I think that's a huge step in not only coaching, but just living is constantly reflecting upon what are your goals, what are your values, and you and I have been coaching. I would say a total of close to how many years you've been coaching 26-ish, 27 years.
Speaker 2:Okay.
Speaker 1:So we're we're combined close to 50, because this is my 19th season. So our lives have changed, so our values and perspectives have changed, our expectations changed, but they have to, because society has changed, the player has changed. So how many times have we said or and I'm just talking about our generations also when we played Always, you know. And what we have to understand is that we're dealing with a different athlete. Okay, here we go.
Speaker 2:So yeah, I'm going to point counterpoint. I don't. Is that because the athlete is different? Is that? I mean, society obviously has changed, technology has changed, availability of information has changed, so people are more looking for themselves to find answers and not necessarily learning in the same manner. So then, on the court, on the field, on the ice, whatever it is, they're maybe not learning in the same manner because they I'm I'm dealing with a lot. I know how to do this because I saw a video on it, or this is how I'm training, and so has the athlete itself changed, or is it just a situation that they're in that's changed?
Speaker 1:I think the situation for sure has had a huge effect on the athlete.
Speaker 2:Okay.
Speaker 1:So what they're kind of like. It's just, it's talking about bullying, right, this is, I mean, totally went off subject, but when we were in middle school I was bullied every day, but when I got to leave and walk out of that junior high, it stayed there. Now it follows you everywhere you go, which is the same thing. Now they're seeing other accolades, they're seeing postings, they're seeing this and that and they're expecting to receive the same without for me, without putting in the work.
Speaker 2:Correct, and that's that's the difference. We would blood, sweat and tears put into a practice, a workout, a whatever, because that's what you did, and now that is and it's because you know who told you to, though, who told you to? Whoever was teaching you?
Speaker 1:Exactly, and I think the level of respect for the coach has completely changed.
Speaker 2:Parent, adult in general, et cetera, has changed. Yes, which, yeah, I mean I think that's probably the first component to the discussion of how do we have highs and lows in coaching is dealing with individuals who are, I mean, changing. And that depends on the perspective or depends on the age group you're working with. Are you working with youth that are just getting to know something? Are you working with kind of that middle group of the high school athlete who thinks they're getting better at it, the collegiate athlete who should be finally tuning things all the way up to the professional athlete? Who is that elite population of a percentage point? And where are they? And then what's the message you're delivering?
Speaker 1:And I think, as a coach, you have to be always analyzing that message, because every year we have a new batch of team chemistry. Some players are still there, but we're bringing in different, which is creating a different unity, which is now. Expectations are changing, goals are changing and I think you and I are in a very different position right now in our seasons. Yes, I am having a very successful season thus far. You're not having as successful.
Speaker 2:We're not having as successful, defined by wins and losses, correct.
Speaker 2:So if you're looking at paper, yeah, if you're looking at paper, statistically we are not performing at the same level that maybe we're capable of or that we'd like to perform at. You on the other side are your wins and loss record is great right now and we're looking to continue that throughout the season, slash into postseason. We are looking to make some fixes to hopefully fix the record through, and again we have a little bit of time. Yeah, I guess you kind of do too as well, because everyone makes postseason, but if a goal is to win a conference tournament or win a league title, you don't have a lot of time.
Speaker 2:No, and you guys are in a situation where you could, but the pressure's on to perform at that level all the time. So our pressures are different. Even your pressures now are to maintain success defined by wins, losses, along with all the other things that we define successes. My expectations are to try to achieve success in the form of wins and losses through various means and stressing and thinking and trying to. I mean practice, planning, and I mean it's changing daily now, when it used to have a pretty smooth routine because things were working. Now it's well, that's not working. It can't possibly be do the same thing over and over again.
Speaker 1:But what I'm noticing and you know we're going to take the records off the table, we know we're sitting in different positions, but I have, I have, I have a problem, I have many problem. I, I put I have high expectations and I want them to be. I learned very quickly in my first year of RC coaching that I can't put high expectations to high expectations. They have to be realistic, correct, and I was not being realistic because I was young and dumb. You know, you, you, the. You're looking through different glasses and you're those rosy glasses and thinking, oh, we should win the league. No, it's not going to happen. You have to do X, y and Z.
