Ideas on how to enjoy the many chapters of coach development as opposed to rushing to the punchline
/A recently written article by Magic Academy’s Russell Earnshaw offered personal support and reflection for some of my recent discussions with coaches across various sports. I have been fortunate to catch up and chat to coaches from different sports recently, looking at how their practices and methodologies have changed as a result of the COVID break. Many also discussed how THEY have changed as a person as well as a coach; I questioned and asked them to consider whether they have greater levels of understanding, empathy and appreciation for fellow coaches and their athletes. Many coaches answered and discussed their concerns of the lost experience and traction in their coaching journey which promoted me to ask myself and others; what’s more important; time and experience in various sporting or high performance atmospheres or understanding who you are and be adaptable to cultivate your craft based on your player’s needs?
Rusty nailed it in this recent article published by Daily Telegraph UK; he chats about research done by Sergio Lara-Bercial and one of my current advisors, Cliff Mallett about serial medal-winning coaches and what’s ACTUALLY important in coaching development. As he discusses in linked article, he talks about the importance of craving your craft vs getting catapulted into roles you may not be “tailored for due to previous experience” (https://www.telegraph.co.uk/rugby-union/2020/08/24/should-professional-coaches-former-players-not-earn-right/):
Coaching is a contact sport where we constantly bump into other humans. In my experience, the best coaches are voraciously curious about psychology, sociology, pedagogy, motivation and human development. They simplify complexity and have unwavering high standards. They put people first, they are emotionally intelligent, they practice shared leadership and are optimistic.
They might learn about learning, find mentors that change their world and discover that it is all about the people and not just the practices. They might also learn to enjoy the pleasant frustration that the book of coaching has an infinite number of chapters.
One of my favourite quotes and something to consider when planning your path: When you consider just how close coaching and playing actually are, maybe think about the similarities between being a pupil and a teacher or having an operation and being a surgeon.
As we’ve (eventually!!) reached finals stages for many competitions across the globe, many coaches (some of whom Rusty comments about) highlights the ideas and main points of my discussions with coaches and his article. Let’s start with the now completed Champions League; Thomas Tuchel, head coach of finalists PSG, had a largely uneventful playing career before retiring at 25 due to injury and immediately got involved in coaching. Following a few impressive seasons coaching in reserve grade, he was called up to take over as head coach at Mainz 05 in Germany’s top league, the Bundesliga, at relatively young age of 34. During his time, Tuchel helped another young coach start his journey. Champions League semi finalists RB Leipzig’s head coach Julian Nagelsmann, also who retired due to injury at age of 20, started by doing scouting work for Tuchel in 2008 and following assistants jobs in Germany, in 2015 Nagelsmann was appointed head coach of 1899 Hoffenheim; at the time of his appointment, Nagelsmann was 28, and the youngest manager in Bundesliga history!! Jumping to NBA, as we are a few weeks in the Disney bubble playoffs, Toronto Raptors coach Nick Nurse has been named NBA Coach of the Year 2019-2020. Winning the NBA Championship in his second year as head coach is the main heading yet glossed over is the fact that he has been coaching for 31 years, taking his first role at age of 23. Having spent many years sharpening his sword in British and NBA development leagues, he was appointed assistant coach to the Raptors in 2013 before taking over as head coach, again with only college and limited senior playing experience in UK. All these coaches mentioned have striking commonalities; very different development path to the current ideals and expectations which sporting organisations currently have, unique personalities with slightly varied methodologies and styles from the norm yet all extremely dedicated to their craft and player centred approach.
Coming back to the research mentioned, which was conducted by Lara-Bercial and Mallett, Earnshaw mentions how serial winning coaches “tend to be committed to getting better, often driven by fear of not being good enough. They simplify complexity and have unwavering high standards. They put people first, they are emotionally intelligent, they practice shared leadership and are optimistic”. Digging into the research, an area of discussion includes the idea of Driven Benevolence found in linked article (https://leadersinsport.com/performance/leadership-lessons-serial-winning-coaches/):
Driven benevolence is the relentless pursuit of excellence balanced with a genuine desire to compassionately support athletes and oneself . Serial winning coaches have a passion for excellence and works tirelessly and relentlessly to achieve it. But, this ambition is compensated by an overwhelming desire to do good by others and a genuinely compassionate attitude towards their athletes and, perhaps more importantly, towards themselves.
We found coaches that were as comfortable pushing athletes beyond the boundaries of what is humanly possible day in day out and holding them accountable for their performance and behaviours, as they were sitting down with a cup of coffee to discuss their athlete’s love relationships, job prospects, family feuds and finances. We found coaches sitting halfway between the authentic desire to make their athletes happy and the stern belief that the happier the athlete, the better the performance, and the higher the chance of a successful outcome; literally a WIN-WIN.
They (these coaches) tended to believe that their actions were a mission aimed at fulfilling the needs of others powered by a higher purpose and the greater good. Therefore, they exhibit a certain ruthlessness and steely determination to achieve their goals which is, for the most part, non-violent and altruistic. And they use their high levels of emotional intelligence and self-awareness to convince and persuade other to follow them.
