Culture Counts! - Greg Clink

Chico State Coach Greg Clink has his second DVD out -- his first was: "Crunch Time Playbook: Great Ways To Score With Limited Time" -- and this new one is titled "Culture Counts! Principles and Ideas for Building a Championship Environment." 

It runs 40 minutes, with Clink speaking to the camera about his 10 principles for developing and maintaining a great culture within an organization.

So what is culture? Let's go with the dictionary definition of "the attitudes, feelings, values, and behavior that characterize and inform society as a whole or any social group within it."

Now it's true that culture can breed both success and failure.

Get it right and team performance soars, with the whole often succeeding the sum of the individual parts.

But failing in this venture, or simply ignoring culture altogether, and the road to success is full of unattended potholes. It can also force all to live in energy-sapping, day-to-day crisis mode that breeds reaction, not pro-action.

Yes, diligence with X's and O's is important for coaching success in any sport. The ability to recruit is similarly imperative. Nobody can successfully argue against these premises.

But the processes that create the best cultural environment for teaching and learning requires a top-to-bottom genuine desire-to-learn attitude and a willingness to act unselfishly. Such draws the best out of people and is an coveted atmosphere.

As Clink stresses, such requires a people-first mindset in all areas of life, a treat-people-right mentality. But it also sometimes requires respectful "brutal honesty" and a willingness to "confront the snowball before it becomes an avalanche."

In the video, Clink covers the vision of what he wanted when he took over the head coaching spot at Chico four years ago and how he went about, developed and enhanced that culture. He talks about getting the right people, both as assistants and student-athletes -- high character, hardworking, honest role models as building blocks.

It's fascinating material, applicable all across the human interaction spectrum.

So what's your vision for yourself as an individual or the entity you head or work for, and how do you plan on reaching that goal?

"Culture Counts! Principles and Ideas for Building a Championship Environment" can help. There once was "the HP way" and this is the Chico State basketball way.

The DVD can be purchased here.

Coach Greg Clink's Crunch Time Playbook: Great Ways To Score With Limited Time

If you're counting on Christian Laettner versus Kentucky circa 1992 mojo when a few seconds remain on the clock and your team needs a score, well, you might as well also try a sprinkling of pixie dust combined with prayer.

Although it may seem like most time-running-down efforts are a mano-a-mano battle, which is often true if LeBron or Kobe are repping your uniform, but a more orchestrated team effort is required in college and high school ball.

So for those wanting some planning and ideas, Chico State Coach Greg Clink is out with an instructional video on "great ways to score with limited time" formally titled "Crunch Time Playbook: Inbound Plays."

It features designed player movement -- screening, spacing, cutting and timing -- close to the basket, a bit further away, from mid court and from underneath your opponent's basket, all depending on game circumstances. Viewers will see whiteboard diagrams and then actual court demonstrations shown with different camera angles.

Here's the formal description: "Every coach needs to know how to great shots and open looks with limited time on the clock, and this DVD is an encyclopedia of those actions that can make or break a season or a game. Greg Clink of Chico State University offers great ways to get multiple opportunities from a variety of places on the court - whether you need a 2 or a 3 point play. With over 16 scoring actions from a sideline out of bounds plays, almost 10 from baseline inbounds situations, 5 full court plays and a handful of special actions involving free throws and advancing the ball for a timeout, this a 'must have' addition to your arsenal of plays. Complete with whiteboard diagrams and player demonstrations, this offering shows why Coach Clink is a rising coaching star in the college ranks. Running Time: 45 Minutes."

Go here to purchase the video.