Welcome to the Hardwood Hustle podcast where we know and believe in the value of a coach.

We're here to educate, empower, and encourage you to lead like never before.

In this episode, Adam, T.J. and Sam Allen bring you their numerous years of experience and

perspective on balancing empathy and standards.

To connect and build healthy, long-lasting relationships, coaches need to have empathy with their

players.

However, coaches also need to run their program and get results by keeping standards high.

In addition to discussing the Empathy and Standards Balancing Act, the guys also share

the thoughts on being a quote-unquote soft coach, and if getting softer really means

getting smarter. They also dive into empathy exceptions and the difficulties that come with

being a transformational coach.

We hope this episode brings the hopeful and actionable advice.

Now to Adam, T.J. and Sam.

TJ, I'm excited for today's conversation.

We're welcoming in our good friend Sam Allen, who frequently joins us here on the Hardwood Hustle,

to discuss a topic that was positioned and presented by Sam, actually, and it's one that's been on your heart you've been wrestling with over the last year or two.

But it's one that coaches we all need to have a conversation and try to gain a better understanding or more clarity around this topic of empathy as it pertains to standards.

Empathy as it pertains to standards.

Sam, when we talk about empathy and you look at the definition, just in case anyone here is wondering, okay, what is the clear definition of empathy?

When we talk about empathy, it's the ability to understand and share the feelings of another.

And as coaches, we need to have that connection, have that ability to understand and empathize with our players and the things that they're going through in their lives.

But we're also trying to run a team But we're also trying to run a team.

...