3 Simple Lessons on "The Process"

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In today’s sports world you hear everyone from Nick Saban to your local high school coach talk about The Process.

What exactly does this mean? How does this apply to coaching athletes, the local business, and how does affect our own lives?

This is what you will get out of today’s post:

• Definition of The Process

• Adjustment to The Process

• Growth from The Process

Definition of “The Process”?

Google’s Dictionary defines “process” as “a series of actions or steps taken in order to achieve a particular end.”

Webster’s Dictionary states that a “process” is a “natural continuing action or series of actions or changes. . . a series of actions or operations leading to a result.”

Here is my definition:

Is Success Derived from a Process?

What is success?

Success is different for many people. Here are a couple of examples:

• Salary

• Employment Position

• Marriage

• Children

• Material Possessions

  • Car

  • Home

  • Boat

  • Travel

  • Jewelry

• Staying out of jail

• Savings account

You get the idea. . . success is different for everyone. But take a look at each bullet point above. They all needed a process to be followed in order to achieve that level of success.

Salary - the process of a successful salary will come from the process of punctuality, hard work, excellent evaluations, productivity, and possibly level of education.

Staying out of jail - a person living in a less desirable area will have to be very selective on who their friends are, may have cut ties with some neighbors, do what is right and avoid being associated with the wrong people.

Here is an excellent resource you will find useful:

“The Process” Coaching High School Teams in 3 Steps

Every sport, coach, and player has a process which is followed that leads them to desired results.

1. As a high school coach, stay true to your process but be willing to adapt.

2. As a high school coach, follow your process knowing you can only control what you can control.

3. As a high school coach, this is all you can do!

If you do not have a process, you are lying to yourself. Everything you do to prepare your team is process orientated. How you warm-up, how you enter the field, how you conduct time-outs, how the team dresses, etc are all about a process.

But let’s be honest, you can prepare your team and your “Johnny” is not as good as their “Joe” and you will not win on the scoreboard.

But you can win at life!

Sports teaches so much to students about competition, perseverance, teamwork, unselfishness, and a strong work ethic. It takes guts to return to practice the next day to repeat the process and prepare for the next game.

Adjustments to “The Process”

Let’s be truthful, not all processes are good.

Some are lazy, full of fluff, and do not take advantage of the talent a team has.

I recommend you find some time to explore your Process and see what you can improve on. Can you do a better job of scouting, can you increase player’s attention in meetings, can you better prepare a workout, etc. Find something to get better at - this will improve your Process.

How To Improve “The Process”

1. Write down everything you do as a coach to prepare for a game.

2. Write down everything your players do to prepare for a game.

3. Brainstorm on what you and your players can do better to get the most out of the available talent.

4. From the brainstorm, rank in order of importance what you would like to improve on and then go out and learn all about it.

   1. Attend clinics and spark a discussion

   2. Purchase digital downloads and for a small purchase you can learn something new

   3. Purchase videos and take notes while you watch them

   4. Attend a college practice and arrange time to talk to a coach

   5. Visit a local coach that you admire and take him to lunch and talk about what he does

Growth from “The Process”

1. Be obsessively Curious

2. Relentlessly Seek Advantages

3. Be Hungry to Improve

Would you like to see how Sam Walton from Wal-Mart used The Process to grow his empire?

3 Simple Lessons on “The Process”

1. The Process is massive, positive actions taken on a daily basis that will eventually lead you to the results you desire.

2. The Process will be different for each individual at each stage of their life. The reason for this is the goals will change because we are seeking new results.

3. The Process is a continuous growth model that can be used in all phases of an individual’s life, team’s seasons, as well as in civic and business developments.

The Process is seen in every successful person, team, or company.

Closing

Let’s sum up The Process in 4 dynamic ways!

1. Consistent

2. Actionable

3. Repeatable

4. Exact

To have any kind of successful process you must posssess these 4 characteristics of a winner:

Be consistent in your efforts

Take positive and impactful actions on a daily basis towards your goal

Steamline your actions to be repeatable

The repeatable actions must be actionable with exact detail and with a purpose.

It is my belief that if you can write your own definition of what process means to you, how you learn from it, and more importantly how you grow, you too can be successful in any or all areas of your life.

If you coach or want to coach baseball, be sure to check out Kretzfiles.com for articles, practice plans, and downloadable ebooks. Excellent for all ages.