Canvas Rebel Magazine Feature

We were lucky to catch up with Korey Harris recently and have shared our conversation below.

Korey, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Can you share a story with us from back when you were an intern or apprentice? Maybe it’s a story that illustrates an important lesson you learned or maybe it’s a just a story that makes you laugh (or cry)? Looking back at internships and apprenticeships can be interesting, because there is so much variety in people’s experiences – and often those experiences inform our own leadership style.

Any time that someone asks me about what it takes to improve at a certain craft or how to improve their ability to lead, I am always a little hesitant because the answer is not something that they want to hear. The truth is that the way to being lifted up is actually to start off being broken down and working in silence in the dark. I learned that the key to permanent and consistent growth, whether in business, basketball coaching, or life, is to first serve what belongs to another man before you try to build your own. FIND SOMEONE WHO HAS WALKED THE PATH YOU ARE ATTEMPTING TO TRAVEL AND TRACE THEIR FOOTPRINTS UNTIL YOU CAN FIND YOUR OWN WAY.

Back in 2010, I met and began working for one of the biggest names in the basketball skill development industry, Ganon Baker. His mentorship opened my eyes to what it meant to have a deeper understanding of the game, how to teach players with passion, and that there is a way to leverage that passion and IQ into a profitable business. Being around him definitely helped me grow, but it also caused me to become inflated with pride because I began to think that I deserved certain opportunities just because I was in his circle. I know now that I still had not put in the necessary time and gained enough experience, but back then I craved what we all want deep within: INFLUENCE and IMPORTANCE.

I learned the hard way in 2011 at an international coaching clinic in Greenville, South Carolina. Ganon invited myself and another prominent trainer, Tyler Relph to lead the 3-day event where we would instruct and share our philosophies with experienced coaches from Europe, Australia, North & South America. Long story short, it was a straight embarrassment, but one of the most powerful experiences in my career. I was nervous the entire time, my lack of basketball IQ was exposed, and I was a complete robot when it was my time to speak or lead. I had no feel, no connection with the concepts that I was attempting to present. To make matters worse, I dislocated G’s finger and gave Tyler a concussion during a live on-court demonstration. Haha!!! I even froze once in front of the coaches and forgot my own curriculum. I was a straight mess!

The moral of the story is: FAILURE IS A HUGE PART OF SUCCESS. I struggled because I was too focused on being given the opportunity to lead and be up front rather than putting the time in and paying my dues. Success is just an outcome and bi-product of amassing small victories over time. Looking back, I am thankful for moments like that because they remind me that I can’t skip steps!