Last week we had the great privilege to talk to Nick Nurse, head coach of the Toronto Raptors, not about the NBA Finals or the upcoming NBA Draft or the date for starting the next season, but about his life lessons, his journey and those who included him along the way, all of which is in his new book with colleague Mike Sokolove: “Rapture: 15 teams, Four Countries, One NBA Championship and How To Find A way To Win; Damn Near Anywhere.”
You can hear the full half hour here. Some highlights to listen for:
The value of self-directed learning: When he was a kid in Iowa, his brothers brought home a pole-vaulting pit. All five of the Nurse kids taught themselves to be pole vaulters on their own, and from there sprung a lifelong initiative to take deep dives, on your own, into a topic, a profession, a hobby. The drive to be better and learn as much as you can, often comes from within.
Listening: As a young coach in England, Nurse realized early on that he needed input from his players to try and succeed, many of whom were older than him. He didn’t have the answers and found out quickly that by listening he got a better perspective and realized that being willing to try something works easier than doing it one way. That’s the essence of teamwork…and leadership.
Entrepreneurship: Many young people ask Nurse for a secret to success…his best advice. Doing whatever it takes. Being smart and dedicated enough to a task that you will not take short cuts and will be willing to listen, to learn and to sacrifice, to be successful…or at least give it a full run trying to reach a goal. Successful in a startup, as he was in the NBA G League, also takes a bit of crazy.
“There is a fine line between being entrepreneurial and desperate, I’m not sure what side I was always on.”
Coachability: One thing that he has seen in all his stops on the sideline is that people want to be coached. They may be the best leaders, but they still want to have someone to help them achieve a lofty goal. How much, how little, how often can that coaching come in comes with experience and being able to read the room. Very few people are able to achieve lofty heights in a vacuum. It takes a village.
Empathy and compassion…with…media: One tactic he has used in recent years was watching hours of postgame press conferences of other teams to try and learn something a coach says or does. What he ended up noticing was that coaches, and PR people, create their own adversarial relationship with media by being short or rushed. The ability to take a few minutes, even after a tough day, to listen and answer questions shows respect, and goes a long way in relationship building.
Stepping Away From The Day to Day: We touch on the value of external stimuli, such as music, to heighten creativity and focus thought. The Raptors are one of the few teams that have a DJ playing music at practice, and Nurse breaks up long hours of game preparation by playing guitar and listening to music. That ability to play to a creative side lightens moods and removes cobwebs when trying to concentrate…it helps improve the results, with music being the common denominator.
It was a fun conversation, not unlike the one we had a few months ago with Joe Maddon. I root for people more than teams as I get older, and Nick Nurse is bow on the list for sure.
