Positive leadership and the energy that it creates is the difference between mediocre and great teams. Leadership dictates team success on and off the field. Talent and athletes willing to put in the work are important to team success but without great leaders, success will be limited. There are different types of leaders on every team. Some leaders are vocal, some lead with their actions, their mentality and work ethic. No matter the style, great leaders always lead with positive energy!
Positive leadership exists at all levels within great teams. Positive leadership within the coaching staff, support staff and positive leadership within the ranks of the players. When these two entities work together, pulling in the same positive direction, a team can quickly go from mediocre to great.
This is the first of three blogs dedicated to this topic. Future posts will cover what it takes to be a positive leader as a coach and a player. In this article, I will take a previous post, Yelling Coach Can Make a Difference, and expand that concept to the energy that exists within the team and how that energy affects the team.
We know the Scenario
A new coach takes over a local high school football team. The typical excitement surrounding change is evident but there seems to be something different but you don’t know what it is. The first couple of years they win only a few games but the team seems to play hard despite the losses. Each year the program also continues to grow in size.
As you come into the 3rd year (sometimes 2nd year), you can begin to feel a different energy. There is an excitement not just to play but to compete, together, as a TEAM! The idea of TEAM becomes evident in how the players interact with one another and how the coaches interact with them. This is the birth of a new program.
Energy of Positive Leadership
In most cases, the energy present within a team can be felt by the fans. If you have spent a lot of time around sports, you’ve likely picked up on this energy and maybe you didn’t even realize it. The energy is generally evident to even the most inexperienced sports fan, heck even kids begin to pick up on it. As fans, we begin to anticipate the success even if it hasn’t happened yet.
Having positive energy doesn’t necessarily mean a team will win every game. Although, in the long run, positive energy around a team is more indicative of positive results on the field and in the players themselves. The important part of that statement is the affect that it can have directly on the players. After all, the ultimate goal of athletics is to build better people!
It’s a Process
If this process was simple, it would happen with every coaching change and it wouldn’t take 2 to 3 years to become evident. It is a complicated evolution of both coach and player and their relationship. The evolution of this relationship is what gets us to the new energy. It’s up to the coaches and players to provide the energy to make this possible.
Traits of Positive Leadership
By the time we can feel the energy as fans, this evolution has been long underway. This is generally the beginning of not necessarily great teams but great programs. Sports programs that get the most out of their athletes and also give the most back to them as they develop into adults. It’s this energy that every program strives to attain.
This energy is built on trust, communication, support, accountability and most importantly, respect. Coaches and players have a vital role in this evolution. Next week we’ll tackle the coaches role in this evolution followed by the athletes. Until then, continue to Ball Out!
BtL
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