It's been an atypically dark winter in the mountains. It barely snowed until December and even then the flurries fell few and far between. I moved here from Manitoba after being let go from my job running a junior hockey program - a dark time no matter how you slice it - and the darkness seemed to follow me like a shadow.

And the darkness had set in, darker still than usual, one frosty morning in January when I sat down with an old friend and new boss and a new connection.

Team Canada World Cup Soccer Coach, Jesse Marsch.

If you had the pleasure of joining The Coaches Site in Vancouver for Marsch's fireside chat with aforementioned pal and boss-man Aaron Wilbur then you know where I'm going with this. Marsch is verbose. He's engaging. If he was coaching in a more traditional futbol country like Britain or Scotland you'd claim he was a wee bit men'al.

And it's contagious. I wrote about 5 takeaways from Marsch's fireside chat here, including the power of diversity, mindset, and setting a standard.

It was freeing for me to listen to him talk about doing things differently with soccer in Canada. For Marsch, sometimes Canadians defer too much. We're too nice. But for a team and a program to capture gold atop the pinnacle of their sport, the athletes need to be hunters - savage in their pursuit of excellence every single day they're not on the pitch or on the ice preparing for a game. If you become the hunter only when there's a crowd then it's already too late. You'll be spotted.

I spend a lot of time in my own mind (hey, usually I enjoy the company), and we all know coaching can be lonely. Doubt is part of the process. Well, it's part of my process. Marsch has a vision and he's laser-focused on executing that vision. He's turned down management roles in the past because "he's a coach", it's what he was born to do.

He's true to himself, and that's the lesson. I believe legendary San Francisco 49's Head Coach Bill Walsh was right: the results take care of themselves. It's not the path for everyone, but it's the path for me. My meeting with Marsch helped reignite that truth and lightened things just a bit.

These days I'm still a coach, but I'm a manager once again. A current mentor of mine told me to imagine what someone could do to make me hate them (a strong word normally reserved for cancer and the Calgary Flames), but the point was to believe in what I believe.

That means that no team of mine will ever finish a practice again if they're wearing the wrong socks. I'm serious, check back in a year and ask me about it.

I believe in the players, and I believe in the coaches. I believe they'll be dedicated and contribute what they can, when they can, to the upper limit of their abilities. But I also believe in the power of a growth mindset, and that it's up to me to remain true to form when it comes to my own creed. I cherish the responsibility of leadership, but I'd rather walk the walk than talk about it. This is like stepping into the weirdly warm water at the top of a waterslide and hoping you won't get your hair wet at the bottom.

Our season ended a few hours ago, so I'm working on a Culture Box. Imagine a square within which you'll place the precious elements you believe will deliver success for your team. Put them in the box and lock it up.

• Our priority is to make every player better. Every drill. Every rep. Every shift. Winning games is simply a result of positive reinforcement, good habits, and consistency.

• Ensure every location is left better than it was found.

• Coaches are responsible for setting the emotional standard of the program. Competitive intensity is expected; emotional volatility, public humiliation, and demeaning communication are not. Staff must model composure, professionalism, and respect at all times.

• Use constraints in practice as a means to control the chaos.

• Players should

  • Feel challenged but not demeaned

  • Feel accountable but not shamed

  • Feel respected even when corrected

• Emotional regulation is a professional standard, not a personality preference.

• We believe in decentralized leadership. It can be anyone who steps up and leads in a positive, productive way.

What Does Accountability Look Like?

Accountability feels like a dark morning in a chilly part of the world, but it's not. It's a gift, a favour. I've learned more than I care to admit after bouncing around the industry, and I know I've got it a lot easier than a lot of you out there. We're human beings and we're trying to influence the next stewards of a society that's learning to balance on the edge of irreparable, inevitable calamity.

But that's the job, right? Humans have been engineering chaos since an asteroid wiped out the competition.

Make yourself better, make them better.