The Titleless Leader: A Year in Review

My final season as the lead assistant coach with the University of Calgary Dinos men’s basketball team ended unceremoniously. We finished with a losing record and missed playoffs. The coaching staff was frustrated, the players were frustrated, everyone was frustrated. The somber, chilly climate of our post-season wrap-up meeting came as no surprise. There was little to celebrate and no one really wanted to be there…

As such the meeting itself didn’t last long. Our off-season training plan was passed out and discussed, as were academics and other logistics. At the end, as players began to pack up and leave, one of our upperclassmen (who we’ll refer to as Y.A.) approached me with what appeared to be a gift. He greeted me with a firm handshake and a serious, yet sincere, demeanour. After thanking me for the season he presented me with the book pictured above: The Titleless Leader, by Nan S. Russell. I didn’t know what to think. To put this in perspective, an arguably hot headed athlete who spent most of the season upset over his lack of playing time had deemed it important to recognize me at the end of the season. Whether it was a backhanded way to suggest my incompetence or an altruistic act of kindness I’ll never know, but for now let’s assume the latter. After a week or so of feeling sorry for myself, I decided to begin reading the book Y.A. had given me as a way to rehash the season in search of ways to improve. The process was invaluable and it led to some deep learning that I carry with me in my coaching practice to this day. Now, several years later, I find myself in a very similar situation. I am the lead assistant coach for the MacEwan University Griffins men’s basketball team and we just finished a disappointing season. The coaching staff is frustrated, the players are frustrated, everyone is frustrated. Time to hit the books…

As one of the five core coaching competencies of the National Coaching Certification Program, critical thinking can be described as: the ability to reflect on one’s actions and/or decisions within a given coaching context. By reflecting on my role as an assistant coach through the lens of The Titleless Leader’s 14 aspects of titleless leaderships and drawing upon my experiences from the year I will demonstrate my ability to:

1. Reflect on complex and demanding tasks by chunking them up

2. Address my strengths and weaknesses in a proactive manner

3. Evaluate my coaching inverventions based on the emotional and cognitive impacts on our athletes and overall team performance

I asked one athlete and one member of the coaching staff to rate me out of 10 on each aspect of titleless leadership in order to incorporate a level of evidence. Here goes…

Aspect #1: Operating with Trust

Player score: 10/10          Coaches Score: 9/10

For Russell, trust isn’t earned, it is given. For her trust begins by accepting the risk of choosing to trust others. Similar to being innocent until proven guilty, trust should be given to colleagues and constituents until their actions prove otherwise. Doing so will in turn help facilitate their trust in you. Personally, this has never been a problem for me. I trust easily within a team context which usually results in trust being reciprocated from my players and my colleagues. I feel this aspect of titleless leadership was a strength of mine this past season.

Aspect #2: Better together

Player Score: 9/10          Coaches Score: 7/10

Russell views the ‘better together’ aspect of titleless leadership as the ability to see the collective strength of a team or organization based on the individuals within them. This means accepting people for who they are and where they are while acting as a unifying force within the team culture. This aspect was a weakness for me this past season. One of the major issues I am faced with is Russell’s concept of ‘they’re not you’. At times I forget that our players have varying backgrounds and differing perspectives. Other times I dismiss their perspectives as wrong or inferior to my own. In hindsight, I was likely a divisive force within our team culture. Moving into next year I have to withhold judgement until I consider where the player is coming from and why they might approach a situation in a certain way.

Aspect #3: The Whole Person

Player Score: 10/10          Coaches Score: 10/10

The timeless cliche, ‘people don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care’, applies here. Russell suggests that it is imperative for the titleless leader to engage and consider the whole person when dealing with their constituents in order to be effective in their role. By accounting for the thoughts, feelings, personal lives, weekend happenings, families, hobbies etc. of your players, you facilitate a higher level of buy in and thus a more effective member of your team. Personally, this touches on a belief central to my coaching approach. Often players are regarded as just that, players. Their identity is based around their ability to put a ball in a hoop. Conversely, who our athletes are as people, friends, brothers, sons, etc. is always more important than who they are as basketball players. I am confident that I model this behaviour on a daily basis which is echoed by the scores I received above.

Aspect #4: Using Differences

Player Score: 10/10          Coaches Score: 9/10

Russell uses this aspect to caution against groupthink. Without differing opinions and viewpoints, there are no checks and balances within a team or organization. This rings true particularly within a coaching staffs. Part of my job as an assistant coach is to share my opinion technically or tactically even if it isn’t the popular belief. Over the course of this past season I believe I did so effectively by expressing my opinion in a confident and respectful manner, explaining my reasoning, then jumping on board with whatever decision was made. One of the strengths of our coaching staff is its aggregate experience. A willingness to engage in healthy conflict allowed us to come up with quality scouting reports, effective in game adjusments and shrewed lineup changes.

Aspect #5: Making It Personal

Player Score: 7/10          Coaches Score: 9/10

The discrepancy between the player score and the coach score above suggests an interesting finding. ‘Making it personal’ refers to adapting my coaching in order to connect with a variety of people. For example, an athlete whose goals lie in playing professional basketball after their post-secondary career will be motivated by different aspects of the game compared to an athlete who is focused primarily on academics. Whereas my colleagues on the coaching staff view this as a strength of mine, it is evident that our athletes consider it one of the weaker points of my practice. Personally, I can relate to the athletes point of view. My personal beliefs clouded my ability to reach each of the athletes based on what made them tick personally. For next season I need to consider the aspirations of each athlete before choosing which intervention is best.

