Thrive Using the 80/90 Rule

Being a coach means you live in the 80-90%. What that means, is that no matter how well you do, you will have 5-10% that love you and 5-10% that hate you. Your job is to focus on the 80-90% that you can influence in a positive and successful way. #DailyMight

I’ve mentored hundreds of coaches in youth sports. From just starting out, to seasoned and experienced coaches – I have encouraged their growth in leadership and the games of hockey and baseball no matter where they are in their journey. As many of you know, or would assume, coaching can be incredibly difficult to navigate. So I’ve adopted what I call The 80/90 Rule and pass that on to coaches who I mentor.

Praise and criticism can be overwhelming for a young youth coach. Through a season, statistically, you’re bound to encounter both. For good reason too. Each of us have natural abilities and skills that we bring to the table that make us an adequate leader, but inherently that also comes with coaching blind spots. Nonetheless, skills and blind spots lead to a bell like curve for feedback regarding your coaching expertise. Each end of the bell curve (for praise and criticism) occupy 5-10% of the curve who will love or hate you, no matter what – and no matter what you do. That leaves the 80-90% that the coach will have an opportunity to influence.

Pass Praise.

“Do not be vulnerable to praise.” John Wooden was a master teacher and coach for a championship UCLA basketball team. One of his greatest attributes is that he never let undeserved praise change his philosophy of leading. He was a master delegator when it came to taking praise and passing it along to his coaches and players. But he knew praise from outsiders, like the Bible warns us in Luke 6:26, has no guarantee of truth. And can be exactly what we want to hear. In those cases, it’s praise without being praise worthy and has no bearing on our leadership abilities.

Consume Criticism.

The other side of the bell, lies criticism. I’ve taught in-depth about tools needed to digest criticism. Like it’s favorable twin on the other side, 5-10% will criticize you no matter how strong your plan is, your preparedness, or your knowledge and skill of the game you are teaching. Know it’s coming, at some point. Acknowledge it, but like it’s undeserved praise, do not let it effect your coaching philosophy.

Leaning Into the Middle

The biggest part of the bell, is the middle. Leaning into the middle allows you to remove the distraction of the 10-20% that you don’t influence and allows you to focus on those you can. The middle is where youth coaches thrive. They have the most authority to influence and grow their athletes (and support from parents) in the 80-90%. This is the spot you want to become rooted in. Pour into athletes, coaches, and parents who live in the middle the most positive way you know how to.

Your mission as a youth coach is to focus on the 80-90% that you can influence in a positive and successful way. Understanding your why, and how the 80/90 rule can play an important part of it’s successfulness, relies on you acknowledging the 10-20% that will love or hate you – and focusing anyways on the middle that you can influence and grow for good.

Give everything your everything. And then some.

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