Do You Know What You Don't Know?

It sounds like a weird question, I understand. Do you know what you don't know? It is, however, one of the most important questions you must answer if you desire to be a successful coach (or person, for that matter).

It's funny how this works. When I was a 24 year-old coach, I knew everything. Not only did I know everything, but I also knew what everyone else was doing wrong. After 10 years of coaching, I started to recognize that there was value in learning from others, keeping an open mind about things, and that there wasn't just one "right" way to do some things. Then, 10 more years of coaching goes by and I now feel like a little kid enrolling into kindergarten all over again. I can't seem to soak in enough learning about the game, the players, leadership, and how to be the best coach I am capable of becoming.

It is amazing how much I don't know. I listen to podcasts every day, read books, listen to audiobooks, dialogue with other coaches, and it always blows my mind how many take-aways I am able to write down (literally) every day and all of the things I am continuing to learn.

I have heard at least half-a-dozen coaches who have spoken at the ABCA (American Baseball Coaches Association) make comment about how interesting it is to always see Tim Corbin in the front row of every session, notebook and pen in hand, fully engaged and filling up pages with notes from each speaker. Tim Corbin is the head baseball coach at Vanderbilt University, 2014 College World Series Champions and 2015 CWS Runner-Up. He has amassed nearly 700 wins in his head coaching career at Vanderbilt since 2003. He is one of the most respected and successful coaches in the college game. Yet there he is, on the front row of a coaches clinic listening intently to a high school baseball coach from Idaho speak because there might be something he can learn from that guy.

That's a man who knows what he doesn't know. But there is a next step. It's one thing to know that you have areas of weakness, that you have "holes" in your own game that need to be filled. Sometimes those holes can be filled with more education and learning on your part. Sometimes the holes need to be filled by other people, and you have to find ways to surround yourself with people who are strong in those areas where you are weak.

Recognizing it is the first and most difficult step. No one wants to admit they have weaknesses. It is not easy to recognize and admit that you just don't do some things very well. Why? Because we coaches all have this one thing in common. EGO.

Our ego is often our greatest enemy. Ryan Holiday, in his book Ego Is The Enemy, talks about how we all have a tendency that is hardwired into our brains. It is a belief that the world revolves around us and us alone. That false understanding (our ego) is ultimately what holds us back from living the life we desire so much to have.

If that is true for the whole of life, then the principle is certainly also true for our coaching experiences. We are being held back – not by teams with a lack of talent, not by a program that lacks the resources that other teams have, not by poor administration hovering over and limiting you, not by parents, or anything else – we are being held back by OURSELVES.

Our egos keep us from not only knowing what we don't know, but from taking action to improve upon what we don't know, which means we are limiting ourselves to what we actually know (which isn't as much as we think).

Fielding the best team possible is often about finding ways to fill in the holes you know your team has. If you want to be the best YOU can be, you have to find ways to fill in your own holes. We all have them. Once you come to that realization and admit it, you can then begin to identify where your holes are. Then, when you begin filling in those holes you will see your coaching and your teams suddenly going to another level of performance.

Let me offer 3 ways you can begin to fill in the holes in your life and in your coaching. These are things that all people who "know what they don't know" do and do well:

(1) Think of yourself as an eternal student. This will help to keep you humble. This will remind you that there are always going to be things you do not know, and there are always going to be things that you THINK you know, but perhaps you were wrong. Perhaps there is a better way to do something that you have been doing a certain way for many years. Students seek to learn, which means they are aware that they have something to learn. They are aware that there could be a better way, and they are willing to give it consideration. The best teachers are teachable. Likewise, the best coaches are coachable.

(2) Delegate things in order to learn to trust in others. One of the hardest things to do as a head coach is delegate. The program is your baby. Everything has your name on it. The way the team looks and plays is a direct reflection of you. So, delegation is difficult. We tend to hold on to small tasks because we believe no one can do them as well as we do. All this does is further inflate our ego and becomes a huge missed opportunity to build trust with your team members and fellow coaches. Trust increases the speed of everything when it comes to teamwork and progress. Therefore, the more everyone within your team trusts one another, the faster real growth takes place. Delegating forces you to respect other people and their work. It also tells them that you trust they can get the job done. The morale and confidence you build within your team is significant when you delegate.

(3) Use both good and bad results as opportunities to keep improving. What do I mean by this? Our ego has a tendency to blow everything out of proportion, both good and bad. When we get results that are better than expected or when we get results that are much worse than expected, our ego ruins both because it tends to take things to the extreme and thus it immobilizes us. Have a great day? Good. Congratulate yourself, then turn right back around and get back to work. Have a bad day? Okay. Take responsibility, learn something and start moving up again. We tend to be so "results" oriented, especially in sports because we are always keeping score and stats. But keep reminding yourself that the process is more valuable. Perceive "results" only as what they truly are: a great opportunity to honestly reflect on the work you have done and the work you need to continue to do. Nothing more, nothing less.

When I first began working with the Athens High School baseball team I was an assistant to the long-time Athens Bulldog icon, Coach Fred Gibson (Gibby). When we met for the first time he asked me, "What part of the game are you most confident working with?" Without hesitation I said, "Pitching." Then, without any hesitation on Gibby's part, he said, "Okay, you're the Pitching Coach. Our team's pitching staff is 100% in your hands."

I thought to myself, "Wait, surely he doesn't mean it like that, does he?" Not a guy that has been coaching for 20+ years, while I had only a fraction of experience in comparison. He was going to completely trust me with his team's pitching staff?

Let me tell you what that one decision by a wise, veteran coach did inside of me. It made me want to be the best daggone pitching coach he had ever seen. It energized me and empowered me. Based on the context of this article, I am not suggesting that Gibby didn't know anything about pitching. He had coached some very impressive pitchers during his tenure, some of which went on to have college and professional careers. But I think he also knew that he had a young guy with a lot of enthusiasm for coaching pitchers, and he decided to have faith in me to handle his staff. That decision made me work 10x as hard to be the best assistant coach/pitching coach that I could be.

Today, I am now working with the AHS softball team, on which my daughter pitches. Although much about the game of softball is similar to baseball, there is also a lot of difference. One of the obvious differences is pitching. And when it comes to softball pitching, trust me, I know what I don't know (which is a lot). Therefore, I have needed to practice the very advice I am suggesting in this article. I have invested time to study and learn about pitching, but have been careful and slow to apply any teaching of what I have learned unless I am sure that I truly understand.

Learning and understanding are two different things. Sometimes coaches go to clinics where they learn new concepts and drills, then they are quick to bring back to their team and apply what they learned, but without a clear and good understanding of why the concept or drill is important. I see that a lot. A coach will use certain phrases or teach a certain movement and I'll ask, "Why do you want them to do that?" or "What result are you hoping for by telling them this?" If there is not a clear understanding and conviction in what you are teaching, then don't. Less is often more. Know what you don't know.

In addition to learning as much as I can in order to one day be able to help softball pitchers, for now I yield to others who know more about it than I do. Admitting you don't know much does not make you a poor coach. Recognizing where you are weak and where you are strong actually gives you the opportunity to be a better coach.

Just because I don't fully comprehend the mechanics and have a "feel" for what the proper softball pitching movement is, it doesn't mean I haven't been able to help softball pitchers at all. When it comes to the approach, mindset, commanding pitches, and the mentality of how to attack hitters, I still have much to offer. So, I guess you can say I am an eternal student seeking to better understand, I have delegated to others what I don't fully understand, and I am committed to continually improve.

I have come to learn, the longer I coach and the more I understand, the less I truly know.