Back to Basics
Impactful Coaching Project
Back to Basics: Revisiting the 3 C’s of Impactful Coaching
Over the past month, we’ve seen a noticeable uptick in new subscribers. Thank you for joining us—whether you’ve been here from the beginning or just found us recently, we’re grateful you’re part of this. And, if you’d like to be a paid subscriber, we’d love to you have you!
We had a different post lined up for today, but decided to hit pause and revisit our foundation. As I scrolled through some of our earliest posts, I found the very first one we ever sent. It went out to exactly two subscribers: me and Dustin.
It was a simple summary of what we call the 3 C’s of coaching. Today, we’re bringing it back—with a little more depth.
The 3 C’s: A Framework for Leading the 21st Century Athlete
At the Impactful Coaching Project, we believe that effective coaching is built on three pillars:
Competence
Care
Constant
Without these, coaching becomes a hollow endeavor. Especially with today’s athletes, these principles aren’t optional—they’re essential.
Competence: Know Your Stuff
Competence starts with knowing your sport and knowing it well. Strategy, skill development, practice design, communication—you’ve got to bring substance to the table. If not, you won’t last long in the coaching world… or you’ll lose more than you should. In today’s world, athletes have access to alot of information—-you need to know the good and bad and be able to address both!
Competent coaches also stay curious. They evolve with the game, study new trends, and understand the voices influencing their athletes. It’s not enough to know what worked ten years ago. You need to know what works now—and why.
Care: Be Geniune in Systems
Yes, the old saying still holds: “People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.” It might be cliché, but it’s true.
Care isn’t softness—it’s strength. Having systems of Care you can practice daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly is powerful. It’s being intentional in how you show up for your athletes, from the top of your roster to the bottom. Research consistently shows that modern athletes value authenticity, empathy, and personalized coaching. So do employees in the workforce, by the way—90% say their leaders don’t show enough empathy. Athletes likely feel the same.
We’re strong believers in the 3D Coaching framework, which offers powerful tools to turn care into practice. If you haven’t explored their work, we highly recommend it.
Constant: Be the Same Person but Adapt
Constancy is consistency over time. It’s not just showing up—it’s showing up with your values intact, your energy steady, and your example clear.
Inconsistency is a trust killer. Coaches who say one thing but do another lose credibility fast—especially with this generation. Ironically, while today’s athletes may spend more time online and need growth in face-to-face relational skills, they have an uncanny ability to sniff out fraud. They know when someone is faking it.
Constancy builds trust. And trust builds teams.
This is a framework and system to think about coaching/leadership. Knowing your stuff, (competence) is the basic barrier to entry to have a chance. However, we argue, with the modern athlete, the systems of Care and constancy are the ticket to not only treating people right but also sustained success. People say wins and losses don’t matter, but they do. They are not the ultimate but you play to win the game and it is more fun to win.
Check out our book!
Things That Are Making Us Think
"If you're not coaching in all three dimensions, then by very definition, you're not helping your athletes be the best they can be."
– Wes Simmons, emphasizing the importance of holistic development beyond just physical performance.
"If I tell you something, it’s easy to tune out. But if I ask you a question, you’re immediately engaged."
– Becky Burleigh, on the power of question-based leadership in today’s coaching landscape.