This piece by Dr. Alan Goldberg is one of the best essays on coaching I have ever read.

Coaches who typically get too caught up in their won-loss record, who tend to focus too much on the importance of the outcome are always most vulnerable to making the kinds of unfortunate mistakes with their players that I’ve described above. […]

What may seem obvious to some isn’t that obvious to all: Winning records are an extremely limiting and inaccurate way to judge the quality and effectiveness of a coach. Simply put, winning doesn’t make you a good coach in the same way that losing doesn’t make you a bad one. The fact of the matter is that judging a coach’s abilities and effectiveness based on the record of his/her team is to totally miss the complexity behind good and bad coaching.

As always, thanks to John Kessel for sending this one our way.