As parents and coaches, it’s our obligation to teach leadership skills. So when we think about leadership as a set of skills, then we won’t look at any athlete and think, “Oh, well, they’re just never going to be a leader.” And that’s great because leadership is associated with strength and achievement and goodness, and not being a leader or a child being told, “Oh, well, you just don’t have what it takes to be a leader,” feels to them like they’ve really done something wrong. Or if they get passed over routinely for leadership opportunities without anybody saying, “Hey, if this is something you want, here’s some skills you could work on together.”
Some kids really shy away from leadership because it’s associated with either an experience or feelings that they haven’t liked, or because they think they’ll fail at it. And we all shy away from things that we think we will fail at. So one of the best ways to raise a leader is to ask them what they think leadership means. Ask them to point out people in their life that they feel are good leaders and why. And then to ask them if they see any obstacles to themselves being a leader, or if that’s a role that they think they would want.
Then, and this is the really tricky part, but adults are really good at it because you’re an expert in your athlete, catch them being a leader. When they talk their sibling into watching the movie that they really want, that’s leadership. When they make an argument for doing their chores tomorrow or getting the bigger piece of pie, or when they convince or influence someone towards either a great goal, something you really admire, or something you can be neutral about, there’s nothing negative about wanting the bigger piece of pie. Then you can catch them in it and say, “That was a leadership skill.”
The first thing that leaders need to know how to do seems counterintuitive. They need to be able to watch and notice. That ability to hang back for a minute, to not just rush in headlong, make snap decisions about what everybody needs or what they want or what I want and just do it and not really think about how it lands with anyone else, that’s the opposite of the leadership qualities that we’re looking for. When you notice an athlete who observes, who takes it in, ask them about their insights. Because insight, that ability to watch and notice and then make a conclusion from it, that’s a really important leadership skill. So that’s about a situation.
Another skill that’s really important is to be able to evaluate, to evaluate what the people around you are good at and what their obstacles or their challenges are. Leaders have to be able to do that. So asking your athlete after a game, “Can you tell me your own strengths and obstacles this game? But also, can you tell me who excelled at this game and how? Who improved this game, and how? And who experienced challenges this game? And why do you think they experienced that?” Then you’re asking them to look critically, but not in a way that says judgemental and negative, just to critique the experience. Leaders have to be able to evaluate individuals and groups to know what they’re good at and what their challenges are going to be to be able to recruit people towards a goal.
And then the third skill is leading people to a goal. So if I’ve got enough insight to understand what a valuable, admirable goal is for my group, and I’ve got the evaluative skills to figure out who’s good at what and who’s not so good at what or who improved at something, now I have to be able to influence. And influence is something that kids work on themselves their whole lives. They work on it with their siblings, with their friends, with their teammates, with you. And so recognizing when they’re good at it and rewarding it when they use it respectfully and with good intention, now you’ve got a leader on your hands. Someone with insight, someone who can evaluate, and someone who can influence towards a positive goal.
I want to tell you about an activity that you can do with your athletes as a team that’s collaborative and yet teaches leadership skills and draws your conversation around to leadership and what good leadership looks like. So here’s what you do. Gather all of your athletes and say to them, “In a minute, but not yet, you are going to create, as a group, a shape. I’m going to name a shape. And you as a group are going to create that shape. Here are the guidelines. Everyone has to be involved in the creation. When the shape is done, everyone has to be in use making it. You have to use branches or sports equipment or something so everybody stays six feet apart. But the outline, from a bird’s eye view, has to look like the shape that I’m suggesting. And the shape is.” And you might say a square or a triangle or an octagon or an infinity symbol or a football, it doesn’t matter.
Let them play this a couple, three times, maybe two or three times. And once they think they’ve got it, they all raise their hand. They have to agree they’ve got it. They all raise their hand. You come over, you look at it, you tell them if they have it or they don’t, they fix it. And once they’ve got it, they’ve succeeded. This is not a competitive game, it’s a collaborative game. Now you say to them, “Okay, everybody.” You stand in the middle and you say, “Everybody look at me. For this next round, we’re going to do the exact same thing. But everybody that I point to and make eye contact with or say your name isn’t allowed to talk. And because these are our rules, you can’t go up and physically touch each other. So only the people that I don’t look at and say their name are allowed to talk in this next round.”
