In putting together your standards, remember that it is essential to involve your entire team. Standards are not rules issued by the boss; they are a collective identity. Remember, standards are the things that you do all the time and the things for which you hold one another accountable.

Effective teamwork begins and ends with communication

Leaders should be reliable without being predictable. They should be consistent without being anticipated

Each group and each youngster is different. As a leader or coach, you get to know what they need.

A leader has to show the face his team needs to see.

The team that trusts-their leader and each other-is more likely to be successful.

Talent is important. But the single most important ingredient after you get the talent is internal leadership. It's not the coaches as much as one single person or people on the team who set higher standards than that team would normally set for itself. I really believe that that's been ultimately important for us.