Bringing all this together, considering recent discussions with coaches, article by Earnshaw and research by Lara-Bercial and Mallett, what’s the commonalities amongst all these themes? Serial winning coaches and highly competitive coaches are considerate coaches; not solely focusing on technical and tactical aspects of their sports, they build both emotional intelligence and cognitive flexibility to allow them to better understand themselves and their athletes as a result. Having this COVID break should have allowed all coaches to better understand themselves, how to create plans and narratives for themselves and their athletes to remain connected and committed to collaborative goals. Yes, this was a scratched season or missed opportunities for most yet it’s how we act and react as coaches with seasons and competitive sport recommencing on a global scale; so how can you get your twisty tale of coaching development back on track and importantly, how can we re-connect or engage with our athletes for long term involvement and development?
The challenge of successful coaching is acknowledging social interactive dilemmas within individual and team goal setting and development, offering suitable scenarios and choices with all members’ involvement and collaboratively dealing with matters as opposed to eradicating them. Past research by Mageau and Vallerand regards the “actions of coaches as (possibly) the most critical motivational influences within sport setting”. Coaching should be recognised as an educational dynamic relationship, where the coach can satisfy player’s goals and development but both sides have an investment of will capital, where human initiative and intentionality are both dedicated to show commitment towards goals and relationships, themes definitely identified as missing from sport today based on Earnshaw’s article and opinion. The role of performance coaches such as Tuchel, Nagelsmann or Nurse when working with professional, HP athletes is highly important; coaches are “preparing athletes for consistent high-level competitive performance” (Côté, 2009a) through effective tactics such as integration of professional, interpersonal, and intrapersonal knowledge and developing player’s specific competence, confidence, connection, and character needs on regular basis.
Sports coaches of HP athletes should act as pedagogues, adopting comprehensive and holistic roles in the moral development of their athletes through their adopted and shared practices, languages and beliefs as opposed to solely focusing on content, X’s and O’s and static or constantly similar coaching practices or designs. If coaches are to develop engaged and knowledgeable athletes, capable of performing learned tasks when under pressure and not under direct instructions, I believe this shall require agreed transfer of knowledge or total ownership by athletes of their development, with support from the coaches as “more capable other”, something Earnshaw touches on in his article. Research by Kidman’s (2001) addressed ideas such as coaches developing player’s complex skills and tactical knowledge through encouraging abstract thought processes by asking high order questions, which require athletes to apply, analyse and synthesise information. This transformational style of leadership has the coach steering as opposed to controlling decisions and actions, encouraging player discovery through evolutionary planning and organising of tasks whilst keeping sight of overall objectives and showing empathy to get the best from the athletes. Coaches can act as orchestrators whilst attempting to create a successful pedagogic setting requires coordination of activities to investigate, monitor and respond with honesty to players. This may require some transparency from coaches to offer rationale for processes. It may also require negotiation of processes with players to meet individual and collective performance measures of those being coached whilst matching evolving circumstances for learning and development against attempting keeping sight of overall objectives.
Like suggested in the linked research, I believe coaches need to engage on a significant and sincere level and teach our athletes or leaders to do likewise. In other sport specific research, Chan and Mallett recognised that high performing coaches require additional skills including ability to facilitate functioning leader-follower relationships, revolving around emotional intelligence and empathy, beyond the standard technical and tactical skills (Chan, 2011). Jowett’s research into coach-athlete relationships looked at the interrelated emotions and behaviours captured through constructs of commitment, closeness and complimentary, tied in later studies with coordination (Jowett, 2004). In this sports research, commitment within coach-athlete relationships is recognised as intention to maintain a loyal, long term relationship while showing closeness as mutual trust, respect and appreciation for roles played in partnership. The coach’s and athlete’s ability to have mutual relatedness, common ground in beliefs and actions while having stress-free interpersonal behaviours displays coordination and complementary aspects for successful coach-athlete relationships, all points raised and discussed with coaches in mentioned conversations.
As many are still completing this period of social distancing, we should reflect and build our interpersonal skills to allow us to take time in future to better know and understand our athletes to gain a holistic view of involved players. The art of coaching is knowing how and when to communicate, and how this varies from each individual. Work on empathetic relationships and having a better understanding of your athletes or players as this will allow you to modify your environment or approaches for greater impact and understanding. Know your players, know their story, know their context and motivations before putting plans into practice. Coaches; with these ideas and supporting research, what tactics or modifications have you or could you make you make to your coaching practices after this COVID break?
Coach where your feet are: Like suggested, take this socially distancing period/time to ask questions and better understand your athletes to gain a holistic view of involved players. Work on empathetic relationships and having a better understanding of your athletes or players as this will allow you to modify your environment or approaches for greater impact and understanding.
Listen first…..then ask, don’t talk: A great way to make a meaningful connection is to get to know them and if possible talk about something other than their sport. Ask empathetic questions around family, friends and hobbies so you find areas of common interest, like found in serial winning coaches research. For sports related areas, listen to player’s ideas and opinions (like suggested by Earnshaw) before offering advice as they may offer you the answers you were going to offer.
Be adaptable and complementary: People, personalities and environments shall change…therefore, so do your coaching methodologies. Asking questions and understanding the answers and whom they’re coming from will give you a snapshot for today yet this needs to be continually addressed and worked on. Be willing to change ideas or structures to match what your athletes or players need today and be reflective and flexible to change to what they need tomorrow or whenever our sports shall return.