Speaker 1:But my expectations are of character, are of work ethic and has nothing to do with skill. And when we don't hit those, I'm becoming frustrated, right, and because I'm putting them. But then I'm looking at myself as a coach. Am I holding them to those expectations, right? Or am I not doing what I should be doing and making sure they understand? Am I being too lenient? And so, as a coach, it's a very difficult thing as the dog's walking in the door to understand. I guarantee you she's bringing in her bed too. She's going to try. Oh man, she just wants to be with us and bring in this nasty bed she wants to be comfortable.
Speaker 1:But you know, am I getting to a point in my coaching career where I expect but I'm not coaching anymore? We're so distracted right now by this damn dog.
Speaker 2:She's a goofball, yeah, so your expectations aren't meeting your level of well. You can't have the same expectations because there's not that growth mindset for well, next year we will, we will.
Speaker 1:Well, because I'm graduating seven seniors, right?
Speaker 2:So I have seven seniors. Your expectations change with every class.
Speaker 1:Correct, if anyone can see this. Right now the doors are kind of shut and the dog cannot get the dog the damn bed through the door right now. But she's working, she's persevering through this and she did it. She made it through. She is now happy, her tail is wagging, she is with her parents and now we are good to go. She didn't even need her bed in her house.
Speaker 1:She didn't even need her bed, but it's her security blanket, just like my hat.
Speaker 1:Security blankets, okay. But coaching. So we are a 13-1. We're winning. We're on 11 game win streak. We have a huge match tonight. But I don't feel like I'm not happy all the time, like I should be, like we're winning, yay. But even when I'm watching them on the court, it's the little things. It's the little things that they should be doing off the court. So I am a coach that I send them a game day schedule, just like college does. They have a game day schedule. So they know that the net needs to be set up by 315. They have, we have. We meditate, after which they all would want to. Then we go through dynamics, then we do serve and pass, and then we have team dinner and then we have to shag for the freshman and JV. Then we cheer and then they know so. Then that takes something off my plate so I can be focusing on other things. But when they're not hitting that, I get frustrated really quickly. Is that wrong or is that okay?
Speaker 2:We're holding them accountable for actions, and if they're not meeting those actions, then they should be held accountable. But frustration on your part Is there a consequence on their part? It's causing you a negative result. Right, your frustration is a negative result to you. But what's the negative result for them? Not meeting your expectations. Is there one? Or are you being lenient with them?
Speaker 1:I think I know I'm for sure being too lenient right now because we're playing almost every single night, right?
Speaker 2:So you don't want to overburden them physically Correct and break them down. So you're being conscious of it Now are they aware of your frustrations?
Speaker 1:Yes, we had a team meeting on what day? Tuesday, a couple days ago, and we talked about the little things and I will say I did see the little things becoming more effective on the court.
Speaker 2:What about the preparations and the things that were frustrated? It wasn't at my level.
Speaker 1:But then I'm thinking are my expectations too high? I don't think so. It's just about being a good person, right, and taking care of your team, of your family. But that's the thing is that people need to understand is that, regardless of your wins, regardless of your losses, regardless of who's on your team, regardless of who you play, we are all going to have great days. We're all going to have bad days. I mean, look at Colorado State right now.
Speaker 2:Colorado, colorado. Sorry my bad, how dare you.
Speaker 1:Colorado State lost to Colorado, so Coach Prime is 3-0. Is he satisfied? Is he happy? Did he leave that field after coming back at what double overtime Did he leave that field, being satisfied?
Speaker 2:No way, because the little things they weren't great at everything, or else they would have won by more points in regulation. They fought to come back. So you celebrate that the fight, the resiliency, the gut check, but there's no way he was grounded in we met all of our goals for the game, because there's no way they did. They didn't perform at an efficient level as they had in the previous game, and the challenge is you're playing a better opponent coming up than what. So no, I really enjoy what he's doing though, because I like his perspective.
Speaker 2:He's super positive all the time. There's not the demeaning thing, there's not the talk down on your opponent. It's great, everything is positive. But I'm really focused on my family, my guys, my group, my core this is us and see what happens. So I'm a huge fan of that, and the success is going with it. Interesting thing will be will anything change if success doesn't go with it? Stereotypical success of wins losses Will anything change? I'm going to believe no, but I might not believe that the losses are going to happen because of a winner. He's been a winner for a long time. He's a 49er Super Bowl champion. Of course, he left and played for Dallas for a Super Bowl as well.
