Coaches Toolbox

The following is a listing of all posts in the category of Leadership for our site.

Click on the links to read the individual posts.

The Art of Leadership

by

Cory Dobbs, Ed.D.

Founder, The Academy for Sport Leadership

Lessons from the Art Studio

“Students who are truly student-athletes have a chance for a life-transforming, life-shaping experience. I can tell you how thankful I am for having had that experience and how it’s shaped me in countless ways. It’s an absolutely formative experience.” –
U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan,
Speaker at the 2010 NCAA National Convention in Atlanta, Ga.

Leadership is one of the most important topics of our time. And it’s likely one of the most important attributes for effectiveness in any human endeavor. The success of any institution, organization, group, or team, is grounded in the effective application of leadership. For any organization to sustain success it must invest in the development of leaders—current and future— to avoid a regression towards mediocrity.

Since the dawn of civilization, groups have utilized leadership for various purposes beginning with the need for survival. Organizations today view leadership as a necessity for success and it is hard to find a person today who does not give at least lip service to the importance of developing leaders.


Yet despite this apparent intent to nurture the development of leaders, we still find ourselves desperately searching for leaders that can create and sustain success. Perhaps part of the problem is the way we teach leadership.

I teach leadership courses in two different graduate colleges for the same university. Different students, same classroom. The classroom consists of a podium, tables with chairs and a white board. The rooms are designed for teachers to stand and students to sit.

However, the classroom in which my colleague teaches art is quite different. In her art studio she often does not stand and students don’t sit. The simple reversal of classroom roles leads to a different mode of learning. Students in the art classroom poke around, observing the work of their fellow students. They ask questions, share stories, exchange insights, and offer praise or constructive critiques.

I’ve learned some powerful lessons from studying learning in the art studio. Two, of them in particular have reshaped the way I approach leadership development.

1. Anything worth doing is worth doing badly.
2. The fear of failure will guarantee failure.

Anything Worth Doing is Worth Doing Badly
Not the orthodox way of looking at excellence. However, leadership is a messy proposition for anyone learning to lead. Since leadership is a social process, it follows that team leaders will need to experiment with such things as peer accountability. Invariably, the beginning leader will stumble. Encourage your student-athletes to get going, start leading, and take the lumps that come with learning to lead.

The art studio encourages the student to explore. Taking risks—experimentation—and being willing to do leadership badly are part of the learning process. In the art studio students are encouraged when they do something badly. They quickly look at the bad product and figure out how to improve upon their work. Poor outcomes are not seen as failures. Rather, the art student returns to the canvas to try again.

To offer some real-world perspective on bad leadership as a learning opportunity, take a quick look backwards to when you took your first coaching job. Who among us can’t look back and see incompetence and failure in some leadership efforts during our formative years? I’m on pretty safe ground here knowing that all competent coaches attended Hard Knocks University.

Here’s a simple way for you to guide your student-athletes to face the fact that risk is necessary for them to fully develop as a leader. Have them set up a matrix that involves listing leadership goals on one side of the ledger with possible risks on the other.

Sample Leadership Goal

To promote team unity through a weekly players only meeting.

Risk

One or more team members do not want  to attend and see the leaders as “better than them”

Fear of Failure Will Guarantee Failure
While the artist’s palette contains a wide-array of vibrant colors, the only color emerging leaders see is gray. Nothing appears to be black and white for the beginning leader. She’s not sure where to start, what to do, how to take leadership action. Fear of failure is real.

Failure often affects confidence and self-esteem. However, failure is not fatal. Giving your leaders the license to fail is a starting point. Creating a learner-centered approach to leader development can help the novice and the experienced team leader. Artists that persevere face their fear of failure. Failure in the art studio is guaranteed. Perfection is desired, but failure is acknowledged as part of the process.

I’ve noticed far too many young leaders fearful of leaving their comfort zones, clinging to what is comfortable and secure. The art student is encouraged to venture out and explore new styles and tools. In the art studio it is folly to discount mistakes and failure.

In the art studio, students are confronted with reality. What they put on canvas is available for all to see. Sometimes the visible picture doesn’t match the artist’s heart and effort. Such moments can be both disheartening and empowering. Vulnerability is a vital part of learning to become an artist—and a team leader.