And I would suggest knocking out about a third of them. But you know who. I don’t know who to knock out. But you already, even before you do it, you know who you’re going to knock out of this game because those are the people who keep leading. You’re going to play a couple of rounds that way. And then you may say, “Okay, if I say your name …” And it adds. So the people that can’t talk, they can never talk again in this game. But you might have to say, “If I say your name now and you already couldn’t talk, it means you can’t even gesture, grunt, dance. You just have to do what you’re told.” And now I want you to get down to a sixth of your team are the only ones who are allowed to talk. And probably several of them aren’t even allowed to be like, “Go over there, do this” with their gestures.
In this experience, that collaboration is valuable. But what’s really valuable is the conversation afterwards. Everybody sit down right where you are and tell me something you noticed or learned about yourself. This is an I statement. So about your own experience with that. How was that? If you were somebody who was silenced early, how did that feel? If you were somebody who wasn’t silenced or wasn’t silenced until the end, how did that feel? What did you learn? What did you notice? Get them into a conversation about who speaks up and who doesn’t, who leads. And I don’t mean the names of the people. I mean, in what situations do people speak up or don’t? What’s an obstacle to speaking up? How does it feel to be relied upon when it wasn’t your inclination to speak up? And you will learn and hear some really interesting things from your team about leadership.
TrueSport Expert, Deborah Gilboa, MD, explains that leadership is skill-based, not personality-based, and provides tips on how to nurture those skills in your young athletes.
Learn more about Deborah Gilboa, MD.
Hi. I’m Trevon, Trey, Jennifer. Team USA wheelchair basketball player, paralympian, and true sport athlete. Today, I want to talk to you about goal setting. And there are three things that I would like you to know. First, successful athletes set goals and a planned roadmap. Second, goals should be written down, assessed over time, and changed if necessary. And third, goals need to be challenging in order to be worthwhile. As a freshmen at Edinboro University, I was a part of a team that made the national championship game. And at that time I recognized I was the low man on the totem pole, but I felt in my heart that I knew my dreams were so much bigger than winning a national title. I wanted to make Team USA. I knew what achieving my lofty goal was not going to be easy and that I would need to work hard every day.
So, as a reminder, I created a pyramid of goals that I kept right above my bed. This pyramid reminded me of the accomplishments that I was working towards and visually represented my need to create a solid foundation underneath me before reaching the top. In the bottom roll of my pyramid of goals I listed goals such as obtaining my bachelor’s degree, becoming a scholar athlete award recipient, and becoming an All-American. The middle row listed winning a national title and playing for a professional team. And at the top row, the most challenging of them all, I listed becoming a gold medalist for Team USA.
By understanding that there are smaller stepping stones to achieving my ultimate goal of being on Team USA, I was able to stay motivated and to stay focused on completing the smaller stepping stones fully before moving onto the next one. Now I’ll be the first to admit that not every goal that I listed on my pyramid was accomplished, but seeing my goals every day when I went to bed, I was able to push through the days that I felt like doing nothing in hopes of achieving the bigger picture. Remember, create a clear goal roadmap, assess your goals often, and continue to challenge yourself. I hope that you never stopped dreaming big or reaching for the stars. And I look forward to seeing where your roadmap takes you.
Hi, I’m Kara Winger, Olympic javelin thrower, and true sport athlete. Today I want to talk to you about body image and I have three things I’d like you to know. First, healthy thoughts often lead to healthier bodies. Second, there are varying body types and no one’s body is exactly like another. And third, true beauty goes deeper than the skin. As a multi-time Olympian, I’ve experienced a lot of variation and progression in my training. My coaches and I adapt to my training frequently, all with the goal of supporting my long-term success and health in the sport of javelin. I’m talking to you about body image today because sometimes even with the best of intentions and a common goal in mind, the changes you make to your training habits can prove to be detrimental if made for the wrong reasons. In the lead up to the 2012 Olympic trials, I was told in order to improve my performance on the field, I should try to become a leaner, skinnier version of myself.
So I changed my diet. I went along with what I was being told to do, even though I’d had great success at a slightly heavier weight and higher body fat percentage, and became much leaner than ever before. It seemed like a successful change at first, but I didn’t have nearly the results I’d had before. And I believe becoming leaner than my body naturally wanted to be was what caused my ACL to tear. In the end, it cost me heavily going into the 2012 London games. The takeaway for me, and hopefully for you, is that it’s important to know what works for you and your body and to not compare yourself to others. You should do your research and experiment with your diet to find what makes you feel the best, rather than focusing on what you look like. Today, if I feel like having a chocolate chip cookie, I have one, just not every day.