Speaker 1:And you're still holding on to that.
Speaker 2:I mean, hey, that's what fans do.
Speaker 1:True, true. Here's. My thing is that it shouldn't matter who's across the net. It shouldn't matter who you're playing against. You should respect that opponent, which means that you are playing at your best ability all the time and you should never back down, because that means you're not respecting me.
Speaker 2:Well, that's the best teams in any genre or any arena. The best teams are competing against themselves to be their best, regardless of the opponent. So the champions if you look back in history of just about every sport, the champion held themselves accountable against every opponent. They crushed weaker opponents. They didn't just mildly get by a weaker opponent, they fought with the closest opponent and maybe crushed the quote unquote. I look at Super Bowl champions in the history that a lot of them were blowouts. So they held themselves to such high regard and such high standards that they performed at the highest level, even in the toughest stage.
Speaker 2:That's the ultimate in team chemistry to hold yourself accountable so that, regardless of who's across the net from you, you are taking care of your business, You're taking care of the fundamentals which allow you to do everything else. That much more so that's to me that's the goal of the team is so that, yeah, I could put a sheet up a cross so I don't see my opponent. We're fortunate where we're in a sport where you could be blinded and not even look across to see your opponent. Can you play the same level of execution? Can you play the same level of focus? That is the true challenge of a champion. I would see it as Haven't seen it yet Working towards it.
Speaker 1:I'm thinking I'm just going back to when we met. You know exactly where I'm going. You consider yourself a winner, right? Yes, so we're playing in a sixes league, a power league of men and women, and this is the first time I'm introduced to you and everyone's saying oh, great, great, this is a phenomenal player. And you are playing middle, which you're not a middle, but you're playing. But it shouldn't matter what position you're playing, and everyone's like you're so great. I'm like meh, meh, he's okay.
Speaker 2:Yeah, why was?
Speaker 1:I thinking that, Greg.
Speaker 2:Because I was playing recreational volleyball and I was playing to my level, because if you don't play to your level when you're playing recreational volleyball, bad things can happen, mckenna.
Speaker 1:So I like to win. I don't care where I'm at, it's the same thing with you when we're playing ping pong in the basement. You take no mercy, correct. And I'm like why aren't you like that all the time? Which really pisses me off about you? Because then this man asked me to play in a forest tournament.
Speaker 2:Yes.
Speaker 1:And I'm like I'll play with him but we're probably going to lose because you know whatever.
Speaker 2:He's not so good.
Speaker 1:He's not so good, holy crap I like your mouth, you're on. I said crap, it's okay, kids, your muffs, your muffs. You're not going to school, sorry, we're going to movie. Quotes. He finally played. The first time he hit the ball, I lost it and I said why don't you play like? And then we started a day and I said why don't you play like that in our league?
Speaker 2:Because it's not the same level of competition.
Speaker 1:But it should always, because you should respect the opponent across the net.
Speaker 2:That's if you're on equal grounds or should be on equal grounds, if we're both collegiate teams. It doesn't matter if you're the weakest team in the conference or the best team in the conference. You're going to compete at the level. If you're not on equal grounds, you shouldn't compete at my highest level against a recreational player because I'm a different ground.
Speaker 1:We're playing in power league. We're playing in power league, a different background, a different. So when I'm playing, I want to play against the best. I want people playing their best against me.
Speaker 2:Correct, but are you ready for your opponent's best if they might be that much better than you?
Speaker 1:I am.
Speaker 2:That was my fear.
Speaker 1:So let me finish the story. So I finally convinced Greg to play, I set him up. There is a female on the 10 foot line down ready to pass the ball. The ball hits the girls wrist, the wrist hit the floor and he breaks her wrist.
Speaker 2:Ultimate fear realized why don't you play recreational volleyball? That is exactly why it's not fun to play down Oops.
Speaker 1:Anyways, so you know long story short.
Speaker 2:I prefer to play highly competitive.
