{"id":1753,"date":"2018-07-11T14:03:06","date_gmt":"2018-07-11T14:03:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.certitrek.com\/nlpa\/?p=1753"},"modified":"2021-07-28T06:35:28","modified_gmt":"2021-07-28T10:35:28","slug":"procurement-leadership-lessons-hockey-dek","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.certitrek.com\/nlpa\/blog\/procurement-leadership-lessons-hockey-dek\/","title":{"rendered":"Procurement Leadership Lessons From The Hockey Dek"},"content":{"rendered":"

From practically the time their kids can walk, some parents sign their children up for the sports the parents played in their youth. \u00a0And those kids play those same sports season after season, year after year.<\/p>\n

Sure, some of those kids go on to become professional players of those sports. \u00a0But the vast majority go on to have \u201cnormal\u201d jobs, like doctors, lawyers, buyers, etc.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve never been a parent to try to live vicariously through my kids. \u00a0My goal has been to let my kids try whatever they want until they find their own passions and strengths.<\/p>\n

My daughter played soccer for five years until she found her true passion, music. \u00a0My son has taste-tested a wide variety of youth league sports. \u00a0He played baseball at the t-ball, coach pitch, and kid pitch levels. \u00a0Participated in a summer dek hockey camp. \u00a0Played a season of flag football. \u00a0Did a golf camp. \u00a0Even joined a guitar-building club one year at school.<\/p>\n

He liked each, but when he was done, he was ready to move on to something else. \u00a0This summer, he decided he wanted to play in a dek hockey league.<\/p>\n

Now, at 14 years old, he\u2019d be a newcomer in a league of kids who had been playing half of their lives. \u00a0It kind of worried me that he\u2019d be behind. \u00a0But, he got off to a great start, even scoring a goal in his very first game for a team that had a really wonderful coach who assigned him to a forward position!<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, the requisite vacations in the summer months made for a thinner crop of available players and some last minute withdrawals, so the league had to re-do the teams so that all teams had enough players. \u00a0My son got moved to another team. \u00a0The new team\u2019s coach was out of town for the first game my son played for that team. \u00a0But the game went well. \u00a0The fill-in coach also played my son at forward and, although he didn\u2019t score, he played well and got some great opportunities.<\/p>\n

The third week, the new team\u2019s regular coach was back. \u00a0He knew my son was a \u201cnew\u201d player. \u00a0So, he assigned him to play defense.<\/p>\n

Now, playing defense in hockey is not something one can do intuitively. \u00a0You need to know proper positioning. \u00a0You need to know when to battle for the ball and when to cut off passes and block shots. \u00a0You need to know which opponent is yours to cover. \u00a0You need to know the circumstances that dictate when to pass, shoot, dump, or tie up the ball.<\/p>\n

My son didn\u2019t. \u00a0And the first game didn\u2019t go well.<\/p>\n

A few goals were scored when my son was on the dek. \u00a0Yet, the coach kept putting him out there on defense. \u00a0The coach\u2019s criticism of my son\u2019s defense was, let\u2019s just say, a little less than constructive.<\/p>\n

My son\u2019s team gave up seven goals in a 7-4 loss. \u00a0After two games that had my son\u2019s spirits flying high, he\u00a0was ready to quit dek hockey after this third game.<\/p>\n

If you read\u00a0my\u00a0roller coaster experience that I blogged about last week, you know that I can\u2019t get through a life event without seeing parallels to procurement leadership. \u00a0Such is the case with this dek hockey leadership disaster.<\/p>\n

Here are some procurement leadership lessons inspired by some bad decisions by \u201cCoach Dave\u201d:<\/p>\n