Coaching Styles/ Coaching Philosophy

http://http://blogs.chicagosports.chicagotribune.com/rosenblog/2009/09/you-want-the-manager-who-blows-up-at-his-players-or-lays-down-for-them.html

I had this Steve Rosenbloom (courtesy of the Chicago Tribune) blog forwarded my direction and although the article is written fairly at best, it does bring up a great idea: differences in coaching styles. Although there are many different styles of coaching, the two ends of the spectrum are Authoritarian and Humanistic.

Authoritarian: Authoritarian coaches are the ones who makes all the team's decisions themselves. They often use a directive, demanding tone and run the team like a dictatorship.

Humanistic: A humanistic coach would be considered the opposite of an authoritarian coach. Humanistic coaches allow some leeway within team decisons and often times decisions are made like a democracy rather than a dictatorship. A humanistic coach also takes into account the feelings and well-being of the atheltes.

The above article tries to pit the two managers against each other and is asking the audience which style they would prefer, which was probably an effective method to get interaction on his blog. From a coaching standpoint, the most important thing to me is that you know your style and work to get better at whatever style that is. There is not necessarily a blanket style for any one team, sport, level, etc. Find something that works for you and develop that style. At times, it may be necessary to make minor adjustments to your style, but for the most part that's what Assistant coaches are for. Like a business, you want to surround yourself with different minds, different styles for maximum growth. Thank you for reading.