I had the opportunity to listen to Jeremy Boone speak several years ago at an NSCA Coaches Conference. Jeremy is the owner of Athlete By Design and host of the Coach Your Best Podcast. During his presentation, Jeremy had talked about bringing the 5 Es to every training sessions. I stole those immediately. Like any other time I get some outstanding information from other coaches, I go through a standard process after that information is absorbed.

Give credit to the originator out of respect, even if it appears to be "name-dropping."
Adapt the information given to fit my current situation or plan to adapt to future situations.
Give examples of parallels, mistakes, and specific points I have learned.

I took what Jeremy had said about the 5 Es and immediately became conscientious of how they were or weren't implemented in my own program. I subsequently connected his theoretical and actual examples to the experiences I've had or predicted I could have. I added a 6th E to the list which I feel is important enough to bastardize the original.

The 6 Es to Bring to Every Training Session

Be an Example

Be an Example to your athletes and fellow coaches in the weight-room. All the qualities you expect from your athletes in the weight room should be embodied by you as a coach. It is no secret that developing trust is a crucial element in the coach-athlete relationship. Athletes build that trust based on vulnerability, honesty, and integrity. Athletes know almost immediately when a coach is not being who they really are. Regardless of age, athletes can tell when a coach does not have their best interest in mind. Simply by doing what you say you are doing to do as a coach will always lay a solid foundation in the program.

Be Vulnerable. Let the athletes see who you are. Most humans dont have the capacity to respect who they dont like. If they dont know you, they cant trust you.
Be Honest. Even when your words are not what the athletes want to hear.
Have Integrity. Mean what you say and say what you mean.

Bring all your Experience

Bring all your Experiences to every training session. It is not just experience that separate good from great strength coaches. It is specifically how they use those experiences to correct mistakes, improve as a coach, and to develop their own comprehensive coaching philosophy. Bring those experiences to the weight room every day.

Furthermore, as John Maxwell has said, it is evaluated experience that is the most meaningful. There were times in my career in which I had no one to bounce ideas off of or to observe and critique my coaching ability. This is the main reason I sought out summer internships even when I has a full-time head strength and conditioning coach.

Think about the strength and conditioning profession. If you are a head coach or director, there is no one technically qualified to evaluate your position. This, to me, is one of the many aspect of the industry that holds us back. Head strength coaches run the dangerous risk of complacency unless they do the following.

Hire high quality coaches who bring almost as much experience, more knowledge, and way more energy to the staff.
Have the confidence and courage to have healthy conflict in staff meetings to determine what is best for the program.
Allow assistants the autonomy to coach, program, and add input to serve as another resource for the entire staff.

Create an Environment

Create an Environment that permeates the right culture and attitude to enable success at all levels. Hold all teams, all athletes, accountable for their actions, their effort, and their performance. Create a training environment where athletes want to be and want to improve.

As I have heard Todd Hamer explain in one of our interviews, coaches have to determine if they are going to be the thermostat or the thermometer. Coaches will need to set the tone of the session and adapt expectations based on factors such as the specific team, time of year, and overall goals. Every team has a different culture that the strength coach needs to immerse him or herself in. Understanding that culture and creating the most optimum environment for performance is one of the may unwritten duties that great strength coaches have mastered. The next three Es will all combine to help create the appropriate environment.

Communicate Expectations

Communicate Expectations to all athletes, coaches, parents, and administrators involved in the program. The method and terminology may be adjusted for the specific audience, but the philosophy, methodology, and principles need to be consistent to all parties interested.

The job of a coach is to set goals for athletes they could never set themselves, provide the strategy to achieve those goals, and assist them along the way. I compare the athlete physical development process to a road trip.

Determine the destination
Assess how and how long the journey will take to reach that destination
Provide directions and a timeline for the trip
Educate, Motivate, and Re-evaluate the traveler along the way

The coach can be the map and the GPS but the athlete is going to have to get behind the wheel. If an athlete is unable to reach their goals, coaches must take the responsibility to evaluate whether the goals were attainable i the time allotted before the program can be scrutinized.

Bring Energy

Bring Energy to every session. Athletes are going to feed off you as a coach in the weight room. It is you, as a coach, they will buy into in the first place, not the program. Athletes generally do not care about the specifics of your programming or periodization scheme. They want to know you as a coach have their best interest in mind.

If you are not excited about the training session, then it will be difficult for athletes to have the desired focus, passion, and tempo. Contrary to popular belief, most athletes don't need a cheerleader or a clown performing ridiculous stunts to gain false bravado and fake motivation. Athletes will feel your energy much more with your attention-to-detail, high standards of performance, and the demand for their absolute best than with you jumping around yelling inaudible sounds. They should see the energy in your eyes and actions more that they should hear your energy in false promises and idle threats.

Have Empathy

Have Empathy for your athletes. This is not the same as sympathy. This is not to say coaches need to "feel bad" for their athletes that they have to wake up at 5:30am. This is not feeling pity for thier athletes for any reason. Empathy is simply putting yourself in the athletes shoes. It is having an understanding about what the athlete has been through that day, that week, that month, and their entire life before showing up to your weight-room. Having empathy means you have gained a perspective on what the athlete has to overcome to accomplish the goals you have set for them.

When I coached at West Point, the rising sophomores would do their field training in the summer. Understanding they may need to perform a Ruck March (we called it a hump in the Corp) after your 515am training session would give you some idea of how to adjust their training. It helps no one get better if you are abusing your power as a coach to prove a point to the people that would run through a wall for you regardless of the training session.

Athletes are going to have tests, labs, papers, relationship issues, (this list can go on forever). When the people you train on a day to day basis are emotional roller coasters, you as a coach need to be the most stable aspect of their lives. That is empathy.

Thank you to my friend Jeremy Boone for his incredible wisdom and humble insight.