Are You a “Positive” Coach?
A seemingly simple question. Yet when asked whether he was a “positive” or a “negative” coach, 
one of my coaching mentors replied, “neither, rather I am an honest one”. He went on to say “I feel that the connotations for “positive” are the whole hovering helicopter parent phenomenon and the give trophies to everyone movement. The always give positive feedback movement has not been a good one for our kids.”
Now, many of you know I worked for the Positive Coaching Alliance (PCA) for 8 years and remain a senior trainer for the organization. My mentor’s comments made me pause. I thought back to my first introduction to PCA – an article in the SF Chronicle featuring Phil Jackson. I still remember my eyes rolling when I first read the phrase “positive coaching” and thinking that’s for little kids. I’m a college coach. Still to this day, I describe myself as a “challenging” coach vs a positive one.
Next, my curiosity drove me to Webster’s. What does the word “positive” actually mean? I discovered 17 different entries! Number 3 dealt with mind set so I started there. It reads a) “having the mind set or settled; confident; assured [a positive person] b) overconfident or dogmatic”.
Here in lies the rub. As coaches we want our athletes to be confident and assured yet not overconfident. I guess what really matters is what a coach is, not what they are called.
What kind of coach are you?
Subscribe in a reader OR 
It is all in the definition, not the word. Without a good definition what “Positive” looks like I would expect this reaction. A more intriguing question, “How do you define a ‘Positive Coach’?”
As we bring coaches on board with the PCA, I find when we get to the paramaters of what a “Positive Coach” looks like there isn’t a coach who “rolls their eyes” at it.
I agree that the definition you use with “positive” will have a dramatic impact on the reaction you get from. I think I take a positive approach to our season, to our team, and in dealing with our players. I feel I work the players hard and challenge them. Going back to an old adage you can get more from honey than vinegar has always stuck in my mind. It does not mean I am soft, but more that you can take a different approach to get the same results. Instead of yelling and calling players name, you can explain to them that conditioning is important for their success as an individual and for our team. If we are in shape we all have more success. I never have felt athletes go into any contest to lose. They may not play well or they may not play as hard as they should because of other issues but they don’t go out to lose. Therefore, we NEVER run more because they lost. We may condition more because we need more conditioning but only after discussing the reasons why we lost or with individuals as to why they did not play well.