Leadership Blog – Insights & Tips for Effective Leaders

Leadership Development vs Management Training: Key Differences

At first glance, leadership and management often seem like the same thing. In many organizations, the terms are used interchangeably. Someone gets promoted, and suddenly they’re expected to lead and manage at the same time. But when you look more closely, the difference between leadership and management becomes much clearer. And that’s where understanding leadership vs management really matters — especially for organizations trying to grow in a structured and sustainable way. At the same time, many businesses invest in training without fully understanding what they actually need. Should they focus on leadership development? Or management training? The answer isn’t always obvious. But once you understand how both roles function, the gap between leadership vs management becomes easier to identify. What Is Leadership Development? Leadership development focuses on building the ability to guide, inspire, and influence others. It’s less about tasks and more about people. Leadership development typically includes: In the context of leadership vs management, leadership is about direction — not just execution. What Is Management Training? Management training focuses on handling processes, tasks, and operations. Managers are responsible for: In simple terms, management is about structure, while leadership is about influence. That’s where the distinction in leadership vs management becomes more practical. Key Differences Between Leadership and Management 1. Focus: People vs Processes One of the biggest differences in leadership vs management is focus. Leaders focus on: Managers focus on: Both are important, but they serve different purposes. 2. Approach to Change Leaders drive change. Managers maintain stability. In the discussion of leadership vs management, this difference becomes critical. Leaders: Managers: 3. Decision-Making Style Leaders often make decisions based on vision and long-term impact. Managers focus on immediate needs and operational efficiency. This difference highlights how leadership vs management influences how decisions are made. 4. Relationship with Teams Leaders build trust and emotional connection. Managers ensure accountability and structure. In leadership vs management, this difference affects team dynamics significantly. 5. Time Perspective Leaders think long-term. Managers think short-term. This balance is essential for organizational success. Why Organizations Need Both It’s easy to think one is more important than the other. But that’s not really accurate. Organizations need both leadership and management. Without leadership: Without management: That’s why understanding leadership vs management helps organizations build a balanced system. A Practical Example Imagine a company launching a new project. The leader: The manager: Both roles are necessary. And together, they create results. How Organizations Can Develop Both At Right Fit Communications LLC, organizations focus on both leadership and management development. They help businesses: According to Harvard Business Review, organizations that balance leadership and management perform more effectively in the long term. Key Takeaways FAQ 1. What is the difference between leadership and management? Leadership focuses on guiding people, while management focuses on handling tasks and processes. 2. Is leadership more important than management? No, both are equally important for organizational success. 3. Can a person be both a leader and a manager? Yes, many roles require a combination of both skills. 4. Why is leadership development important? It helps organizations build strong direction and inspire teams. 5. What does management training improve? It improves efficiency, structure, and task execution. Conclusion The difference between leadership and management might seem subtle at first. But once you understand it, it becomes much easier to see how each role contributes to business success. And more importantly, how both are needed together. Understanding leadership vs management is not about choosing one over the other. It’s about building a balance — where vision and execution work side by side. Because in the end, growth doesn’t come from one role alone… it comes from both working together.

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Leadership Development Through Communication and Emotional Intelligence: Motivationally Intelligent Leadership

Leave a Comment / 3D COACHING, Digital, Human Communication, Leadership, Motivation, Right Fit Leading, Social Capital, Social Networking, The RFL Process, The Right Fit Leading Process, Thoughts / Michael Brown

