What differences / similarities do I see between management & sport coaching ?
I have the chance to manage a team in a large company and also be a coach of a young handball team. Based on this experience, I would like to share with you some thoughts about similarities and differences that I see between these two environments.
Lets start with the striking gap that I perceive: the reward system makes a huge difference!
How do you assess people in your company can make a big difference. Indeed, if we take the example of the french handball team that has won all competitions several times (world champion, European champion, Olympic champion), Claude Onesta, the coach, was using 2 criteria to assess his team players:
- 1/ their engagement during the training
- 2/ their ability to listen their peers; no more, no less.
In addition, the match bonus is shared equally between the players, which means that the superstar of the team is getting the same amount of money as the player staying on the bench. Why???
I see 2 main reasons:
- first, the team players need to learn humility and perseverance
- second, far beyond the ego & the individualists attitudes, the team spirit is key to achieve outstanding results.
Here, I see a quite difference scheme in the industries I have been working in, rewarding individual performance and not valuing team results. It has some consequences to my view such as ego driven attitudes, silo ways of working, hostile behaviors, lack of empathy & support towards your colleagues, etc.
Hopefully, your manager can make a huge difference here. But… it is then the willingness of your manager, so pick him carefully.
Remark: Writing these few lines, it makes echos with many posts or books you can see on ego impact in life, ‘pick your boss not a job’,… see references.
Analyzing similarities between these two environments, I would say that in both cases deep / intense work is needed to succeed, at least in entrepreneurial companies (I will not explore some bias such as promoting cronyism that can exist). I would like to raise an alert here. If comfort zone is getting the standard, if deep knowledge with capacity of sharp assessment is getting lost, you are in trouble to my view like dinosaurs before their destruction.
Differentiating technologies, specific abilities, customer value are some illustrations of what is needed to survive in a competitive environment where cash or victories are needed to keep going next month. Otherwise, someone else will take your position and you’re out!
I don’t want to write a book here so I will not extend to all differences & similarities that I see. Instead, I would like to focus on the learning and get your feedback.
I would like to start with one of the most important aspect to me: the culture driven by the company / people. Again, it can make a huge difference and it is not an option to my view. I believe in the force of the team and its dependence to the management style / culture rather than individualism cult.
Claude Onesta value ‘une éthique du bien faire ensemble – chemin balisé par la confiance, le dialogue et l’engagement’ [1] I cannot add a word as it is just reflecting my deep belief and every day coach/manager attitude! (traduction: ethics of doing well together - pathway marked by trust, dialogue and commitment)
However, the collective performance requires patience & time as collaboration and shared views acceptance is not spontaneous. The role of the manager/coach is key: Delegation, voice sharing in the team, on-boarding of newcomers, management of the individuals, etc. The way you do it is the most important according to me and, the end result will be the collective performance in both environments
I decide to stop here. I think I highlighted important dimensions already and let you now think about it and, if you wish, share a comment, a thought, a reaction. Have a great day !
Some recent references I’ve read on the topic:
[1] Le règne des affranchis, Claude Onesta
[2] Imparfaits, libres et heureux, Christophe André
[3] https://www.dhirubhai.net/pulse/good-boss-better-than-company-brigette-hyacinth/