This post might seem pretty obvious to many professionals, but I've been thinking about this for the past few days and wanted to share it.
Effectiveness as a practitioner depends on gaining trust from the athletes and trainer=> Trust is the foundation of strong relationships.
Do you know the book, The Trusted Advisor (2000)? In this book, the author described that you can break down trust in a number of components, the trust equation: credibility, reliability, intimacy, and self-orientation.
I really like the intimacy one which in my opinion is really the motivational and communicative part of building trust.
The athlete needs to get the feeling that you care!
Ask questions not only things you think are important, but also about the things that are important to them, how are you, how the kids are, how your vacation was, or how your leg is doing, etc..
Show them that you understand the sport.
At the end we want athletes to say, “I trust him/her because he/she really cares about me and would do anything to help me”.
Coach is important as much as the athlete. You have to show that you are not only there to do your job, but that you are there because you are really interested in making each of his/her athletes reach the goal.
Coach has to see that you have an interest and respect for his/her work and that you care about what he/she does.
You are not there to work alone, but you have to work together, only in this way can an athlete reach the highest potential.
These principle are the same with all the staff, coach, physiotherapists, management, etc, communication is a central factor for a well-functioning team. High-quality communication between individuals in different roles is likely to promote good collaborations and facilitate the benefits derived from multiple perspectives in informed decisions. On the other hand, low-quality communication is likely to increase the risk of misunderstandings and promote one-sided decision-making.