Be Someone's Fan

As coaches and leaders, it's easy to assume people know how we feel about them. We assume our players know we're proud of them. We assume our staff knows they're appreciated. We assume our families know we're cheering for them. But support isn't measured by what we feel, but it is measured by what other people experience. In this episode, we explore the power of encouragement, the influence of having someone in your corner, and why one of the greatest gifts you can give another person is letting them know you're cheering for them.

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Transcript

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Have you ever stopped to think about how powerful it is to have someone in your corner? A few years ago, during what many believe will be her final US Open, Serena Williams made an unexpected run through the tournament. Match after match, the crowd inside Arthur Ash Stadium erupted with support. Now afterward, Serena acknowledged how much energy she drew from the fans themselves and how much their support actually helped carry her forward. And this got me thinking, if support from complete strangers can have that kind of impact on one of the greatest athletes of all time, what kind of impact can our support have on the people closest to us? So today on the podcast, we're gonna discuss why one of the most meaningful things we can do for another person is to let them know that we're in their corner and that we're their fans. Hey coaches and leaders, I got a quick question for you. You spend a lot of time building game plans for those you lead, but when was the last time you built one for yourself? If you're looking to sharpen your leadership skills, strengthen your team culture, or find better ways to support and challenge your athletes in the mental game, I'd love to help. I'm offering a free coaching call where we can talk through your current challenges and create a simple game plan for what might move the needle most for you, your players, and your program. Most coaches I know obsess over developing their team, but they neglect the person in the mirror. This call is a chance to invest in you because a better you is going to produce a better them. And if that sounds helpful, you can grab a time at Callendly.com slash Zach Brandon. That's Callendly.com slash Zach Brandon, or just check the link in the show notes. I'd love to connect and explore how I can best support you. So as I was reflecting on this idea for today's episode, I found myself continuing to come back to my grandpa. The anniversary of his passing is actually coming up next week. And if I had to identify the biggest fan in my own life, it would most definitely be him without question. My grandpa never stopped telling me how proud he was of me throughout my entire life and growing up. He would always encourage me. He never stopped finding reasons to celebrate whatever was happening in my life. And he was always there. Um he'd always make a point to make sure that he never missed uh a game if he could all the way through my college career. In fact, um one of his greatest strengths and gifts was also, depending on who you ask, maybe one of his greatest flaws, was that he was a master bragger. So I'll never forget he would be sitting in the stands just telling all these outlandish uh stories about me or uh my siblings, uh, and he just loved telling uh stories about all of his grandkids, and those details were rarely, if ever, completely accurate, and each time our accomplishments would somehow get bigger and better with every retelling, and more than once my siblings and I would find ourselves red-cheeked and shaking our heads with embarrassment because he would be proudly telling another person uh another embellished version of a story that we had already heard maybe a hundred plus times, but we loved him for it. Because underneath all the exaggeration was something incredibly meaningful. We never had to wonder how he felt about us. We always knew. And I think that's what struck me when I thought back to Serena's comments after the US Open in 2022. Obviously, most of us will never get to experience the support of 20,000 people, in essence strangers, cheering for us inside a stadium. But many of us know what it's like to have one person who genuinely believes in us, somebody that sees us for who we really are, somebody that supports us no matter whether we're succeeding and winning or whether we're failing and we're losing, someone who reminds us that we're capable of far more than we often think of ourselves. It's hard to fully describe what that means to another person because being someone's fan isn't just about celebrating their successes, it's about consistently communicating that they matter to you. So, one question that I've been thinking a lot about in my own life is who knows I'm a fan of them? And do they actually know that I'm their fan? Because I think many of us assume people know how we feel about them. We assume our spouse knows we appreciate them, we assume our kids know that we're proud of them, and we assume our players know that we're rooting for them. But support isn't measured by what we feel, it's measured by what other people experience. The best fans, they don't wait for results before showing support. They show up even when the other person is struggling. Every elite performer that I know knows what it's like to have fans in their corner. The question though is whether the people closest to us in our lives, outside of sport or outside of whatever domain we work in, experience that same feeling. There are people all around us that are carrying burdens that we know very little about. An athlete that's maybe wondering whether or not they're good enough, a coach that's questioning whether or not they're leading well or how they're leading if it's going to be sustainable. There's maybe a spouse who's exhausted, a friend that just navigated something difficult. And while we can't solve every challenge that they are facing, we can certainly remind them that they're not facing it alone. And sometimes I wonder how many people are waiting for encouragement that never arrives simply because the person thinking of them actually just never expresses it. So this week, think about the people who have been fans of yours. Think about a coach, a parent, a mentor, a grandparent, a friend, somebody that's always believed in you, and think about how they've made you feel. And then ask yourself a simple question. Who else can I be that person for them? Then, and most important, reach out, send a text, leave a voicemail, write a note, tell them what you've noticed, tell them why you appreciate them, remind them that you're in their corner. Simply because people need reminders, reminders that they're seen, that they're valued, and that someone's cheering for them. One of the greatest gifts my grandpa gave me wasn't advice. It was certainty that I had someone in my corner. And maybe this week you can give that same gift to someone else. Because the people who matter most to you, they shouldn't have to guess how you feel about them. They should know. So go out and be someone's fan.