basketball live streaming: basketball stream live 4 Leadership Wins I Scored From a Coach and His Team

basketball stream live It was fourth period, and Houston County High School Fighting Irish filed into an ample sized multi-leveled multipurpose room typically used for large meetings, or drama productions referred to commonly as "The Forum". The Forum facility, used mostly by the school, and occasionally for community events, had been used that morning for an ACT prep test. The test was over and white folding tables and chairs remained abandoned and positioned all around the room.

Coach Charles Clark, elementary PE teacher and afternoon high school basketball coach reached out to me a month earlier on social media. A mutual friend shared my recent article, "7 Things I Want My Son to Know about Leadership" on her Facebook page. According to the coach, the team had no seniors, and having graduated six seniors last May, there were less upperclassmen, and a substantial number of freshmen. He'd stumbled across my article and hoped I'd find some time to come and encourage his team in leadership and life in general. I don't get a ton of requests on social media, but I do get some. This one was different.

Most of the time when I speak I find myself presenting keynotes or workshop sessions for conferences, seminars or special events, but as a former high school teacher, I was thrilled to accept the invitation. It is true teenagers can be critical and hard to impress at times, but I've learned that they appreciate authenticity, and raw honesty from anyone they sense is genuinely interested. While teenagers may not have fully developed frontal lobes, they often have an uncanny sense regarding motivations or intentions of teachers and speakers, and they can smell players or fakes from a mile away. Teens tune out fast if they sense you're not really interested.

Thankfully, I enjoy teenagers and I tend to "get" them, though my son might disagree. After all I was a teenager once, and now I am a dad with a teenager. And thankfully I had spent some time over the prior month learning more about their team, their school, and their record (I even learned that it's not implausible to find Coach Clark dancing the "Whip and Nae Nae" with his elementary P.E. class). While I was a little nervous because this was not my usual keynote or seminar venue, Coach Clark was hoping for a less formal, comfortable discussion, and I was looking forward to that.

It didn't take long to figure out Coach Clark's team is accustomed to these forums. They were respectful, polite, a little reserved and well-prepared. Each one came armed with a copy of my article, a notebook, and a pen. There was a podium on the stage, but Coach wanted casual, and I hate podiums, so I found a spot and sat on the edge of the stage. The basketball team gathered up chairs and positioned them in a half-circle around me, and the coach told them to get out their homework. They pulled out their copies of my article, and I could see that some had written or highlighted their copy. I was humbled that teenagers had taken time to read anything I'd written.

And then we talked. We covered the contents of the article and I shared some personal stories I thought they might appreciate. Some took notes, others just listened. No one looked bored. If they were you'd never know it. When our time together was over, we all shook hands. They thanked me for coming and went off to shoot some hoops in the gym. I sat for a while and chatted with the coach and a team parent. I had driven across the state to the high school for this unique opportunity expecting to speak and impart some wisdom and life lessons. Instead, I was encouraged and uplifted to have even met the team. I learned that Coach Clark was one of the good guys with a serious sense of responsibility, and I realized that now more than ever we need more like him.

Coach Clark shared his heart for his team and his goals for these forums and discussions. He intends to teach the team about more than just basketball. As someone committed to helping others conquer leadership, learning, and life, I could relate and appreciate the coach's sense of responsibility.

Coach Clark brings in speakers and professionals to share their skills, expertise and perspectives, and it's not just geared toward sports: "I want these guys to be successful in everything they do. Sure what they learn when I bring somebody in to speak with them can be applied to the team, but they're also going to be out in life someday working a job or doing something else they're passionate about, and it will help them with that too."

The coach loves his job and plans to continue inviting speakers his team can learn from, like a communications professional who can give the team pointers on how to respond to media questions, participate in press conferences and handle themselves effectively when they're put on the spot, or a social media expert to talk to them about how to protect their reputations online.

As it turns out, this Fighting Irish team lacking in upperclassmen certainly does not lack class, and thanks to Coach Charles Clark no matter how their upcoming season turns out, they're gaining leadership, learning, and life skills that will benefit them for a long time both on and off the court. Meeting Coach Clark and the rest of the team was definitely a win for me, and here are four winning leadership lessons I scored that day:

Relationships count. Coaches like Coach Clark who invest in the kids they encounter, understand that actively building relationships is the key to forming and keeping a team mentality. Building relationships takes time. Every day coaches, teachers, and other leaders spend time building relationships because they know relationships don't just happen. They have to be nurtured -- ideally in a variety of situations, circumstances, and environments, outside the office, off the course, or somewhere other than the physical classroom.

Authenticity matters. We all appreciate when people keep it real. When you develop genuine relationships there's no need for pretending. Encouraging people to follow their genuine passions and more importantly to be themselves builds trust. When we show people we value those unique parts of them and want to help them grow in who they are and not in who we want them to be, it only strengthens the team. Every person on a team brings unique value.

Perspective is everything. Relationships count, and authenticity matters, but perspective is everything. An authentic leader who invests in relationships, also understands that every member of a team brings opinions and perspectives of their own. If we truly value relationships and authenticity, then we'll also value the ideas and perspectives of those around us. And we will not only give them opportunity and freedom to share those ideas or perspectives, but we'll also provide them with new opportunities to develop and grow and we work to broaden their horizons.

Expectation yields excellence. A team is only as strong as their leader. Leaders devoid of expectation for themselves or their team members will likely be equally devoid of results or substance. A leader considers everyone around them greatness in incubation and works to cultivate the greatness in others. They see potential and possibility, and therefore they develop expectations. The rest of the team is likely to rise to the level of excellence expected. When we expect and model greatness, we're more likely to get it. What are you doing to cultivate greatness in the people around you?

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