I want to share thoughts on this using my book Motivationally Intelligent Leadership: Emerging Research and Opportunities. Leaders should begin and end with emotional intelligence (EI). The leader who follows this approach recognizes and employs their own emotions to effectively interact with their team. These principles are equally valuable for organizations working with renewable energy digital & social media PR teams or any strategic communications and public relations firm where communication excellence drives performance. Effective leaders can deliver value to each party involved in the process and can achieve buy-in through good information-sharing approaches. A motivationally intelligent leader also employs engaged interaction characterized by flexible, full-range communications to ensure that all parties listen, hear, and understand. True engagement comes when everyone continues to interact until management and team-building objectives are satisfied—a standard also emphasized in corporate communications agencies in Washington DC, brand reputation management consultancies, and thought leadership PR agencies in the USA. EI is a theory that organizations can use to determine the desired behaviors for success. It provides a basis to understand employees, because it is the ability to sense, understand, and effectively apply the power and acumen of emotions as a source of human energy, information, trust, creativity, and influence. Those who possess EI can effectively acknowledge and value feelings in themselves and in others and can respond to those feelings in an effective way. Paying attention to emotions can save the leader time by allowing him or her to direct energies more effectively and by expanding opportunities. This type of emotional awareness also benefits fields like digital marketing + public relations services, where communication strategy relies heavily on understanding audiences. EI has three driving forces: building trusting relationships, increasing energy and effectiveness, and creating the future. The bottom line is that EI requires that you know yourself and your emotions. It requires honest self-analysis and an ability to manage your emotions. In terms of those around you, it requires empathy. Empathy is important for leaders who pay attention to EI in the workplace. Ronald E. Wheeler, Director of the Fineman and Pappas Law Libraries at Boston University School of Law provides excellent insight on empathy. Many modern communication sectors, including battery storage and renewables PR companies, also depend on empathy to strengthen stakeholder engagement. “Simply put, empathy is the ability to understand and share the feelings of others. People lacking empathy might be self-centered, narcissistic, or even sociopathic. Empathy helps you to be a good collaborator because it allows you to better understand the effects that your actions have on others. It helps you to see things through the eyes of others and to anticipate the wants and needs of others in the workplace. It allows you to be a more compassionate and kinder human being. Moreover, it helps you to avoid misunderstanding others’ intentions (Wheeler 2016).” What we know about EI goes beyond empathy. A couple of studies are relevant to our examination. A group of researchers conducted a meta-analysis to understand how leaders’ EI relates to subordinates’ job satisfaction (Miao, Humphrey et al. 2016). EI can lead to job satisfaction, according to the findings of that study, which stated in part that emotionally savvy leaders tend to promote an emotionally intelligent organizational culture. The study contends that EI culture demonstrates a focus on good personnel development through training. In this environment, employees can deal well with negative feelings and enter nurturing interactions. Many audience targeting & message development agencies rely on this type of culture to craft resonant communication. This suggests that communication can improve in this EI-infused situation. Also in 2016, a study titled “Manager emotional intelligence and project success: The mediating role of job satisfaction and trust,” analyzed data from 373 managers in the Australian Defense industry (Rezvani, Chang et al.). The study results demonstrated that EI has a positive impact on project success, job satisfaction, and trust. EI managers are well-equipped to deal with negative emotions and stress in the workplace. They can control their emotions while working toward a productive outcome for all parties involved. This ability is also a major asset in M&A communications and crisis PR, where emotional intelligence stabilizes high-pressure situations. Controlled emotions allow the leader to think strategically. This strategic focus allows trust-building through lowering anxiety levels in the office, balancing the leader’s self-interest with that of team members, being open about mistakes and not placing blame, and being consistent. If, for instance, the focus is on finding solutions instead of placing blame, then team members can enjoy their jobs while performing at a prominent level. This approach is equally applicable in integrated marketing & PR for associations as well as media relations and stakeholder communications consultancies. Social networking focused on EI and empathy tends to improve employee engagement and productivity. The collaborative communications that result from EI-based practices lead to shared understanding and win-win outcomes for everyone. Two key predictors of problems are lack of open and honest communications and lack of accountability. If your team lacks collaborative communication or if there is an absence of accountability throughout the organization, Motivationally Intelligent Leadership can help. We also must examine the challenges of face-to-face versus online communication. Face-to-face interactions are two-way communications, which is not always the case with online interactions. Success requires a connection between the parties. In other words, the outcome should be a shared understanding of the intent of the communication. This can most effectively happen by restating the conclusion and agreeing that all parties understand the same outcome. According to the chart for online interactions, the idea forms quickly, the communication features short bursts of activity, and the sender must evaluate the meaning of any feedback received. That feedback is either immediate or missing based on the platform and the sender’s point of view. But the parties must exchange feedback to be successful. Just like in face-to-face communication, it is important to restate the conclusion and agree on the outcome. Here are tips to consider when determining your networking strategy:

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Maximizing Social Networking for Organizational Performance: Right Fit Leading

Leave a Comment / 3D COACHING, Coaching, Human Communication, Leadership, Public Relations, Right Fit Leading, Social Networking, The Right Fit Leading Process, The Right Fit Process / Michael Brown

