Hoop Dreams
Written by Michel Fabode
“My goal for this season is ensure the kids all have a great time playing basketball and learning the fundamentals. If we win some games in the process, that’s icing on the cake.”
I nodded appreciatively at this introduction from my son’s basketball coach. It was our first time participating in this community league, and by the looks of it, it would be a good time.
Fast forward a few weeks, and the team had clearly settled into a groove. Just before one game, the parent next to me asked his son, “OK, what do you do when you get the ball?” “Umm.. pass it to James?” “Exactly,” the parent confirmed. We all laughed.
Over the course of the season, ‘making sure the kids had a great time and learned the fundamentals’ had, in practice, turned into ‘pass the ball to the one kid who always know which goal is theirs and watch me argue with the ref if I don’t like the score.’
Too often, leaders profess one set of core values while their actions tell a very different story. Remember, when building a culture for a diverse team, the “say – do” ratio will always be the litmus test.
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