Feed The Positive Dog

"The Energy Bus" by JON GORDON has me incorporating new positive techniques into my coaching. In the past I revolved my coaching on constructive criticism, even though I have NOT totally let that go, I am learning to "FEED THE POSITIVE DOG". Everyone has positive and negative energy in them, in order to bring out the positive we need to keep feeding it with positive things, positive energy, words of encouragement. If we don't keep feeding the positive dog, the negative one is going to take over. I try to start things positive, then discuss the not so positive things and finish with more positive. When one of my kids is on the foul line shooting free throws I tell the rest of the team to "feed the positive dog". My kids answer with "Come on Chase, you got it", "Alright Griffin get one here", they respond with positive statements to boost the shooters confidence and it works! Every morning we have a choice, are we going to be a positive thinker or a negative thinker. I am learning that positive thinking gives me more energy.

Leading at a "Higher Level", what ever level that is for each one of us personally means you need to be open to new ideas and willing to learn as much as you can. "Everything is Learnable". No one creates success alone. This is very true for me at EMERSON HS. Last season we won our State Sectional and NJIC League Title, and all the support that came with the program made all the difference. We are all teachers and students no matter what our title is. It is important to learn that positive people, positive communication, positive interactions, and positive team cultures produce positive results.

I asked my Emerson kids in this pre-season on a scale from 1-5 how much do they enjoy being on the team. I ask them to take into consideration everything that goes on: the lifting, the scouting reports, the film sessions, the running, the yelling, playing all year long etc. I walked away not too pleased with the numbers I received. I want these kids to enjoy this team, my coaching staff and MYSELF more. My goal is to have them enjoy being on the team by being more positive towards each of them.