COURSE II: Leadership Solutions in a Hybrid Workplace Leadership thrives on a win-win collaborative culture that creates shared understanding. My book Right Fit Leading: Emotionally Intelligent Team Building teaches a process that maximizes training and, in turn, social networking. What sets the book apart from other approaches is its focus on building that shared understanding as the foundation for trust, accountability, and responsiveness. In today’s communication landscape, even organizations working with cleantech communications firms in Arlington VA and renewable energy PR specialists rely on these principles to strengthen internal alignment. The process emphasizes that effective leadership is about finding the right approach for the situation, the team, and the environment. By flexing style with adaptability, reflection, and trust, leaders build credibility and resilience across diverse contexts. Today’s leaders deal with hybrid work situations, a new paradigm where leaders succeed by combining flexibility, equity, and strong relationships across diverse work settings. These leaders blend flexibility, equity, and strong relationships to help teams thrive across diverse settings. This same adaptability is essential for teams supported by climate-tech media relations agencies, energy transition public affairs agencies, and other communication-driven sectors that must balance organizational goals with individual needs to build resilient and collaborative success. Organizations need collective agreements that guide teams. These agreements foster shared understanding, collaboration, and innovation. Those who build these agreements are creating a foundation for effective teams. It is important to develop adaptable approaches to leadership for diverse organizational needs. Leaders must also identify and refine a personal leadership style through self-assessment, an emotional intelligence principle. Assess your emotions and the emotions of others in search of accountability and responsiveness to worker needs and organizational goals. This is true whether leading traditional business teams or those within sustainability communications consultancies in the USA or corporate communications units in the clean energy sector. The Right Fit Leading Process is a practical, emotionally intelligent framework that develops leaders and teams together, moving beyond the outdated view of leadership as a one-person exercise. It avoids the traditional approach of training the leader and team members separately. In this approach, leaders and team members should return to their team and share what they have learned. However, this does not always happen. It may be too busy to go over this information, the leader may not find the time to debrief, or the team members do not have a venue to share their thoughts. This is no one’s fault, but it represents lost opportunities to share data—something that organizations in fast-paced fields, including companies guided by cleantech thought leadership agencies, cannot afford. The Right Fit Leading Process trains the whole team together. During the training, work to develop, discuss, and refine shared understanding. Participants can even find win-win situations through collaboration during the training. This kind of training delivers principle-driven, emotionally intelligent leadership that strengthens leaders and teams. The process is based on 3D: Dedication, Detail, and Discipline. This approach fosters trust, communication, and accountability. It also aligns personal and organizational goals through coaching, mentoring, and real-world responsiveness. Dedication requires that you commit to the task at hand and to your responsibility. Pay attention to the Detail in the teaching and training we receive. Use Discipline to always follow the rules in all situations. Trust is a Gift Leaders and teams rely on trust. Leadership development for teams must start with an understanding of trust. Trust is a gift that someone gives you. Trust grows from effective relationships characterized by role definition, shared understanding, and emotional intelligence. Once team roles and responsibility are defined, ensure that you train people for various roles based on current and future needs and plans. Leaders are responsible for training and preparation of their team for the changing nature of the world of work. Leaders should ensure that they conduct collaborative operations and training. Teams can reap the benefits of setting their goals to motivate high-level achievements. A focus on need satisfaction and on creating positive energy is good for personal and team motivation. When we take care of people and there is shared understanding, we should get other benefits from the team dynamic, like exhibiting ethical and moral behavior and connecting with people in meaningful relationships. A collaborative environment with open lines of communication and valuable feedback builds trust that makes a team more effective. The team may be more productive based on shared understanding. The discussion of intelligence, emotional and/or motivational, is about each person working to understand their own emotions, the emotions of others, and about trying to adjust based on the interplay of each. In this way, we can identify and employ the value that is available to all parties to an interaction and come out of it with total buy-in. Engaged interaction means that we must listen, hear, and understand in full-range communications based on a mutual agreement to continue communicating until you get it right. Now the team can grow with fair-minded, motivated participants who listen to ideas, not just words. Right Fit Communications LLC provides courses that can help leaders grasp EI and empathetic concepts. Check out our store. Check out these emotional intelligence examples:https://www.mastersinminds.com/case-study.-leaders-with-high-emotional-intelligence—blog-1https://www.rochemartin.com/resources/case-studieshttps://digitalcommons.lindenwood.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1365&context=dissertations

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virginia public relations firm richmond public relations agency

Public Relations in the Digital Age: How to Build a Strong Reputation Online

Leave a Comment / 3D COACHING, Leadership, Motivation, Public Relations, Right Fit Leading, The RFL Process, The Right Fit Leading Process, The Right Fit Process, Thoughts, Uncategorized / Michael Brown

