This question was posed to me a few years ago. Should winning be the goal of a coach? What sparked the conversation was the number one priority should be winning said a head coach Racquetball help wanted ad. I actually believe it was a question of semantics more than a moral philosophy but I will tackle that phrase. I have had success coaching racquetball. Quite a bit of it. All of that success would not have been possible without two things.
1. Great athletes who want to learn and who are good people.
and
2. A focus on the process of learning your craft both on the part of the athletes and myself.
As we continue to improve the product put on the court improves. All of that starts with the love, care, respect, and working relationship with athletes. Once athletes realize you are on their side, and want the best for them. success will follow.
Let me explain with a story. Years ago a young expert “supercoach” had one of my athletes at an international competition. I saw the video of my athlete’s play and the only word to describe the performance was “nervous”. I asked that athlete what happened. Supercoach had told this athlete they had to win the match or the team would lose. That move is a perfect example of winning vs the process of skill execution. My athlete was a nervous wreck and lost.
When I was faced with a similar situation in the Pan Am qualifiers with the USA team, here is what I told my athlete. “you do not have to win this match. Sure it might affect our seeding next tournament but so what? Our lower seeding will kill the other teams, not us. We do not need you to win. We need you to go out, have fun and play. That is what you can control. The other things will take care of themselves.”
Those two situations are the very definition of process vs outcome. The irony is focusing on winning often leads to losing. Focusing on having fun and playing your best leads to good things.