“Good coaching is based purely in leadership.” —John Wooden
John Wooden was a basketball coach for UCLA. He is among the top coaches with nearly 7oo victories and ten national championships over his thirty-year coaching career. His leadership style is revered and emulated by coaches of all sports (elitefts.com).
Some of us have experienced a “bad” coach – whether it be as an athlete, a parent or a spectator, we’ve all seen one in action. You know, the crazy, red-faced coach that is screaming from the sidelines, almost to the point of passing out. We’ve seen it. It happens everywhere from recreational sports all the way up to the professionals. So, what distinguishes a “bad” coach from a “good” one. The general definition of this can vary….it can come from the parent whose kid never gets to play. It can come from the fan who didn’t agree with a coaching decision. But, when you get down to the nitty gritty, the true definition of a “good” coach, you’ll find that the definition is really very similar to what defines a good leader.
According to Northouse (2016), leadership is defined as “a process whereby an individual influences a group of individuals to achieve a common goal” (p. 6). Let’s break it down into the world of sports…..the individual (coach) influences a group of individuals (team/player) to achieve a common goal (win). Coaches are fired for losing seasons. They want to make history. They want to be successful. So, that means W-I-N-N-I-N-G. Although winning is a very important part of the equation, the true gauge of a good coach is by judging his/her athletes. Are they ambitious? Are the competitive? How is their work ethic?
There is an article on the Elitefts web page that outlines some responsibilities of a coach. These responsibilities are basically the various “hats” that a coach needs to wear. They include:
- Manager – The manager is a key part to the success of an organization. The coach is, just a a manager, responsible for the decision making and operation of the team.
- Friend – Coaches need to build a relationship with their athletes. The need to be supportive of their athletes. In turn, these athletes need someone that they can confide in.
- Planner – Coaches need to develop strategies and assess talent to come up with the best way to achieve the goal – a WIN.
- Motivator – Motivating an athlete will help get the best possible results from that athlete. A coach’s passion and energy is often reflected in the athlete. They also need to be able to continue when things aren’t going as planned.
Coaches are leaders and just as leaders are, some coaches are just born with the characteristics to be good leaders. Granted, they also need to have a talented team. This means they have to have the knowledge to know what to look for in an athlete. “Coachability” is a huge part of this. The coach needs to be aware of the potential of the athlete and what he/she is capable of achieving and help that athlete grow. On the flip side, the athlete has to be receptive to this idea and has to be able to learn. This is where the word “influence” in the definition of leadership comes into play.
Coaches also need to realize that athletes should also take ownership and some responsibility. This is achieved by allowing them to take over some part of the decision-making process as well as allowing them to take over “supervisory” roles such as leading warm-ups or something similar. Shaping good leaders is equally as important as shaping good athletes.
Most importantly, though, a good coach should never, ever demean or bring a person down. Let’s think about it. If a coach treats a player horribly and is not providing positive feedback, that athlete is most likely going to react negatively. One the ways leadership produces change is by “motivating and inspiring” (Northouse, 2016, p. 14). The key – motivating. This is how it gets done.
All of the traits of a good coach are the same traits that are found in a good leader. In all scenarios, the most important thing to remember is that a good coach and leader, leads by example. Athletes look up to their coaches. In an athlete’s eyes, the coach is a huge role model, a hero of sorts. Anyone can coach a sport but to be a great coach, takes a lot of skill.
Northouse, P.G. (2016). Leadership: Theory and Practice. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, Inc.
Giandonato, J. (2011, July 5). Leadership Style Discovery in Performance Coaching. Retrieved May 23, 2016, from http://www.elitefts.com/education/training/sports-performance/leadership-style-discovery-in-performance-coaching/
Michael David Fry says
This was a great post. I really like how you tied everything together throughout the blog post. Most individuals have played a sport at some point in their life and I think we’ve all had good experiences and bad experiences with coaches in our sport. Coaching evolves leaders focusing on both achieving goals and meeting followers’ socioemotional needs (Northouse, 2016, p. 94). I think Northouse hit the nail on the head with this description. Successful coaching isn’t just about achieving goals (i.e.: winning games). Successful coaching is more about coupling that with building relationships with the players and making you a stronger person as a result of competitively playing the sport.
You initially defined a successful coach on whether or not the coach wins games. But then you began to introduce other factors into determining success which I enjoyed reading about This reminds me of an ESPN documentary on John Wooden that I watch a couple years ago. John Wooden is quite possibly the greatest college basketball coach in the history of the sport. He coined his own definition of success during the documentary, describing success as the “peace of mind attained nay through self-satisfaction in knowing you made the effort to do the best of which you’re capable, trying to improve the situation that exists for you, I think that’s success” (Wooden, 2001). So success for John Wooden wasn’t necessarily winning games. I think winning games was the common goal that he, his staff, and his basketball players strived to achieve but if they were able to look at themselves in the mirror at the end of the game and know they left everything on the court then they were satisfied with their performance.
Thanks for sharing. I enjoyed reading your post.
REFERENCES:
Northouse, P. G. (2016). Leadership: Theory and practice. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Natalie Valerio says
As Northouse (2016) explains, Coaches are “great communicators and motivators, coaches are excellent in handing difficult interpersonal and group situations and at giving constructive feedback” (pg.322). As you explained, Coach John Wooden is one of many coaches who can be considered a leader and balances the many responsibilities it holds. Being a coach can be defined as a leader – as stated in the first lesson – a definition that varies from different theories and personal meaning. However, similarities can be characterized as a leader and coach: involves a process, influence, occurring in groups and have common goals (Northouse, 2016, pg. 6). In simpler terms of basketball, Coach John Wooden provides a process – basketball practice and condition, influences the players to practice different plays and good sportsmanship, involving the all players to create cohesive team, and providing one goal – to win. By following all the elements of what is considered leadership, we must ask – what makes John Wooden a coach or a leader?
In a psychodynamic approach, we can focus on the “sources of energy and motivational forces that drive human actions by considering what is ‘within’ – the inner world of individuals, including their emotions – and their relationship between individuals – the ‘reality’ created by the dynamics of groups (Neumann & Hirschhorn, 1999)” (Northouse, 2016, pg. 297). As a coach and leader, John Wooden, are high motivators and great communicators who can inspire greatness from the players. Because of a more positive and constructive outlook on life, coaches tend to inspire confidence and trust between players and follower-leadership dynamic (Northouse, 2016, 322). As a result, John Wooden is able to construct high performance teams and cultures – hence his nearly 700 victories and ten national championship in his career.
In basketball, especially in college level, the environment can be highly competitive and self-destructive if not managed correctly. There will be times when coaches experience anger and frustration because of the high intensity of the game. However, these times do not necessarily define a “bad” coach but simply a weakness in a leadership. This could simply be a “bad day” though it is not an excuse for irrational behavior, a coach’s strength can be found in his or her ability to provide more constructive feedback and high emotional intelligence. As high motivators, coaches can be defined as leaders.
Northouse, P.G. (2016). Leadership: Theory and Practice. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, Inc.