Life Skills

Coaching kids in sports has always been personally rewarding to me, and it has been helpful to be able to connect those experiences to more global issues and theories. The theoretical concepts related to the fields of sports management and coaching that I have learned in college include leadership and communication. Specifically, I have learned about different types of leadership and am especially interested in transformational leadership.

I expected to learn about the different leadership styles, but not be able to transform my vision of how to apply these concepts to coaching. Now that I understand why transformational leaders can be successful, I feel more capable of helping others. Transformational leaders rely on intrinsic motivation, meaning they are able to communicate a vision. Their leadership is about more than just winning games or making money. Transformational leadership is about the big picture goals, including making the world a better place one person at a time.

I have also learned about the various concepts related to communication. Having always understood the role of good communication in coaching, I did expect to gain a lot of knowledge in this area. Learning how to be a better listener, and learning about body language and nonverbal communication, I feel more empowered as a coach. I know that studying the difference between effective and ineffective communication has made me a better coach. It has been crucial to combine experiential learning with classroom learning.

Both are important, and they each have a different role to play in my life. As I work on personal and professional development, I intend to rely on both academic and experiential learning opportunities. Experiential learning has more of an emotional impact, and I am therefore more capable of remembering that which I glean from working with people. However, experiential learning can be challenging. If I do not have some tools to use, I find myself moving blindly not knowing how to proceed when challenges arise.

Classroom learning fills in these gaps, improving my confidence because I feel I have learned some of the core skills that I need when difficult situations arise. For example, as a coach I need to make decisions fast. I do not often have time to think about what to say or do beforehand. If I was not relying on classroom learning, I might be relying only on my instinct. Instinct comes in handy sometimes, but good leaders need some concrete and evidence-based tools too.

Therefore, I learn best by combining classroom activities and real life lessons in my professional and personal life. My experience in school and in my work has contributed to my personal and professional growth in several different areas, and for that, I am thankful. I have lately become more engaged in local politics, partly because I feel more empowered as a citizen. I used to feel cynical because I never felt that what I said or thought mattered.

Now that I feel more like a leader in the community, I do feel that I can connect with people and find out how we can make small changes that will make our lives better. I am less afraid to speak up for what I believe, because I also trust that I can share my opinions without becoming overly emotional or upsetting other people. My political consciousness.