Leadership certainly can begin to be taught in a classroom. Yet conventional methods of leadership training often fail to prepare students for the messiness of leadership. The art studio provides another model to explore as a bold approach for developing your team leaders. Experimentation, exploration, and action will involve mistakes and failure. Guiding your young leaders through the risks of leadership may well be the most important role you assume as a leadership educator.

To find out more about and order Sport Leadership Books authored by Dr. Dobbs including Coaching for Leadership, click this link: The Academy for Sport Leadership Books

About the Author

A former basketball coach, Cory’s coaching background includes experience at the NCAA DII, NJCAA, and high school levels of competition. While coaching, he researched and developed the transformative Becoming a Team Leader program for student-athletes. Cory has worked with professional athletes, collegiate athletic programs and high schools teaching leadership as a part of the sports experience and education process. Cory cut his teeth as a corporate leader with Fortune 500 member, The Dial Corp. As a consultant and trainer Dr. Dobbs has worked with such organizations as American Express, Honeywell, and Avnet.

Cory has taught a variety of courses on leadership and change for the following universities:

Northern Arizona University (Graduate Schools of Business and Education)

Ohio University (Graduate School of Education / Management and Leadership in Sport)

Grand Canyon University (Sports Marketing and Sports Management in the Colangelo School of Sports Business)

Visit www.corydobbs.com to read Cory’s leadership blog.


What Athletes Want From Their Coach

by

There is a new breed of leaders and coaches in the world of sports.

They insist on cultivating healthy, strong relationships where deep caring, respect, integrity, trust, love and loyalty are forged.

These coaches are the ones doing great things.

They are inspiring their athletes to do great things on and off the field. The athletes that play for these coaches are reaping great rewards for their participation.

In the video clip below Dr. Jerry Lynch, internationally known expert in the field of applied sports psychology conducts a panel discussion with a group of athletes.

The athletes are discussing what qualities they look for in their head coach.

This clip is from a complete DVD on how to lead in sports. For more information about the DVD click the link How to Inspire, Empower and Lead in Sports: Perspectives from Athletes and Coaches

The YouTube video has sound, so please make sure that your sound is turned on and that you have access to the site.

 


Staying in Your Lane: Asst. Coaches

by

This article is provided by Coaches Network

Assistant coaches are critical to your team’s success. But if they’re overstepping their bounds and focusing on the wrong thing, they can hinder your team’s progress. In this article on breakthroughbasketball.com, Jeff Haefner discusses ways to make sure your assistant coaches know their role and are making a positive impact on your program.

Communication is key: Assistant coaches aren’t going to step on your toes purposely. If they’re crossing into coaching territory you don’t want them to, the problem may simply be that they’re unaware of what your expectations—and their responsibilities—are. Haefner suggests sitting down with your assistants and discussing those expectations with them. That way, you’re both on the same page. “Just like coaching players, you need to give your assistants clear and defined roles and responsibilities,” he writes.

Play to their strengths: However, Haefner also stresses the importance of thinking beyond simply what you need from them. If you know that your assistant excels in a certain area, allow them the opportunity to take ownership of that role. “It’s important to consider your assistant’s strengths,” he writes. “Then it’s your job to put the assistant coach in the position to use those strengths to benefit the program.”

Touch base: Making sure your assistants don’t overstep their bounds isn’t something you can do once at the beginning of the year and then forget about the rest of the season. Check in regularly with your coaches, both formally and informally, to be sure that they understand what their role is.

One solution Haefner offers is to try daily huddles with your assistants. These should only take between five and 10 minutes, but they give you the opportunity to get everyone’s ducks in a row. Ask your coaches what their key priorities are for the day, and talk to them about the metrics you want them to meet. This will ensure they focus on the right things each day.

Management matters: During the season, Haefner suggests writing down and documenting metrics and roles for your coaches, and then scheduling weekly and monthly meetings with assistants to discuss how well they are meeting them. This can provide them with valuable feedback and let them know when things need to change.

“Managing assistant coaches is just like managing employees in a business,” he writes. “You document procedures for an employee. You document and define expectations and roles for that employee. You implement key metrics to measure the performance of that employee. You have regularly scheduled meetings with that employee to review goals, expectations, metrics, performance, and progress.”

Click here to read the full story.


Developing Your Team Leaders

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Championship teams have great leadership.

