what I learned about leadership in business, I learned on the field…

I grew up an athlete and am a sports fanatic! Absolutely love everything about sport. From the agility and skill to the teamwork and camaraderie. 

I have learned lots from playing, but years of play did not prepare me for what has been an amazingly humbling experience…coaching.

And I’m not talking about just coaching, I am talking about coaching my boyfriend’s football team!!! Talk about pressure! 

I have watched these guys play for the last three years and they’ve become part of my family. They’re a great bunch of blokes; but screaming from the sideline as part of the peanut gallery (we’ve all been there) to joining the team and putting my money where my mouth is are two VERY different things.

At our end of season dinner last year somehow we all got to talking and I either volunteered or was chosen…either way, no one could believe when I showed up to the team’s first practice with a notebook and diagrams in hand ready to “coach”.

::one thing you’ll need to know about me is that I have never formally managed anyone before and although I’ve been captain, I never felt it carried THAT much responsibility…until now::

I can’t tell you how many articles, videos or blogs I read weeks prior to make me a ‘good coach’. They told me to "be the boss", "demand respect", "be loud", and some more sensible (and rightly so) said "have fun!". I searched for the secret sauce to no avail. As I took an introspective look at my own personal and professional life, I noticed that a lot of the people I considered leaders were NOT ‘managers’ or necessarily in a typical power position and that to be a good ‘coach’, I had to be more.

Lesson 1: Managers aren’t necessarily leaders and to lead you don’t need to be a manager. 

As Coach, I rely on my team and the captains to help me assess what’s happening on the field from their perspective, then am I able to bring in the outside factor and build solutions to the problems we’re encountering.

I also don’t ask them to do something I’m not willing to do myself. So I practice with them, share canteen duty and play with them. I won’t get respect unless I earn it…and that goes for everyone on the team.

Lesson 2: Accountability. 

Everyone on the team is accountable for everyone else. There’s no “I” in team and for good reason (apart from sounding funny- I mean, where would you even put it?!); it is because the ego needs to sit on the bench for the whole to work as one.

The guys hate fitness training so we have incorporated a ‘funner’ alternative. We are running active drills etc but they are held accountable to stay active throughout the week as we cannot rely on 2 hours worth of training to increase our endurance levels. This lies on them and I can quickly spot who has done it or not done it within a few drills. 

They’re not the only ones who suffer from the huffing and puffing…

Lesson 3: Teamwork.

Ties in to the one above but this has more to do with how we perceive each other. Reality is that we’re not all stars. We think we are Messi when in fact we’re a straight up mess! 

Our aim is to play as one team and play to our strengths hence the new formation we’re testing out this season, (results on success/failure rate to follow).

We all have ideas on how things should be ran and sometimes it feels like there are too many Chiefs, but ultimately it is up to the coaching team to set the course the team will follow.

Lesson 4: Losing & Winning.

Winning is great, who doesn’t love winning?! The competition and adrenaline alone is something I live for…but we don’t always win and losing doesn’t have to suck so much either… even though we all know it can and does. 

Hopefully there’s more wins than losses; either way there are lessons on both sides which will make us come out stronger and we must continue to push forward.

Lesson 5: Courage.

Do you find that sometimes we’re afraid to call for the ball, ask for help or speak up in a meeting out of fear?

I encourage an open dialogue structure and have ran several communication drills and de-briefed afterwards to good reviews. I also encourage feedback on how I can do better which allows me to grow.

Feedback and constructive criticism can go a long way. Just make sure you provide concrete examples and solutions.

I was afraid of the challenge but rose up to the occasion. (Dumb move? To be determined lol)

We won't always be the popular one but if someone has the courage to speak, the least we can do is listen.

Lesson 6: Support.

I am not doing this coaching thing on my own. No way Jose! I have a wonderful support system in form of a Co-Coach, Manager, Captain, the rest of the team and even our peanut gallery. Without them I am nothing. 

This is all new to us, but as long as we strap in and take the ride together, trust each other and have fun, we will be alright!

Thank you Rovers for this great honour.

Lesson 7: Heart.

The most important lesson and one that can’t be taught. 

If there’s no heart or no passion then what else is there?

You don’t have to be the strongest, fastest, ‘bestest’; but try your darn hardest and do it with heart and integrity and believe me, the rest will follow.

As a leader I will make mistakes; take our 1st game when I made a bad substitution call which caused us a turnover. Thankfully the team acted quickly to get it back which showed me that we have each other’s back!

We still have a long season ahead but in the end I know we will all laugh and cry together, win or lose, we will still enjoy a cold beer afterwards because ironically enough, life is just a game and we are all family.

So cheers guys & wish us luck on Sunday!