Speaker 1:Correct. What you do. Which is amazing and I think that's also a sign of you know, a passionate coach is that we might not be able to play. We don't play in leagues anymore because we just don't have the time, but you still like I still jump in practice once in a while when we get to practice and you still are playing in, you know, adult nationals and still playing with highly competitive volleyball at.
Speaker 1:An advanced age At your age, but I think it's so cool when you go to adult nationals and see you know, 70 year olds, 80 year olds still playing, or the sitting team playing. I mean it's just, it's absolutely incredible. But I think as coaches, you have to immerse yourself in the sport. And I am going to put it out there. I feel, like you know, my philosophy of coaching is very different from a lot of other coaches. I'm not there for the record. I'm not there for the wins and losses. I am there to help empower these females to be resilient.
Speaker 2:Well, and some of your best teams have been teams that may not have had the best record Correct, because they were the best group of people together and cared about one another that much. Now, it's really spectacular when you get the best people that also perform the skills at the best level. That's a special team, but that doesn't always happen.
Speaker 1:It doesn't always happen.
Speaker 2:And it's a tough one. Maybe you can't coach just for that, because that's the perfect storm, right, that's everyone's trying to get that. But that's a tough one, it's elusive.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:And when they find it, yeah, great. But a lot of people will find that we won a championship. If I had to go out on like a hangout with my team, that might not be the team you hang out with Versus some of the ones that maybe weren't as successful that you say those people were better to be around Now. Was it because they were lighthearted and took things a little less seriously, or was it because they just I mean, there's some different personality things that you could look into in inventories to say why is that?
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:I mean, I've had a bunch of different styles of teams over the 25-ish plus years of coaching, a lot of different groups of people whether it's men's, women's, juniors, collegiate that had success or not but different types of people and it's the people that really resonate more than anything.
Speaker 1:And I think this really comes into even the work environment you know there's your teams. When you are playing for a high school, you're playing for a college. You don't get to pick who your teammates are. It is the coaches who are picking the teammates, and so it is your choice of how you interact with them. You don't have to be best friends, you just have to be a good teammate, Because once you play on this team I've said so many times this year it's not about you anymore. What you've did in the off-season and how you show up every day, that's you. But everything else it's about us. It is now about us. Even if you don't like me, I'm still going to go a hundred percent, whatever my hundred percent is, and I'm going to make sure that I'm going to interact with you in a way for us to be as effective as possible.
Speaker 2:Well, that's how I was raising the same frame when I went to school, of you don't have to be best friends by any stretch. You have to hang out with your teammates, you have to be teammates and you have to care for them as a teammate and they have to be able to work with each other. It's like punching a clock and saying, okay, I'm a manager and I have a shift leader and I have this, and that I have to be able to work with those people. I have to be able to step on to a field, a court, whatever, and work with them and achieve our goal of Whatever that happens be volleyball. We need to score more points than our opponent by two and win the match period. How we do that, we don't have to like Well, that's the difference.
Speaker 2:We don't have to petty, petty, pet people on the back to say, oh, it's okay, like we're gonna achieve that, but one. That's the thing nowadays. It's more of a it's okay, it's okay, let's move on. We were Suck it up, let's move on. Like do your job, let's move on. Can I say that to you versus? I mean, and that's the personality differences which makes just people in general more fascinating. Yeah, they're not all the same.
Speaker 1:And I think, looking over my coaching career, you know, this past May I had we put on a big event challenge yourself, you know coaching leadership summit and Good friend of mine, becky Schmidt, who is the head volleyball coach at Hope College, who is a national champion coach as well I she talked about. You know what is the team goal? Is it the social aspect that we're gonna focus on or is the task goal oriented? And I, looking back at my coaching career, I was so focused on the social. I want everyone to like each other, I want everyone to hang out each other and now it's we need to make sure they were on the same page. What is the task at hand? And I really appreciate her bringing that to the forefront for me to consciously be able to focus on that.
Speaker 1:You know, I've been so concerned the past couple years because I have this big group of Same age people now are all seniors and I just want them to like each other. Now it's like You're not gonna like each other. I can't force people. What is the task at hand? As long as everyone's on board, yeah, it's gonna happen and we're seeing it and the great thing is that I'm seeing them on the court Cheering each other on more so for other people getting kills, or other people getting digs or cysts or blacks or whatever is then themselves.