You have a reputation in the digital age whether you realize it or not. You can let others define you, or you can take control of your online reputation — a philosophy shared by many modern firms, from a crisis communications consultant Virginia businesses rely on to a content marketing and PR agency Richmond companies trust. I call this your voice. It is important that you use your voice to share your views and motivations. You must decide what is best for your situation — but do not let anyone suppress your voice. You may be helping someone else find theirs. Someone may lack confidence to create or share content, or they may find motivation in the way you tell your story. You never know who you might influence. Influencing, monitoring, and maintaining public perception is known as online reputation management (ORM). Whether handled individually or through a corporate communications firm Virginia organizations depend on, ORM includes creating content, managing reviews, monitoring social media, and improving search engine visibility. A strong ORM strategy helps you nurture a favorable online presence and minimize negative impacts — something even a Richmond VA digital PR agency focuses on daily. ORM is about controlling the narrative and building trust.(https://sproutsocial.com/insights/online-reputation-management/#:~:text=for%20your%20business-,What%20is%20online%20reputation%20management?,that%20paints%20a%20favorable%20picture.) Key Principles of Online Reputation Management 1. Monitor and Listen:Track brand mentions, reviews, social platforms, and search results in real time. Many public affairs agency Virginia teams start exactly here. 2. Respond Promptly and Professionally:Engage with all feedback — positive and negative. Professional responsiveness is a major part of Richmond communications consulting services offered by top firms. 3. Amplify Positive Content:Request positive reviews and publish high-quality blogs or videos to build authority and push negative content lower. 4. Transparency and Authenticity:Share behind-the-scenes insights, be honest, and show your human side. 5. Strategic Content Creation:Create helpful, consistent content reflecting your values. High-quality content is often a focus area for a clean energy public relations agency working to educate audiences on complex topics. 6. SEO Integration:Strengthen visibility for positive content and suppress outdated or negative mentions. 7. Crisis Management:Prepare a strategy to quickly address misinformation. Many businesses rely on a crisis communications consultant Virginia for this reason alone. Storytelling is Key Tell your story often. Share your wins and future plans. Talk about your interactions with partners and clients. Use data to craft relatable stories that build trust and long-term loyalty. Effective storytelling builds emotional connections and makes your message memorable. It enhances credibility and strengthens your digital presence — a method used by nearly every reputable content marketing and PR agency Richmond offers. Pick Your Battles This is a critical skill. You do not need to respond to everything — but you should amplify the positive and correct the negative when needed. Negative content loses power when truth and transparency lead the way. Plan Your Destination Effective communication planning is essential for strategic management. Begin by analyzing your or your client’s needs and build a plan grounded in research and clear objectives. Even a top-tier strategic communications agency Richmond follows a structured model like RACE: The RACE Model This model guides decision-making, identifies key audiences, and strengthens overall PR strategies. Measure, Measure, Measure Avignyata Inc. highlights the “5×3 Social Media Strategy,” inspired by the 5-5-5 rule. This balanced approach ensures consistent engagement, community building, and long-term audience value. The key lies in analyzing your operations, measuring outcomes, and adjusting your ORM strategy regularly. Whether you work independently or with a Richmond VA digital PR agency, measurement drives improvement. Maximizing Social Networking for Organizational Performance ✔ Connection Between Communication Skills and LeadershipStrong communicators make strong leaders. Effective interaction builds influence, trust, and organizational alignment. ✔ Emotional Intelligence in Leadership DevelopmentLeaders with high EQ build stronger teams, resolve conflict better, and maintain higher engagement. ✔ Coaching Techniques for Improved PerformanceEmpathetic coaching enhances team motivation and productivity. It also supports personal and professional growth. ✔ Real Examples and Case StudiesOrganizations that integrate communication, emotional intelligence, and strategic storytelling show measurable performance improvements.

