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In today’s issue…
The key to becoming a more effective leader and coach
🖼️ VISUAL
🗣️ QUOTE
“It is [in the Circle of Control] that we find two ways to put ourselves in control of our lives immediately. We can make a promise—and keep it. Or we can set a goal—and work to achieve it. As we make and keep commitments, even small commitments, we begin to establish an inner integrity that gives us the awareness of self-control and the courage and strength to accept more of the responsibility for our own lives. By making and keeping promises to ourselves and others, little by little, our honor becomes greater than our moods.”
Earlier this week, I was listening to an episode of The Wild At Heart Podcast (it’s faith-based content), and the topic of your “Circle of Control” was being discussed.
It’s a framework (see the picture above) from The 7 Habits of Highly Successful People by Steven Covey.
Circle of Concern — What you can worry about
Circle of Influence — What you can influence
Circle of Control — What you can control
The core premise is that the most successful people spend the majority of their time time and energy focused on their Circle of Control.
If I’m honest, it’s easy for me to spend time and energy in the Circle of Concern or Circle of Influence.
I’ve spent too much time in the two outer circles, particularly over the past 8 weeks.
The spring is a fairly stressful season for me as we prepare to operate our NIKE Sports Camps each summer.
There’s a mountain of preparation, communication, and logistics that go into making it all happen. But if parents don’t sign their athletes up for camps, then we have to cancel and scrap everything.
This past week we had to cancel two different sessions due to low sign-ups, which is both stressful and frustrating.
In the spring, it’s easy for me to let my attention and energy to go towards worrying about registration numbers for camps.
I’ve been challenged to come back to my Circle of Control this week.
The reality of our operation is that we can only control a handful of things:
Build a great camp curriculum
Proactively communicate with the facilities, staff, and athletes’ families
Train my staff
Reach out to local contacts for marketing efforts
Show up, serve the athletes, and run great camps
So this week I’ve refocused my attention and energy on what I can do right now to try to ensure every athlete has an experience at our camps that grows them as a person and player.
I don’t have control over the numbers, so I’m going to stop worrying about them.
As Covey says in the quote above, we must make and keep commitments in the small Circle of Control. Then, we can let go of the outcome and see how things turn out.
I think the question every coach and leader would be well-served to consider is…
“What are the commitments I can make and keep?”
Then, write down a few core commitments in the various slices of your life (the sub-points are some ideas):
Family
Weekly date nights with your spouse
Monthly 1-on-1 time with your kids
Monthly phone call to your parents
Coaching
Welcome every athlete to practice
End every practice with shoutouts
Ensure 80% of practice activities are games-based
Annual parent and player evaluation
Friendships
Have a meal with one friend a month
Share a note of gratitude with one friend a month
Health
Exercise for 30 minutes 3 times a week
Eliminate ___ food/drink
Hobbies
Read one book a month
Hike one new trail a quarter
Giving our energy and attention to our Circle of Concern usually produces anxiety.
Giving our energy and attention to our Circle of Influence often causes us to operate outside our values. We can become manipulative or overly assertive.
Giving our energy and attention to our Circle of Control helps us show up as a strong, grounded leader.
🧠 COACHING APPLICATION
Two thoughts on how this could apply in your coaching or leadership context…
Draw 3 circles on a piece of paper and fill them out with the things that need to go in each circle for you
Identify a few core commitments that you need to make in the various areas of your life and start to keep them
Thanks for reading, I hope this serves you on your journey.
To your growth,
Luke Gromer, RYG Athletics | A NIKE Sports Camp Provider
P.S. If you’re interested in becoming one of our NIKE Sports Camp directors or hosting a NIKE Camp at your school or club, reply “NIKE” to this email, and we’ll get on a call!
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