Experience Does Matter
Over the past several weeks I have seen several articles and interviews of performance directors at various training centers commenting on training. Not one of them was over thirty. I do not think you have to be an old man or women to direct a program or to be an expert, but experience does matter. I was a young turk once who knew everything and was not afraid to tell anyone who would listen and some who would not listen what I knew. I was sure I knew everything. I am convinced now that taking that stance was a real impairment to my learning – how can you learn when you know everything? There is a real value to knowing what don’t know. Sometimes it is more important than knowing what you do know. In today’s face paced world of instant results and quick fixes it is easy to get caught up hype and promotion. Everyday as I coach I see and do things now that I learned through experience. No book or class or class to prepare you for the reality of day to day coaching. All of you who are younger in your careers seek out mentors who have been this for awhile and have achieved. I know how helpful Joe Vigil has been to me and continues to this day. Hang out with people that challenge you and make you better. One thing Joe Vigil said to me was to be was to gain experiences, not have the same experience over and over. Learn from failure, we all fail; those who ultimately are successful are those who learn from their failures and do not repeat them.
posted by Vern Gambetta @ 3/20/2007 08:17:00 AM
4 comments
4 Comments:
Vern,
Great point. Without a doubt experience definitely plays a role in the coaching equation as well as education.
Would love to get your definition of experience as well. Some thirty year old coaches may have quite a bit of experience while some fifty year old coaches have very little to none.
An example I like to use is a shack. If you get a beat up old shack and paint it, put new curtains up, maybe even put a new roof on, things will look a lot better. However, in the long run, you still just have a shack. The alternative is to knock the shack down, start with a stronger foundation, and build a brand new building. At one point, it will look like this is the wrong way to go because at one point, the person who has the shack has an actual structure while the person who started over, just has a hole in the ground. However, once the building is complete, there will be no comparison between the shack vs the new building with a sound foundation. It comes down to looking toward the short term or the long term. If you look long term, the short term might seem a bit bleak, but that strong foundation will look good in the long term. is a great qoute from a soccer newsletter. I use it for parents who are looking for a quick fix for thier kid
If you think you know everything, you know nothing.
In Caoism...when the student is ready...the teacher appears.
T
The more you see the less you know
The less you find out as you go
I knew much more then than I do now.....
***Oldest Winning Super Bowl Coaches
Dick Vermeil, St. Louis - XXXIV (63 yrs, 92 days)
Weeb Ewbank, New York Jets - III (61 yrs, 251 days)
Barry Switzer, Dallas - XXX (58 yrs, 115 days)
Bill Walsh, San Francisco - XXIII (57 yrs, 53 days)
George Seifert, San Francisco - XXIX (55 yrs, 7 days)
***Youngest Winning Super Bowl Coaches
Jon Gruden, Tampa Bay - XXXVII (39 yrs, 162 days)
John Madden, Oakland - XI (40 yrs, 274 days)
Joe Gibbs, Washington - XVII (42 yrs, 66 days)
Chuck Noll, Pittsburgh - IX (43 yrs, 7 days)
Don Shula, Miami - VII (43 yrs, 10 days)
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