Courtesy of the Evansville Courier Press, November 7, 2011When it comes to developing young leaders, helping prepare youths how to deal with adversity is critical in that process.
The definition of adversity is a misfortune – a hardship and suffering, and is normally synonymous with harsh conditions or hard times.
Everyone will come across adversity during the course of their day at some point, but the special leaders are the ones that can problem solve when adversity strikes. You can normally group those dealing with adversity into two different parties – those who identify problems, and those who solve problems.
It’s easy to identify problems, and it usually includes the shirking of responsibility. Finger pointing and assessing blame can lead to finding who committed the infraction, but it doesn’t actually fix the problem. Problem identifiers usually lack self-confidence, and find it easier to point wrong-doing at someone else rather than either accept when they are part of the problem, or to actually look to fix the problem.
The problem solver is more of a unique personality, because they have to be selfless – worrying more about helping teammates (placing the group ahead of one’s self) and worrying less about how they look at the hands of defeat or a mistake.
It’s not easy to solve problems, but it’s critical to be able to do so to achieve success. Here are some keys to think about when developing problem solvers:
Pressure is self-imposed – we put it on ourselves, and those who are most confident and composed when faced with crisis are the ones who find success.
No age group challenges with dealing with pressures more than in middle school and high school. Whether it be to excel in sports, earn good grades or managing hectic schedules, it can certainly feel overwhelming at times. Talk to your children about how to solve these problems – create a plan of how to fix what’s wrong, and walk them through those steps. The same way teams may practice specific situations (practicing being up a goal/down a goal; practicing being up a player/down a player), if they are versed in how to react when those pressures arise, they will be able to cope much better.
Focus on the process – too often, players and coaches stress the idea of having to win more so than the process of getting better. When the primary challenge is to improve on a player’s performance or behavior, it’s easy to defer some of those external distractions that come along with winning or losing a game.
The reality is that the most successful athletes and coaches were too consumed with improving and getting better to be distracted with whether they won or not – in turn, they won more often than they lost because they focused on getting better each day. John Wooden never stressed the need to win in pre-game talks, but rather focusing on the things you have to do to win.
Stress resiliency – players who are resilient are able to recover quickly from setbacks. The best players focus on the process of getting better, and the best coaches develop players and leaders that have the ability to bounce back when things don’t go their way. Pele once said “Success isn’t determined by how many times you win, but by how you play the week after you lost.”
Not only should you place your players or children in adverse situations to see how they respond, but you should also praise them when they do rise in the face of adversity – true leaders are resilient and don’t let small setbacks deter them from their goal. A player who develops resolve can make themselves better, can solve problems, and will be able to bounce back when mistakes arise.
Leaders have foresight – Problem-solvers understand that the reason why a car’s windshield is significantly larger than the rear-view mirror is because what’s in front of you is a lot more important than what you’ve already passed. Stress to young athletes to not get too hung up on a previous mistake, but rather, move on by fixing the problem and learning from it. Even in defeat, a coachable moment can make the team or athlete better for the next game.
If you are looking for problem solvers on the field or court, you can usually identify them after a critical error happens – they’re the one with their arm around a teammate offering encouragement, or barking out orders to prevent a mistake from happening. Anyone can pass the blame onto someone else, but the true problem-solver prevents mistakes from happening, and then helps those around them learn and grow when a mistake does happen.
Challenge those around you to be a problem solver, opposed to a problem identifier – my guess is that if you can do that, you’ll end up winning in more ways than just on the scoreboard.
The definition of adversity is a misfortune – a hardship and suffering, and is normally synonymous with harsh conditions or hard times.
Everyone will come across adversity during the course of their day at some point, but the special leaders are the ones that can problem solve when adversity strikes. You can normally group those dealing with adversity into two different parties – those who identify problems, and those who solve problems.
It’s easy to identify problems, and it usually includes the shirking of responsibility. Finger pointing and assessing blame can lead to finding who committed the infraction, but it doesn’t actually fix the problem. Problem identifiers usually lack self-confidence, and find it easier to point wrong-doing at someone else rather than either accept when they are part of the problem, or to actually look to fix the problem.
The problem solver is more of a unique personality, because they have to be selfless – worrying more about helping teammates (placing the group ahead of one’s self) and worrying less about how they look at the hands of defeat or a mistake.
It’s not easy to solve problems, but it’s critical to be able to do so to achieve success. Here are some keys to think about when developing problem solvers:
Pressure is self-imposed – we put it on ourselves, and those who are most confident and composed when faced with crisis are the ones who find success.
No age group challenges with dealing with pressures more than in middle school and high school. Whether it be to excel in sports, earn good grades or managing hectic schedules, it can certainly feel overwhelming at times. Talk to your children about how to solve these problems – create a plan of how to fix what’s wrong, and walk them through those steps. The same way teams may practice specific situations (practicing being up a goal/down a goal; practicing being up a player/down a player), if they are versed in how to react when those pressures arise, they will be able to cope much better.
Focus on the process – too often, players and coaches stress the idea of having to win more so than the process of getting better. When the primary challenge is to improve on a player’s performance or behavior, it’s easy to defer some of those external distractions that come along with winning or losing a game.
The reality is that the most successful athletes and coaches were too consumed with improving and getting better to be distracted with whether they won or not – in turn, they won more often than they lost because they focused on getting better each day. John Wooden never stressed the need to win in pre-game talks, but rather focusing on the things you have to do to win.
Stress resiliency – players who are resilient are able to recover quickly from setbacks. The best players focus on the process of getting better, and the best coaches develop players and leaders that have the ability to bounce back when things don’t go their way. Pele once said “Success isn’t determined by how many times you win, but by how you play the week after you lost.”
Not only should you place your players or children in adverse situations to see how they respond, but you should also praise them when they do rise in the face of adversity – true leaders are resilient and don’t let small setbacks deter them from their goal. A player who develops resolve can make themselves better, can solve problems, and will be able to bounce back when mistakes arise.
Leaders have foresight – Problem-solvers understand that the reason why a car’s windshield is significantly larger than the rear-view mirror is because what’s in front of you is a lot more important than what you’ve already passed. Stress to young athletes to not get too hung up on a previous mistake, but rather, move on by fixing the problem and learning from it. Even in defeat, a coachable moment can make the team or athlete better for the next game.
If you are looking for problem solvers on the field or court, you can usually identify them after a critical error happens – they’re the one with their arm around a teammate offering encouragement, or barking out orders to prevent a mistake from happening. Anyone can pass the blame onto someone else, but the true problem-solver prevents mistakes from happening, and then helps those around them learn and grow when a mistake does happen.
Challenge those around you to be a problem solver, opposed to a problem identifier – my guess is that if you can do that, you’ll end up winning in more ways than just on the scoreboard.
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