They have great leadership from coaches and players. Coaches must help players become more effective leaders. Teaching leadership is just as important, or more so, than anything else you teach in your program.

Your ability to train your team leaders will be directly correlated to your success.

In the two clips below Greg Dale,Director of Mental Training and Leadership Programs for Duke University Athletics, discuss how to begin the process of developing your team leaders.

The clips are from a DVD entilted The Coach’s Guide to Developing Great Team Captains. For more ideas on developing leaders click on the link above.

The YouTube videos have sound, so please make sure that you have sound and that you have access to the site (some schools may block access to YouTube)

 


Championship Values Leadership Tool

by

Cory Dobbs, Ed.D.

Founder, The Academy for Sport Leadership

Championship Values

Values are among the most stable and enduring characteristics of people. They are the foundation on which attitudes and personal preferences are formed. Our core values are crucial in making vital decisions, determining life directions, and behaving in social interactions. Values help define our morality and our conceptions of what is “good” and what is “right.” Many of our behaviors are a product of the basic values we have developed throughout our lives.

However, a problem with values is that they are generally taken for granted. Most of the time people are unaware of their values and how they shape attitudes and behaviors. Unless a person’s value’s are challenged they will remain largely undetected. People are not aware that they hold some values as being more important than others. This unawareness leads to actions or behaviors that are sometimes contrary to values, or even leads to confusion about values.

The Championship Values exercise is an interactive tool for you to use in determining your values and those of your teammates. As you work through the eight steps to your team’s Championship Values, keep in mind that sometimes the best way to stimulate discussion of values is to pose a difficult situation that demands a hard look at how a value will help you best resolve the situation. For additional resources for value-driven leadership consider The Academy for Sport Leadership’s Case Studies.

Step 1 Each team member is to think through the values (Relationship Oriented and Results Oriented) and identify circle the sixteen (8 Relationship / 8 Results) most important values—for you as a member of this team. Be sure to carefully think through just what the value is and why it’s important to you.

Step 2 Fill in the brackets with your eight (8) Relationship Oriented values on the left side and eight (8) Results Oriented values on the right side. Do this exercise individually.

Step 3 Pitting value vs. value tournament style. After placing all sixteen values in the brackets,
determine a winner and move the winning values along toward the middle of the chart.

Step 4 Once you’ve completed your Championship Values tournament you’ll have identified your top four values (2 Relationship / 2 Results). Be sure that you’ve thought through the value of each
value!

Step 5 Now split your team into triads (groups of three) and discuss the values. As a triad come to an agreement on 16 values and fill out the brackets. This should take some time as you and your teammates will need to work through personal differences to reach shared values.

Step 6 Once you’ve got the 16 shared values begin your tournament. At each stage engage in
meaningful conversation to identify a winning value.

Step 7 Once you’ve completed your Championship Values tournament as a triad, begin the same process as a team. When you finish your tournament you will have identified four (the final four
values) values that will be strongly internalized, advocated, and acted upon by all team members. The discussion should reveal values a clear-cut set of values for you and your teammates—standards of behavior towards one another and individual and team performance.

Step 8 Do the Championship Values exercise as a complete team. Your goal is a relationship between team members based on shared, strongly internalized values that are advocated and acted
upon by all team members.

Click here to download a blank template of the Tool

leadership

To find out more about and order Sport Leadership Books authored by Dr. Dobbs including Coaching for Leadership, click this link: The Academy for Sport Leadership Books
About the Author

A former basketball coach, Cory’s coaching background includes experience at the NCAA DII, NJCAA, and high school levels of competition. While coaching, he researched and developed the transformative Becoming a Team Leader program for student-athletes. Cory has worked with professional athletes, collegiate athletic programs and high schools teaching leadership as a part of the sports experience and education process. Cory cut his teeth as a corporate leader with Fortune 500 member, The Dial Corp. As a consultant and trainer Dr. Dobbs has worked with such organizations as American Express, Honeywell, and Avnet.

Cory has taught a variety of courses on leadership and change for the following universities:

Northern Arizona University (Graduate Schools of Business and Education)

Ohio University (Graduate School of Education / Management and Leadership in Sport)

Grand Canyon University (Sports Marketing and Sports Management in the Colangelo School of Sports Business)