FINAL PROJECT : Personal Development Plan

Personal Development Plan

Erik Chipman
Southern New Hampshire University

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FINAL PROJECT : Personal Development Plan

Personal Development Plan

Introduction

My ultimate goal upon receiving a bachelor’s degree from Southern New Hampshire

University is to become a college basketball coach. Coaching Basketball has been something

that I have been passionate about for the past few years. It allows me the opportunity to

help kids reach their dreams, which in turn helps fulfill mine. It has always been my belief

that when I begin my journey of coaching, I will never work a single day in my life. The

overall purpose of this paper is to give a detailed plan of how I will go about my career of

becoming a basketball coach. I will align my paper with the milestones that we discussed

during this course (Setting My Vision, SWOT Analysis, PEST Analysis and Goal Setting). It is

my hope that at the end of this Personal Development Plan that you will be able to see

exactly why and how I will become a college basketball coach.

Milestone One: Setting My Vision

I have learned many things about myself up until this point in my journey to

becoming a basketball coach. First, I have learned that I am an incredibly driven person. I

believe this passion that I have separates me from other possible candidates. I take

incredible pride in being the first one to arrive and the last one to leave. I believe this

mentality can help me succeed throughout life. I have also learned that I can deal with

adversity, which I believe is my strongest quality. I have had to deal with setbacks plenty of

times in my life, but I have not let this derail me from my goal. This resiliency helps me to

strive towards my ultimate goal of becoming a college basketball coach everyday. During

the first two weeks of class, I was faced with many challenging surveys. The Burnout and

Stress surveys were easily the hardest for me to complete. Burnout and stress is a major

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factor in college coaches dropping out from the profession. I was glad that I was given the

opportunity to learn more about myself through these surveys.

Burnout

The Burnout survey gave me a chance to study how others in my profession deal

with burnout. College basketball coaches can easily be burnt out through such a hard work

schedule, which is essentially year round. By having a better understanding of how I can

function and learn throughout the development of my craft, the more successful I will be.

Stress

The Stress survey was easily the hardest and most eye opening survey I have taken

during this class. I was considered to be among the high stress participants according to

Mindtools.com. Only being twenty-one years old, I took a bit of an alarming look at this.

Although this was hard, I was able to look at my life from a different point of view and

adjust my daily activities accordingly.

My vision for this plan is simple; to make an impact. Basketball has given me

numerous opportunities throughout my life, and now I feel is the time that I can give back.

The most important goal in my development into a basketball coach is to simply give back

to the game that has given me so much. As a coach, you are ultimately judged by your wins

and losses, but the impact that you have on your players is something that goes well

beyond your record. A that I have for my development is to never lose sight of why I started

coaching in the first place. Based on this information I have formulated the following SWOT

analysis.

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FINAL PROJECT : Personal Development Plan

Milestone Two: SWOT Analysis

During module three and four we discussed our Strengths, Weaknesses,

Opportunities and Threats. This method is better known as the SWOT Analysis. I was

excited to complete my own SWOT Analysis, as I have always been a big believer in

identifying your weaknesses and turning them into strengths. I was also able to

contemplate the weaknesses that I have developed over the past few years. By doing this I

can become a more rounded basketball coach, and more importantly a leader. Now that I

have the facts on paper it allows me to refer back each week and help me to develop a plan

of attack. My favorite chapter in our text book was about leadership. Being a formidable

leader in the sports industry is not an option it is required. I was able to study and analyze

of companies in the business world such as Google use certain strategies to get the most

out of their employees (Human Relations in the Organization 2014).

Strengths (What do I do well?) Weaknesses (Where can I make

improvements?)
 I have been able to develop an extensive  My public speaking is not at the level at

network since I have entered college. which I would like it to be. I would like

This has provided me with jobs, to have a better approach when

internships and recommendations. speaking to parents or the media.

 I have extensive knowledge of filming;  My sense of time is also something that I

play breakdown and advanced analytics, would like to work on. I tend to complete

which can all, provide a distinct tasks at the last second, and that is not

advantage in preparation. something that is conducive to success.

 I am only twenty years old and am  Although not necessary, I did not play

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FINAL PROJECT : Personal Development Plan

therefor hungry for success. This also collegiate basketball.

means that I have not reached the  I have not coached at the collegiate level

pinnacle of my profession yet. yet; as I gain experience I believe that I

 I am an unrelenting worker, and am will be able to be successful.

willing to do whatever it takes to get the

job done.
Opportunities (What kinds of things could I be Threats (Where could I be using my strengths
doing based on my strengths?) and talents more productively?)
 I have a national presence around the  Although I believe I can be tireless. No

basketball industry. I have worked in human being can keep up a solid pace

New Hampshire, North Carolina, Rhode without paying the price either mental

Island and Massachusetts. With these or physical.

opportunities I have had the privilege of  Other coaches will feel the pressure of

working with coaches from around the my relentless effort and will respond.

country.  The sports media can tend to be a

 I have a lack of distractions when it distraction simply because college

comes to my job. I do not have familial athletes are young men and often

commitments, which allows me to be haven’t had to deal with the media yet.

solely focused on the players on my  Coaches tend to have many demands

team. from inside and outside of their

 Technology has allowed me to have a programs, so managing that time will be

twenty-four hour a day library of crucial.

basketball information that I can retain.