I’ve learned what a properly balanced meal for my body looks like and I recognize food as the fuel that keeps me throwing. I hydrate and allow myself time to recover. And I listen to and communicate with my body so that I can be the best version of myself. In the end, you are in control of how you see, treat, and respond to your body. We only get one and it’s amazing to discover how many things our bodies can do. Be a true sport athlete. Love who you are in this moment and get excited for all the places your body will take you.
Hi, I’m Izy Isaksen, Team USA, Modern Pentathlon, Olympian, US Army Sergeant, and True Sport Ambassador. Today, I want to talk to you about being a good sport. There are three things I’d like you to know. First, real winners act the same toward their opponent, whether they win or lose. Second, follow the rules and be a gracious winner and respectful loser. And third, sportsmanship reveals your true character.
I started competing in Modern Pentathlon eight years after my older sister and three-time Olympian, Margaux Isaksen, began competing. I soon realized that people often compared the two of us. I would overhear spectators and teammates asking, “Who’s the better athlete,” and “Who’s going to beat the other.” Instead of letting outside pressures create a negative experience for us, I chose to practice winning and losing with grace and respect. I know that it would have been easy to let our hyper competitive mindset affect our relationship, but instead we decided to support and cheer for each other, regardless of our own performance. My experience of competing against and being compared to my older sister, taught me to focus on how to perform at my best, rather than putting wasted energy into wishing for others to fail.
I believe that sportsmanship reveals true character. So, no matter what situation I encounter during competition, I know it’s important to always treat people with respect and be a good sport. Remember, be a fierce competitor, find grace in all your victories and losses. And I hope to see you out there.
Edwin Moses: You’re a coach. Maybe what you want is very simple, for everyone to just run in the right direction, score for their own team, to try and try again and again. Maybe you want your athletes to become all stars. You want them to earn trophies, medals, win titles. You want them to reach the highest height their sport allows. And wanting all of that, of course, that’s good. But as every great coach discovers, developing a great athlete means nurturing, nurturing the even greater person within. Truth is, you have even more influence than you know.
You have the ability to affect even deeper change, to take what’s in your hands and do something even more extraordinary. You can be both the coach who provides the skills needed to win the game and the coach who helps them learn and succeed beyond the sport, to become all stars wherever they land in the future, and to enjoy their lives more now, because the confidence and courage they find working with you will stay with them when they need it the most. There are games to be won, lives to change. Coaches have the power to do both.
I’m Edwin Moses, and the lessons I’ve learned through sport have challenged me, guided me, and shaped my life forever. What kind of coach do you want to be?
At first glance, dietary supplements look the same. They seem safe and healthy, but just because the label says a product is a dietary supplement, that doesn’t mean it’s safe. Unfortunately, you can’t tell whether a product is safe or not just by looking at the label. Most vitamins, minerals, fish oil, and other supplements containing nutrients are probably just fine, but supplements are not evaluated or approved by FDA before they are sold. Although it is rare for vitamins or minerals to be contaminated with drugs, there has been at least one case of a vitamin containing an anabolic steroid.
At the other extreme are products that contain drugs, stimulants, anabolic steroids, or other hormones. Even though these are not technically dietary supplements, many of them are labeled as supplements. For example, body-building products sometimes contain anabolic steroids or Selective Androgen Receptor Modulators, known as SARMs, or other hormones. Some pre-workout or energy products contain illegal stimulants like DMAA, ephedra, or other amphetamine-like stimulants. Weight loss products might contain prescription drugs like sibutramine, or hormones, like human chorionic gonadotropin, also known as hCG. All natural or herbal sexual enhancement products might contain hormones or Viagra-like drugs. Products like these can harm your health and career, but they’re for sale online, in some nutrition stores, and they’re labeled as dietary supplements.
When you pick up a supplement, especially one that promises performance enhancement, you don’t know if it belongs in the “Mostly O.K.” pile or in the “Dangerous” pile. After all, two products might look the same, but one might contain just amino acids and other legitimate ingredients, while the other also contains anabolic steroids. Because of this, FDA has issued a warning about certain categories of supplements: body building products, weight loss products, and sexual enhancement products. Be extremely careful when considering a supplement in one of these categories. We strongly recommend that you avoid products in these categories.
Even when FDA tests supplements and finds dangerous ingredients, companies sometimes refuse to recall them. Sometimes, they simply repackage their product and continue selling it under a new name. Just because a product is on a store shelf doesn’t mean it is safe. You need to do your research and be an informed consumer. The dietary supplement industry is enormous. Supplements that appear to be safe could actually be dangerous products in disguise. If you use dietary supplements without doing your research, you may be taking serious risks with your health and your career. Please visit USADA’s Supplement 411 for more information about dietary supplements.
