PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE Alex Chang, MFS, RM
Teamwork, Authenticity, and Compromise… A
s life returns to a version of normal and we return to the work of coaching and competitions, we will undoubtedly return to all the craziness, personal conflicts, and limited resources that were a reality of pre-COVID life. Sure, during the pandemic, many of us missed what we had, but we also forgot the daily challenges we faced, yet ultimately overcame. The question now is: can we keep the mindfulness and life lessons we learned this last year as the pace of life quickens and accelerates? I think we can, but it’s important to use last year’s reset button to put all those life lessons and best practices into action. I’m talking about better systems, better application, and better teamwork. Are you scheduling check-in time with your fellow team coaches, with your support staff, and with your skaters and their families? Are you integrating off-ice into all levels of programming? We had a whole year to reflect, reassess, and refine, but now it’s time to put it into action… for real. A key to ensuring we do this is to surround ourselves with team members who will keep us accountable in putting it all into action. That is the beauty of teamwork, when we can be authentic with each other, identify the gaps and corrections, and cooperate to make it happen. You don’t want a team that’s always saying “yes”. You want a team that will be honest & authentic, yet sensitive and respectful to each member of the team. Easier said than done right? The point I’m trying to make is that we can’t accomplish our greater goals going at it alone. We need mentors, team support, check-ins, and real accountability if we want to make lasting changes, which, luckily, we can do! We just finished the 2021 PSA Virtual Summit and this year’s theme was “TEAMS — Together Everyone Achieves More Success.” To be effective, TEAMS must be about people over product, about authenticity and common vision, and about mutual respect where every TEAM member counts. To be clear, TEAMS is not just about your coaching
team, but the team within your building, the team between clubs, coaches, and rinks, the skaters’ team at home and support system, and the team in each of your communities. Small teams can be aligned together to make larger teams and accomplish even greater goals. I think we are at a pivotal time in the world to reach new heights through new connections and renewed intentions. Everyone counts in reaching our common goals, and I like to think we can celebrate the unified and the unique in our sport and the world. We can each bring something unique in ourselves to a shared and common goal. Nicely said, but how can this be when I just said we are returning to the conflict, chaos, and limited resources of pre-now-post COVID-19 life? This is where compromise comes in… it’s the glue that allows disparate parts to attach, collaborate and create new connections. No two beings are exactly alike, and no two opinions are fully the same. So let’s embrace our differences and what makes us unique, while working together on a unified goal for each of our skaters. Again, compromise can create a path to celebrate the unified and the unique. It can even allow us to explore parts of ourselves we see in others and develop new interests and fields of study. Appreciating others can actually help us grow by learning from others’ mistakes and triumphs, and by trying something new for ourselves too. For that reason, we can think of compromise as not always a “giving into” but how it can also be a “getting.” You see, compromise creates a space for someone else to get what they need to succeed on some level, allowing us to see what clicked for them. We can learn from this and more importantly, we can feel empathy and sharing in their success too, especially when we know we were a part of this. Don’t forget, as the billboard says, empathy is free. So let’s collaborate and build those incredible teams this season. Cheers to you and all you do!
“We need mentors, team support, check-ins, and real accountability if we want to make lasting changes, which, luckily, we can do!”
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JULY/AUGUST 2021