 I have a contrasting style of philosophy

compared to other coaches. I tend to

want to develop the player as a whole,

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FINAL PROJECT : Personal Development Plan

not just on the court but also off.

Milestone Three: PEST Analysis

I found the PEST Analysis to be helpful in my development as a college basketball

coach. It was also the section that I found the most interesting. Going into the analysis, I

didn’t account for the Political, Economic, Socio-cultural and Technological factors

surrounding college basketball. This analysis really opened my eyes to a new side of

approaching each aspect of the coaching profession. I scored fairly high on the Problem

Solving survey on MindTools.com, so I was confident before I did my PEST Analysis. I hope

to use this Analysis every year for each of my teams, and use this tool as another pathway

to success.

Factor Opportunity Threat

Political One political factor could With rule changes can One threat could be

be the support that I come more time with my NCAA and their rules and

receive from the boosters players which would regulations which change

club, who has a hand in allow me to gain a deeper on a quarter to quarter

hiring basketball coaches. relationship with them basis.

Another factor could be on and off of the court.

rule changes within the

NCAA, that I must learn

and implement.

Lastly a factor could be

the rise of my assistant

coaches.
Economic Certain schools have a The more money that my If we do not receive

certain dollar amount program receives the enough money as a

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FINAL PROJECT : Personal Development Plan

allocated to sports. better chance we have to program we are

What my starting salary succeed as a team. endangered of losing on

would be as a coach. the court, and potentially

How many scholarships I losing my job on the

am given by the school to court.

provide to players.
Socio- The region I am coaching If the region I am in is a If the state I am coaching

Cultural in. popular basketball state, I in is not a popular

The region may not be a will have major success basketball state, I will

pro basketball region. recruiting. have a hard time

Some may not agree with recruiting.

my coaching style.
Technologica The rise of analytics. Countless opportunities The dependence on

l How technology has to watch other players technology to be able to

determined how much around the country recruit.

playing time a certain instead of watching

player can get based on players just from my

statistical analysis. region for recruiting.

The more access I have to

recruiting videos and

profiles.

Milestone Four: Personal Development Plan

My favorite milestone in the entire course was Milestone Four. In particular, I took

specific liking to the “Big Picture” discussion in our text book Human Relations in The

Organization (2014). Too many times I catch myself thinking to far ahead in terms of my

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development. The “Big Picture” allowed me to take a step back and scan what milestones I

should be reaching in my development. The Personal Development Plan allowed me to

visually see what goals I have personally set for myself. To say these goals of mine are

important to me would be an absolute understatement. There is not an hour that goes by in

the day that I do not think about the next step or the next goal. The pressure I put on myself

to achieve these goals reminds me everyday that I must work hard to achieve them.

Goals Action Steps Potential Obstacles Plan to Overcome

I hope to become a -Develop connections A potential obstacle I will outwork any

College Head Coach by - Develop my craft could be that my age other potential

the age of 25. - study the game of could be considered candidates in my field.

basketball “too young”.

I would like to achieve I will develop a solid I will examine the I will work with each

100% graduation rates academic plan for each work ethic of the student athlete

for all of my players team that I coach. players, as well as individually to achieve

throughout my entire their learning success.

career. disabilities.
I would like to achieve I will study the game A potential obstacle I have always had all of

500 Career wins in of basketball could be poor talent on my teams prepared for

college throughout my my team. every game and

career. outwork every team

that we face

collectively

Conclusion

During this entire process I have been reminded of one common theme; “The Big

Picture”. Initially, setting the vision for my career development was important to provide a

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FINAL PROJECT : Personal Development Plan

stable base in reaching my goal of becoming a coach. As the vision became more clear,

identifying what my strengths and weaknesses was the next logical step. By stating what

my strength and weaknesses are on paper it allows me to go back to the drawing board and

capitalize on my development. As a result of all of these milestones, I now have a better

understanding of what approaches will optimize my development as a basketball coach. It

has always been my dream to become a college basketball coach ever since I was about ten

years old. While others were dreaming of becoming Doctors and Lawyers, I was dreaming

of becoming the next great coach, and I’m excited to begin this journey.

References

Burnout Self-Test (n.d). Retrieved March 29 , 2015 from

http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newTCS_08.htm

The Holmes and Rahe Stress Scale (n.d). Retrieved March 22, 2015 from

http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newTCS_08.htm

Bauer, T., & Erdogam, B. (2014). Human Relations in the Organization (3rd ed.). Asheville,

NC: Soomo Learning. Retrieved from webtexts.com.