I am still associated with many teams that I have been the Strength and Conditioning Coach for. One of my favorite coaches is Derek Eisler who my son had the pleasure of playing hockey for a few years ago. I respect Derek and remain on his mailing list. This is part of the man's newsletter that comes out. It is TOTALLY worth the read. Enjoy!
"Be GOAL Driven, with your Academics. Also Why student-athletes shine in the workplace; teamwork, communication, and leaders.
Let’s look at the skills that the student-athlete experience builds, starting with the melodic tones of the early morning alarm. Whether it’s your favorite song or the annoying “brrrrrrrrrrrrr” of the cell phone’s radar, you’re going to respond because you’re not going to let the team down; every student-athlete knows you can’t boat an eight with seven and they’ve experienced how hard it is to keep a goal out when you’re a player down in defense. That team experience and everything that goes with it translates into the number one skill that employers are looking for – according to the NACE Center For Career Development and Talent Acquisition. In 2018, the Center surveyed employers of new graduates and team building topped the list of in-demand attributes, closely followed by communication and leadership.
Why do student-athletes excel in these areas? Because they haven’t just learned these skills, they’ve refined them and practiced them with the kind of passion that drives teams to victories. They chose to learn these skills, they expected themselves to and they fought for places on teams based on how good they were at these skills. In short, team building, communication, and leadership have become ingrained in their characters, it’s who they are, not a hat they wear when they have to. Being part of a team is second nature, student-athletes have been part of a team for at least half their lives.
1.- Team Building Let’s face it, without exceptional teamwork your win/loss record would put you at the bottom of the ladder. A place nobody wants to be. Comparatively, good teamwork is immediately obvious from the outside. It looks like requests for assistance and a desire to share, supportive comments and helping each other, people talking co-operatively, sharing the small stuff while they’re working towards the same goals. Using each other’s names (or names that they’re happy with!). Tight teams almost share a shorthand that only they understand. There are established information channels but there’s also spontaneous and unhindered energy. A team does things more effectively and faster than an individual, one of the reasons for this is that a team uses everyone’s strengths. To do that, you have to KNOW what everyone’s strengths are and be confident to call on individuals to use that strength. It goes without saying that this process also accommodates everyone's not-so-strong areas. Student-athletes will also be used to, and comfortable with the concepts of potential, growth, and improvement.
At the start of every season, a playing group will outline strategies for improvement; physical and strategic. The present is only a snapshot of potential, it is not the sum total of an individual’s capacity. There will be things that everyone works on individually and things the teamwork on together. People in a team rely on each other, individuals stand-alone but work together to achieve the results they all want. In sport, every team member has a role, some are point-scoring, some are technical and some are behind-the-scenes, but all of us have to succeed at our jobs for the whole team to succeed. Enabling every team member to perform consistently at their best isn’t optional, it’s essential, and in sport, a team’s capacity to do this is measured on a weekly basis in wins and losses. Understanding what it takes to facilitate optimal performances for every team member is a lifetime skill and one that’s easily transferred to the workplace. Diversity and inclusion are givens in the team that functions effectively. Student-athletes are used to seeing people for their skills, abilities, and what they contribute to a team. Their skin color, gender, or socio-economic status are not part of their contribution, so inclusion just happens without a focused or contrite effort. In terms of diversity, a good team benefits from a variety of ideas and perspectives.
One sure way to get diverse perspectives is to include team members from diverse backgrounds. Straddling a wide variety of environments, situations, and personalities is part of working life, it’s also part of sport. Sport sits in a cross-section of cultures, it attracts passionate people – both players and spectators. Student-athletes have had to perform whether they’re comfortable in these situations, with their teammates or the opposition.
Over years this breeds its own kind of tolerance and acceptance for diversity.
2. Communication- Communication is critical in effective teams. Without clear, concise, and regular communication there are lots of mistakes. In competition, this amounts to a high error rate and confusion. Not a winning landscape. Everyone must understand the ultimate goal in the same way and pathways have to be clear so skill transfer and project learning can take place, not to mention team culture and chemistry.
Stating outcomes is not enough, it’s imperative that every team member hears the messages and understands the part they play in creating a successful outcome, just like in sport. The advantage of sport as a learning environment is that communication in competition leads to points, a win or a loss, a simple and immediate measure of success. Former student-athletes can draw on examples of when they got communication right and the results that stemmed from those exchanges. They can talk about communicating in different environments, the training facility, and the sporting field. They can talk about communicating with coaches, teammates, and the opposition. They’ve been under pressure and rallied teammates to assist them stage a come-back or secure a victory.
Part of the athletic experience is skill development. Former student-athletes have been taught and have taught technical skills. They know how to break tasks down, simplifying each stage until the end result is a successful execution. Different modes of communication are useful to convey different messages. But, in sport we prioritize interpersonal communication, we know how important it is to get face-to-face communication right, to have the conversation, whether celebratory, instructional or difficult. Essential processes in the workplace rely on sharp communication skills, so it’s no surprise to see communication high on the list of in-demand attributes. Processes like giving and receiving feedback in a formal and informal way depend on excellent communication skills as well as experience with this kind of information. Student-athletes have been coached or mentored and their success has been reliant upon how well they receive feedback and communicate their needs. A former student-athlete knows how to take feedback, they’ll seek it, take it on and use it to make themselves better.
3.- Leadership Sport is a hothouse for leadership, it nurtures, feeds, and grows leaders. Student-athletes have seen and developed an understanding of the leadership role. Student-athletes have been part of leadership groups, they’ve experienced when strategies worked and when they didn’t. They’ve led and been led, they’ve had role models, they know how to rally people behind a set of common goals. Within a workplace people might need different things from the same leader, it’s the same in sport, former student-athletes have experienced and responded to this. They also understand that leaders don’t always direct from the top, any team member can show leadership or inspire their team with their work ethic or approach to a specific task. Student-athletes understand the importance of strong leadership, they know that successful projects result from strong direction and leadership groups attend to details daily, make regular interventions and keep the team on track, so that small problems don’t become insurmountable issues at a later date. So, a student-athlete’s resume might not contain a long list of employers or a string of summer jobs, the context of their learning might be different, but the qualities they practice and embed during their time as student-athletes are aligned with foundations of excellence in the workplace. The skills that student-athletes develop under the pressure of competition are the cornerstone of success in their careers. We’ve just hit the top qualities, but others that student-athletes bring include dedication, commitment, preparation, prioritizing, and resilience. God Bless" ~ Derek Eisler
Today's Training:
AirDyne: 30 mins
Meridian Stretch
Blast Strap Row: 4x25
Face Pulls: 4x25
Concept II Row:
5 mins steady state
10x10/50
Airdyne II: 10x10/50
C/S Row: 5x10
Pull up: 10x2
Chin up: 10x2
BB Curl: 5x8
Tricep Pushdown: 5x10
Hammer DB Curl: 5x8
Dips: 5x10
4-way Neck
Bike Commute: 30 mins
Run:
Sprints: 10x50 yds