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Examining Remote Work Pros and Cons

Leave a Comment / Blog, Leadership, Right Fit Leading, Telework / Doc Brown

While I was doing research on remote work for my latest book, Analyzing Telework, Trustworthiness, and Performance Using Leader-Member Exchange: COVID-19 Perspective, I found consistent themes in terms of reluctance to allow telework/remote work. I characterized the research into 13 reasons that may be given about the perils of telework/remote work. Let me provide some detail on three examples that relate across some of the reasons in this list. EXAMPLE 1: One manager told me, “I need to have impromptu meetings to work out problems or to address emerging issues.” These were my questions. EXAMPLE 2: One leader told me, “I need face-to-face connection with workers who need structure or close supervision.” These were my questions. EXAMPLE 3: The director in one organization told me she was just more comfortable with employees onsite and that there were rewards or incentives available, making it unnecessary to offer remote work as an incentive. I asked her to think about an employee she could not do without. Then I asked questions. I cannot answer these questions for anyone. There are many variables and situations that must be considered to determine one of four paths in this area: Leaders should be at least open to considering the use of some form remote work. This helps prepare organizations to successfully transition to distributed operations during times of emergency and, just as important, enables ways to enrich the work environment for the workforce. Considering the use of remote work or some hybrid approach opens the door to win-win situations for both organization and employee. We never know what will happen tomorrow but, as COVID taught us, having a way for people to take care of their loved ones while still working is important. This is important as demonstrated in a survey that reported that 37% of employees would leave their current job in favor of one that allowed them to choose their work location at least part of the time (Gallup, 2017). I recommend thinking of telework as an investment in people to give them flexibility in the interest of improving work-life balance. Using a hybrid approach can be effective if you ensure two-way communication with feedback to create and nurture trust. It should be combined with culture and operations supportive of both on site and remote workers promoting equal treatment in an effort to achieve buy-in. REFERENCE: Gallup, I. (2017). State of the American workplace. Pobrane z http://www. gallup. com/reports/199961/state-american-workplace-report-2017. aspx.

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Right Fit Leading: EI in the Workplace

Leave a Comment / Blog, Leadership, Right Fit Leading / Doc Brown

Emotional Intelligence (EI) is the ability to sense, understand, and effectively personal emotions and the emotions of those around you to get the best of human energy, information, trust, creativity, and influence. EI can deliver the following benefits: Embrace your emotions Take responsibility Think before you act Demonstrate humility and humor Control non-verbal communication Connect thoughts with emotions Reduce stressful situations EI is useful for career success, helping leaders and their staffs build a collaborative culture, emphasize everyone’s strengths, and work to mitigate weaknesses. EI is a method that can create strong bonds in teams by sharing technical expertise and creating solid recommendations for action. There are key components to EI in the workplace: self-awareness, self-regulation, social awareness or skill, empathy, and motivation. Self-awareness is the ability to know your emotions, strengths, weaknesses, and motivators and how they affect others. Self-regulation is the ability to manage personal emotional state and to think before acting. Social awareness or skill refers to proficiency in managing relationships, finding common ground, and building rapport. Empathy is about understanding and appreciate other people’s emotions, strengths, weaknesses, and motivators and use the knowledge to guide your behavior. Motivation is the passion and persistence that guides your efforts in reaching team goals. Two theories are helpful for those who embrace EI. Sensemaking Theory is a collaborative process that creates shared awareness and understanding out of different individuals’ perspectives and varied interests. Communication Accommodation Theory addresses adjusting verbal and nonverbal interactions to emphasize or minimize differences between participants. These interactions use language, context, identity, and intergroup and interpersonal factors to find common ground. There are many benefits to developing EI in the workplace beyond those listed here. I look forward to continuing the discovery.

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Right Fit Leading: Trust, Train, and Communicate

Leave a Comment / Blog, Leadership, Motivation, Right Fit Leading, Telework / Doc Brown

