Note: Work in progress (a challenge to work this)

Since so much of agile and lean operates through values and principles, I decided to start working on some coaching values and principles.

• Help folks understand the mindset, values and principles, not just the practices
• Don't feed folks; teach them how to fish.

John Wooden (coach UCLA men’s basketball team) is widely considered one of the greatest coaches in the history of sports. He lays out five basic principles of coaching which can easily be applied to our world

• Industriousness: All new skills, and all new skills require work.
• Enthusiasm: When your heart is in your work, and you’re excited about a new way of doing things, it rubs off on everyone around you.
• Condition: Agile works when every team member is good at what he or she does.
• Fundamentals: Wooden writes, “the finest system cannot overcome poor execution of the fundamentals. The coach must be certain that he never permits himself to get ‘carried away’ by a complicated system” — and this is especially relevant for an agile coach.
• Development of team spirit: Self-organization, whole team, energized work, and empowering the team. From Wooden “The coach must use every bit of psychology at his command and use every available method to develop a fine team spirit on his squad. Teamwork and unselfishness must be encouraged at every opportunity, and each [team member] must be eager, not just willing, to sacrifice personal glory for the welfare of the team. Selfishness, envy, egotism, and criticism of each other can crush team spirit and ruin the potential of any team. The coach must be aware of this and constantly alert to prevent such traits by catching them at the source before trouble develops.”

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