On being a good coach

August 6th, 2010 by

Morgan’s article, “Do you need a coach?” from a couple days ago caused me to do a little reminiscing.  Although my thoughts initially focused on how I’ve personally benefited from some non-athletic coaching, my mind quickly turned to how our community development work in Miner County has benefited from coaches over the years.

Although there are many people who have provided valuable insights, I think two individuals stand out:  Dr. Daryl Hobbs of the University of Missouri and Dr. Tom Kilian, a Miner County native and true renaissance man.

Both men brought years of wisdom to our effort.  That’s important because all communities, rural and urban, need an injection of new ideas.  But as I shared in a comment on Morgan’s original post, wisdom wasn’t their greatest gift.

As I reflect, I think their greatest impact was their ability to help us discover our own path.  Too often community development experts come into rural communities with the answers and try to fix problems.  That seldom works.

If you want to learn more about what makes these two men special, check out what they have to say in this video that we shared with people at the 2009 Midwest Rural Assembly.

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