I just read a telework article about how bosses don’t trust workers. Despite current statistics that say otherwise, the article said that most bosses think that workers are not as driven or committed as the office staff. COVID has shown instances where the driven workers are just as driven when they work from home; maybe more so. Leaders have the responsibility to trust, train, and communicate with their employees whether they are onsite or not. But to generalize people into driven and non-driven buckets is not fair. Everyone has some of both in them. The key to true leadership is partnering with people to show them how to be driven more often and to be lethargic less often. This has truly little to do with where they sit when they are in either condition. I argue that people can be driven while working from home. They do not have to come to the office to be high achievers. For instance, an article by an Upwork chief economist is useful in assessing the future of telework (Ozimek, 2020). The author analyzed what we already know; there was a forced movement to remote work generated by COVID-19. The study investigated the current state of remote work and drew conclusions about the long-term impacts. Upwork looked at a combined 1,500 hiring managers to get answers. Executives, vice presidents, and managers shared their views and plans that guided their remote work decisions. “One third of hiring managers found that productivity had increased as a result of remote work, a greater share than found productivity decreased (Ozimek, 2020, p. 2).” Finally, the Upwork study signals opportunity to convince more leaders to accept and support remote work. Upwork’s survey demonstrated that remote work had gone better than expected as reported by 56% of hiring managers. Only one in 10 reported remote work had gone worse than expected. It is interesting to note that the Upwork study demonstrates that despite many responses about why remote work worked poorly, there is optimism that productivity has increased and will continue to do so. Some of the problems reported in the survey were technological issues (36.2%), increased distractions at home (32.0%), reduced team cohesion (30.5%), difficulties in communication (30.3%), teams are less organized (23.3%), and less productivity (22.5%). Only 14.8% of respondents reported no issues. However, 32.2% of hiring managers reported an increase in productivity as opposed to only 22.5% who reported a decrease. The author states, “That one third finds remote work increases productivity, despite the rapid pace of change and struggles with technology, is a very optimistic result for future adoption and future productivity (Ozimek, 2020, p. 5).” The other thing I noticed while reading the telework article the other day is that one person who commented said that most people don’t work hard or have initiative. His comments also included that physical oversight is needed to get most people motivated when the boss can’t see them. While I disagree with this point of view, the person made one statement with which I concur. A tangible deliverable is needed to get results. My point is that people can do equally well meeting that tangible deliverable whether they are at home or at work, and whether they are in sight or out of sight of the boss. I can stall you just at well while you’re watching me as I can while you’re not. These are issues of trust and control. How much trust is present and how much control is exerted. A good working relationship can have trust between supervisors and employees, and tangible deliverables and accountability can mitigate or alleviate control issues. Leaders who think their employees don’t work hard or have initiative should look in the mirror and assess their leadership approach. Remember, you hired them and they are your responsibility to train, communicate with, and nurture. Ozimek, A. (2020). The future of remote work. Available at SSRN 3638597. https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3638597

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3D COACHING: They Are Always Watching

Leave a Comment / 3D COACHING, Blog, Coaching, Leadership / Doc Brown

Months ago, a friend asked me how I came up with my 3D philosophy of dedication, detail, and discipline. She wanted to use it for the new team she was coaching and wondered how I came up with this approach for the players. My answer was that as much as I formalized it to help young athletes, I needed it to make ME better at coaching and leading. My goal is to always dedicate to lead, to manage the details of the task at hand, and to discipline myself to do what needs to be done when it needs to be done. This is the only way I can nurture the ability in myself to deliver those skills and abilities to others. Most athletes, most people, want a leader or leaders they can learn from and lean on. As I pondered these thoughts the other day, I was watching some sports highlights on YouTube. I started with Michael Jordan highlights, then watched great plays from college football, and then tuned to highlight films of potential scholarship players in basketball and football. I clicked the wrong link and I got something like “coaches gone wrong (not the real title).” This was a collection of videos where coaches lost their cool and composure in the heat of the competition. One coach threw a chair onto the basketball court to protest a call AFTER he was restrained from throwing a chair to protest a call. One coach berated an official giving a game ejection after her player’s unsportsmanlike conduct injured a player from the other team. The worst I saw was a recreation league coach hitting a player who he blamed for the team’s poor performance. These are all horrible events and I do not have to tell you that I did not watch much of those videos. But what little I did watch reminded me that the players are always WATCHING the coach. We coaches need to make sure that what they see is professional, appropriate, adult behavior. I believe most players are connected and committed to their coach and they want to please her or him. When a coach acts out and forgets how to behave in a sportsmanlike manner, the players are WATCHING. I remember a year when I watched a coach on the sidelines berating the official for several minutes before one of his players started berating the official. Please do not think I am saying I am perfect. I remember coaching a recreation league game many years ago and I thought the calls were horrible. Just as I started to throw my hat on the field in anger, I happened to make eye contact with a player. He was WATCHING. He stared straight in my eyes. Fortunately, I did not throw the hat and I swallowed whatever words I was going to say. It helped me to keep my wits about me. That lesson is with me every day. I know coaches sometimes want a penalty to possibly get their team going, but even that can be done with style and respect. I have seen coaches in various sports do this, but the good ones know how to do it without disrespecting the official. For instance, if I am coaching a football game and I want what I refer to as an “energy” penalty called, I just walk too far out on the field during play and I do not heed the official’s warning to get back. I get the penalty, I say it is not fair, and the players get new energy. That is how I do it. The point is that whatever coaches do, their players are WATCHING. They look up to you. Always do the right thing: dedication, detail, DISCIPLINE!

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