Speaker 1:Celebrating the team yeah, more than even though it might not be happening off the court because they are females, it's happening on the court it's not gender specific.
Speaker 2:Stop doing that.
Speaker 1:Oh my gosh, I coach females right now, so that's what I'm but yes, yes, I mean the team goal.
Speaker 2:I think the team chemistry thing, that Learning that, knowing that, having that to the core helps more than anything if the team truly believes in what we can accomplish, believes we can accomplish it, instead of just saying, oh, we can get there, that's, that's our goal yeah but if they believe it to the core, you'll, it'll resonate and you'll see it. You'll feel the difference.
Speaker 1:What is over your coaching career? What is one or two Suggestions that you can give to up and coming or coaches doesn't matter where they're at in their coaching career. What are some things that can help with their personal development?
Speaker 2:Oh, consistency, I think, is number one. Consistency in your message, consistency in how you deliver your message, discipline, all that kind of stuff. Are you consistent with who you are? Personality wise, I'm a relatively relaxed, fun loving person that likes to joke around. I don't really change that a whole heck of a lot. I'm pretty. I think I'm pretty consistent with my personality, so I think that's a huge one. And learning like education continued forever. I don't care if you've been coaching for a month or 30 years if you're not trying to learn more and and going out to seek knowledge from those that have it Shoot and sharing. Going along with learning is sharing like you can learn a lot from teaching someone. Every time you're teaching your, you're gathering and more knowledge on how to. So I would say those are two of my keys.
Speaker 1:Anything other than that so I to add to that.
Speaker 1:so we're talking about consistency, we're talking about learning, we're talking about sharing and, I think, being humble and knowing that You're not the best, and if you think you are, I mean you're dead in the tracks yeah and I think that's the biggest thing is if that you feel that you're the almighty, that you are the best thing that ever happened, that you're going around gloating oh, I got coach of the year this and I'm posting about myself. You're in it for the wrong reasons that we need to consistently be learning from one another.
Speaker 2:I always argue with my why don't argue? But I would state to my players you want someone else to say more about you than you say about yourself? Right, if you hold yourself in high regard, that's great. But you don't have to tell someone you hold yourself in high regard. Just show them you do and they should see and they should comment on the successes that you're having, the type of person you are, because they can define it. If you're defining it for them, it's not you.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's not real. I walk into every gym, regardless of it's our gym or someone else's gym, opponent's gym. I walk in there confident, like I'm walking in there like I'm representing Springfield High School, I'm representing my program, I'm a confident coach, but I also I'm gonna go talk to that coach and ask them questions. I Believe in my team, I believe in myself, but I also believe that there's so much more that I can learn. There's so much more that I can do. And it's not being overconfident, because we know what happens when you're overconfident. We know what happens when you believe that you're at the top of the pyramid. You know I used to talk about self actualization and teach about any peace like I never want to reach it, because I always want to feel and know I can do better and I can learn more and I can become better. So just consistency, learning, growth and being humble.
Speaker 1:Yeah, humility goes a long a long way and this is coming from two very different coaches, but we're on very similar Playing fields and I think that's the biggest thing is that that's what coaching is all about is. We might approach it very differently, but we have very similar goals, very similar Strategies, and I think that's what's important is to consistently talk about it and learn that you know, I might be the let's go and you might be the.
Speaker 2:This is what we need to do right now.
Speaker 1:This is what we need to do right now. Oh my gosh, that's my husband, it's good to have different people out there. Yeah, it is celebrate our differences.
Speaker 1:Oh, I don't even know how to? How do we even end that? But you know this conversation has Helped me. You know we're going into a big match tonight and I'm excited to go in in a different mentality ready to win, being confident to win, but knowing that we still need to focus on the little things and I'm gonna hold them to those high expectations and be consistent. And you need to be consistent and sharing and liking and listening and being engaged with yourself and challenging yourself to Consistent. Reflect upon your interaction within your coaching, whether you know it is specifically with Student athletes or it's with your workforce or with just people in general. But continue to be, you continue to learn, continue to want to grow and you know it's all about turning those obstacles and opportunities, because when those opportunities happen, it's incredible.
Speaker 2:Yeah, challenges are gonna arise, so face them, face them.
Speaker 1:Let's go have a great day. Let's go.