You Can't Coach Leadership?

A while back I found myself reading through some comments on a social media site after searching for some high school ball scores. I should have just kept focused on my main priority, which was to simply read the scores, but it is so easy to go down the rabbit hole of reading comments. As I read through a couple of the discussion threads, I found one statement lingering with me for a few days. I won't give much detail about the website platform or the user who posted it because that is not important. What is important, to me anyway, is wondering whether or not there are more people out there who feel this way and actually believe this statement.

For some context, there was some dialogue about a team having a bad loss. Some were commenting on Xs and Os, some where pointing out various areas of weakness, while others were commenting on the coaching (as is typical in situations like these). The person who posted the head-scratcher of a comment was actually coming to the defense of the coaching staff, and this is a paraphrase of what was said:

"The biggest problem we have is that no one will step up and be a leader. A lot of the weaknesses of the team are coachable, but you can't coach leadership. One of these players has to step up and lead this team."

I understand what is being said. On game days you always hope that the confidence gained by the diligent preparation on the practice field will translate into an aggressiveness on the game day field. Even I have been one to say that "game days are for the kids, while practice days are for the coaches." That statement implies that at some point, coaches have done all they can do and the players are responsible for their actions on the field.

To an extent, that is true. But the part of the statement I would like to speak to is the phrase, "you can't coach leadership."

This, I disagree with. I believe you not only CAN coach leadership, but you MUST coach leadership. It is absolutely essential, and a central part of what coaching is all about. Developing leadership. Leadership does not just happen. Leaders are not born. That is a misnomer. Yes, some people come out of the womb with personality traits that are more natural to leadership, making it easier for them to take over leadership roles. But I do not believe leadership begins and ends as something that you are just born with.

Leaders are made. And whose responsibility is it to make them? Coaches. That is perhaps our greatest task as a coach. Create and develop leaders. But how do we do it?

I would like to offer just a handful of tips for how we can begin working on developing leadership at the YOUTH levels of the sports we are coaching. This is where it has to begin, then we can continue to increase levels of responsibility as they grow older.

[1] Let them make decisions for themselves. One of the biggest weaknesses I see in the high school game today is that way too many players do not know how to improvise and use their athleticism to get the job done. They are too often looking for direction from their coaches (or in some cases, their parent in the stands). No one will become a leader who is not able to make decisions on their own accord.

[2] Let them fail. This is linked to the above point. I think one of the reasons why we desire to direct everything on the field is because we don't want them to fail. But we are actually robbing them of one of the greatest leadership lessons in life: dealing with and responding to failure. Giving them room to work through adversity and problem-solve when they have failed is one of the greatest leadership lessons we can provide for them.

[3] Encourage them to lead even if they are not the best player. Too often we assume that the best player on the team is most naturally going to be the one to lead, but that isn't always the case. Sometimes the best player is just the most skilled or the most athletic, but not the best communicator, or the best motivator, or the best problem-solver on the team. Sometimes the best players on the team might actually be the worst leaders, and sometimes you would NOT want your other team members emulating the behaviors of this person. Be very open and honest about the kinds of things you value in leadership. When you are up-front about defining leadership and the expectations for the team, it opens the door for any and all to step up and lead, regardless of their athletic talent or how much playing time they get.

[4] Teach (and model) ethical and moral behavior. Research suggests that people are more willing to be led if the leader is conscientious, agreeable, humble, and shows integrity and gratitude. These are all behaviors and characteristics that can be taught, and should most definitely be modeled. Most people want to be encouraged and praised, but all people want to be treated fairly. When we are encouraging while also being honest and consistent, it makes following much easier. This attribute will be respected by those who follow and as a result it will be passed on to them, the next generation of leaders.

[5] Encourage and challenge them to READ. As coaches, we need to give our players more assignments that include them having to read. When you do this, you will find out very quickly who your prospective leaders are going to be. This simple fact is inevitably true: leaders read, and readers lead!

[6] Teach (and model) positivity. Positivity is something that can be taught. And it can be practiced. Systems can be put into place to help create a culture of positivity within our teams (for more about this, check out this blog post from August 2018). I am not suggesting we ignore negative situations or events, but that we recognize them for what they are – just a momentary setback that usually involves something or things that are out of our control. Once we've recognized that, it's now time to consider what we have learned from the negative event and how we are going to respond to it. Leaders will pause, consider an intentional and purposeful response and seek to create something positive from the negative situation. When you have players operating with this mindset, you have leaders in the making!

Yes, I believe it is possible to coach leadership. Think about it, if we are not coaching leadership, then what the heck are we doing?! We are just coaching a game. Merely coaching the X's and O's.

Coaching leadership means we are coaching PEOPLE. When we focus our attention on coaching people, we will see their leadership skills develop and increase.

Then, as a result, don't be surprised when you also see their game improve and the X's and O's being executed with even greater precision and purpose.