The Open-Mouth Policy

I’ve never seen a Wikipedia page quite like Dawn Staley’s.

More than half of page is dedicated to listing her awards and accomplishments, most of which she achieved multiple times.

She’s a multiple Player of the Year in college, a multiple All-Star in the WNBA, a multiple Olympic gold medallist, a multiple Coach of the Year in college, and a multiple national championship winner.

It’s always striking when success follows people into multiple different environments as it removes the likelihood of it being a fluke. Rather, it’s usually a demonstration of high skill and a commitment to the principles of craftsmanship.

In her book, Uncommon Favor, Staley distills the lessons that have been foundational to her repeated success, and writes with conviction about how her craft has evolved.

What jumps off the page is how detailed Staley is able to be about her efforts to foster better communication, and her attempts to foster a culture that doesn’t shy away from difficult conversations.

With that in mind, rather than me trying to interpret or add to Staley’s perspectives, I’m going to present them to you below — unaltered.

• “I have what I call an ‘Open-Mouth Policy.’ I want people to express themselves and not hold back. The caveat is you can’t be messy in front of a team. If you have something to say to me, come speak to me one-on-one. Then curse, scream, cry—do whatever you need to do. We can work that out. A young person expressing themselves and saying what’s on their minds, that’s always a plus, never a minus.”

• “I’ve seen players internalize a sharp look I flash them at practice, then watch as it dampens their game. Rolling the eyes, pursing the lips, sucking the teeth, avoiding eye contact—those signs tell me something’s going on. I’ll ask my players, “What’s up? Why are you reacting that way? Let’s you and I get to the bottom of it.” I’ll coax the reason out of them, and they’ll confess, “Coach, you hurt my feelings.” Then I’ll explain what I was after, or what I meant, and we’ll work it out, face-to-face, human to human.”

• “Many coaches opt to ignore player drama, not get involved, and focus exclusively on building their game. Separate church and state, so to speak. To me, that erects roadblocks to trust. I believe allowing an issue to fester only leads to a bigger infection.”

• “At South Carolina, we create momentum by communicating. We explain our whys and whats to our players in real time. Addressing issues when they occur. We don’t give them the option to go back and ruminate about what we meant by this or that. We handle situations in situ, get them aired out and move along.”

• “Communication isn’t easy. Anyone in a relationship knows that. Some people may not want to listen to what you have to say (okay, most people), but if you cater your messaging to the individual in a way that it can be received, they’ll hear you. Now, that doesn’t mean that they won’t smirk, or sigh. They may not love having to listen. But none of that matters if they receive the message and feel heard themselves.”

• “I bring our players into these sticky conversations because I want them to experience what real communication is, and to learn how to have a response. That’s what life is about, dealing with people.”

This 30-second snippet of Staley is also worth watching if you are interested in communication craft. Here, she is discussing when not to speak to certain players in the aftermath of the team losing the 2025 national championship game.