Coaches Lead and Leaders Coach
“If you’re not making mistakes, then you’re not doing anything. I’m positive that a doer makes mistakes.” — John Wooden
Many of the great coaches of the world are also phenomenal leaders. They uplift, motivate, teach, and get their players to stretch their limits. They push them close enough to the edge for maximum growth, but not so close that the person’s spirit or resolve is broken in the process. These coaches inspire a group of people, acting as a team, to strive toward a common vision. Great coaches lead their teams to victory time and again, regardless of how the composition of the players changes from season to season.
As a leader in an organization, sometimes it’s easy to start thinking position rather than influence. The truth is, genuine leadership is always more about influence than position. This week, try to view yourself as a coach and your organization as your team. What are the common goals? How can you instill excitement in your team and influence them to begin moving toward the goal with a new fervor? Never confuse power (or position) with influence. If you dictate what needs done, using power in place of influence, you will never take your team to their highest level. You will never influence them to take initiative. People inherently shy away from bosses who tend to be, well.… bossy. Exceptional coaches and leaders strive to rarely substitute power for influence.
Many times when I sit down to write, I begin to ask myself some question about the concept I’m pondering. Often times, the answers spur many more ideas about the topic. But this topic is so broad, the list seems ends. There are so many parallels that can be drawn when looking at coaches vs. leaders, teams vs. organizations, and players vs. followers- and these subtopics just scratch the surface. There are also the intricacies of “the game” and how the weather (climate) affects the team (organization). Too many parallels to list. I could go on and on, but I’d rather open this particular topic open for discussion. So please post some of your thoughts, experiences, and insights about this topic. Two questions that may get you going are these:
1) What’s the key difference between a leader and coach?
2) What are some distinguishing characteristics and attributes of coaches that leaders should try to adopt and implement into their leadership style?
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