Aspect #6: Dependable Politics

Player Score: 10/10          Coaches Score: 7/10

As I reflect on our season I believe the coaches interpretation to be more accurate in this case. Russell explains dependable politics loosely as consistency. In an athletic context, does my coaching apply evenly and fairly to each player with regard to a particular situation and how I choose to address it. In all honesty, the answer here is no. Those athletes who I felt more connected with or who responded better to my coaching were treated differently that those who were less responsive or resistant to my feedback. I don’t doubt that, if asked, certain athletes would say I played favourites. Moving forward into next year, I need to make an effort to coach every athlete, not just the ones who respond well to me.

Aspect #7: Painting Pictures

Player Score: 8/10          Coaches Score: 9/10

Russell explains this aspect as the ability to communicate with your consitutents in a way that isn’t just understandable, but specifically tailored to the knowledge and background of the group you are working with. This past season we had a young group of athletes whose understanding of team offensive and defensive systems was generally low. I am guilty of getting frustrated with them based on what I thought they ‘should’ know as a post-secondary level athlete. Planning for understanding is one of the most important characteristics of a good coach or teacher. Moving forward into next year, my interactions, especially feedback related, with our athletes should be based on where they are and not where I think they should be.

Aspect #8: Cornerstone Behaviours

Player Score: 10/10          Coaches Score: 9/10

I am happy that both my coaching colleagues and our players scored me high in this category. For Russell ‘cornerstone behaviours’ are the non-negotiables. They are the behaviours you demand from your players in the most general sense. Effort, intensity, commitment, and continuous self-improvement are some examples of cornerstone behaviours. A coach that demands certain things from their players without modelling the same behaviours risks losing all credibility and respect from their team. I like to think I walk the talk and am glad my colleagues and players agree.

Aspect #9: Sharing Gifts and Passion

Player Score: 10/10          Coaches Score: 10/10

Simply: know what you are good at, know what you are passionate about, and throw it around like confetti. In order for any team to be successful, its individuals must contribute to the collective. In our context I have some particular strengths, especially surrounding warmup and cool down activities, that I share with our team during practices. They are things that I am passionate about and thus our head coach allows me the agency to lead them at practice. As I continue to learn and grow as a coach, I hope that I am able to contribute more to our staff and our players.

Aspect #10: Being Ego Detached

Player Score: 10/10          Coaches Score: 9/10

This is another category that I am both relieved and happy at my scores. Personally I believe arrogance is the ugliest character trait; one that I hope never to posses. Although I am confident in my abilities, I know my role on the coaching staff and strive to be as effective in my role as possible without overstepping my boundaries. I must be cautious, though, as some of the scores above (namely the ‘better together’ score) could quickly transform into a reputation of being arrogant and closed minded.

Aspect #11: Becoming an Independent Thinker

Player Score: 10/10          Coaches Score: 10/10

As was mentioned in the ‘using differences’ aspect, varying opinions and experiences are beneficial for the team as a whole. There are many assistant coaches who could be labelled ‘yes people’. No matter what the head coach says, they agree 100% and think it is the best idea in the world. Such an approach doesn’t help anyone. I am grateful that my ability to think for myself and express my opinions has been noticed by players and coaching colleagues alike.

Aspect #12: Expecting the Best

Player Score: 7/10          Coaches Score: 9/10

This is a weakness of mine that was evident prior to my writing this post. In order to get the best out of your athletes you must expect and hold them accountable to giving their best at every opportunity. I am guilty of letting details slide in practice this year. Whether it was in hopes of avoiding a feedback conflict or just becoming too frustrated, I let our players and our team down by not holding them accountable to their best. I have already begun to remedy this situation by making it an emphasis with the youth team I am coaching in the spring. The athletes want to improve, they want to be the best they can be thus holding them accountable, however uncomfortable it may be in the moment, is what’s best for everyone and is demanded of high performance coaches.

Aspect #13: Transitioning After Change 

Player Score: 10/10          Coaches: 7/10

Our team went through a significant change this past season in relation to the season previous. We lost seven players to graduation and our top four scorers. One might say this season was defined by change. For Russell two of the most important aspects of dealing with change are ‘letting go of what was’ and ‘choosing growth over stagnation’. In our context, we were on the cusp of a playoff birth two years ago with a number of upperclassmen. Despite our personnel changes I brought our seasonal goal of making playoffs from two years ago forward into this past season. In hindsight it wasn’t feasible. Instead of taking a growth approach to this season, I got caught up in the desire to make playoffs which clouded my ability to interact properly with our team. At the beginning of next season I need to consider where our team fits before setting my mind on any one goal and be willing to adapt depending on how the season unfolds.

Aspect #14: Facing the Right Direction

Player Score: 10/10           Coaches: 10/10

Russell explains this aspect as being in it for the ‘right reasons’. I consider my role as a coach to be in service to our athletes. In every aspect of my practice I hope to put the athlete first. I am grateful that my colleagues and my athletes agree in this assessment.

By breaking up my role as an assistant coach into smaller chunks and being honest with myself based on athlete and coach feedback, I have outlined several key aspects to improve upon moving into next season. In doing so I am demonstrating my ability to think critically about my practice.

---

TL;DR: By reflecting on my season as an assistant coach with the MacEwan University Griffins men’s basketball team through the framework of The Titleless Leader in combination with feedback from my coaching colleagues and players I am able to identify key areas for growth in my coaching practice.

JP