Jim Harshaw » How to Change People

Uploaded by Jim H. & Riot Staff | on Riot Sports Marketing | February 14, 2011

The world is full of complainers. They complain about their boss, their kids, their spouse, their job, their car, their neighbor, their position in life. Coaches are no different. Coaches tend to complain about things like their administration's lack of support for their team or why their alumni do not provide stronger financial support or the lack of attendance and community support.
Cry me a river. Then buy a copy of Dale Carnegie's How to Win Friends and Influence People. Published in 1937, it has sold 15 million copies worldwide and can be found on the shelves of every major bookstore in the country today. One of the many messages in the book is that if you want to change others, you must first change yourself.
Sorry to be the bearer of bad news but look at the bright side, with the realization that the key is in your hand, you can take positive action to make change.
Here is what I am talking about.

* You work your butt off, you work long hours, sacrifice time away from your family and deserve more support from your administration. First, thank you for doing your job. Second, think about what your athletic director wants to see and who he has to answer to. What would you want if you were in his shoes? What are the factors that he looks at to determine where to allocate resources. Don't know? Then ask. Think you know? Ask anyway. Then determine actionable steps that you can take to change the athletic administration's perceptions of your teams value.
* You work your butt off and blah, blah, blah... and you deserve more alumni support. Look around you. Are your competitors getting more alumni support than you? If so, ask why and how. You will likely learn that they are doing more than you in the area of alumni development and fundraising. Or they've been doing it for a longer period of time (consistency and perseverance). What steps can you take to change you before trying to change the prerogative of your alumni?
* You work your butt off and you deserve (barf) more community support and student body support. What are you doing to earn it? Apparently not enough so try harder or better yet, try smarter. There are teams doing what you want to do, getting what you covet and being successful at what you are striving for. Instead of complaining about the lethargy of your student body or that your school is "a basketball school", find a way to succeed. Think outside the box. Every idea is on the table until it is dismissed with good reason. Even then, you might be able to tweak the idea into a smash hit and set an attendance record. Then you are likely to get that administrative support that you wanted followed by the alumni support and then more community support and the cycle continues.

Looking for a place to start? Buy the book that has changed lives for decades and will change your too. Take action here.