|
Developing Leadership Skills
Recent Articles (show all)
by Ashley Soldera
One of the benefits of participating in sports has been the development of leadership skills. Occasionally, a coach determines a poor or frustrating team performance to insufficient leadership on the team. What exactly does "leadership" mean to the coach and to the athlete? What are the specific roles and responsibilities of leaders or team captains on a team? And more importantly, how do sport coaches develop youth leadership in their athletes? The focus of this article will discuss leadership that is specific to the athlete and highlight ways in which coaches can develop leadership in their athletes through sport participation.
What is leadership and why is it important for young athletes?
Leadership occurs when one individual guides a group of other individuals toward a common goal, action, or accomplishment. In sport, the leadership role of the coach is clearly defined. However, the leadership role of an athlete is not well understood. Certain individuals may earn the respect and support from teammates which naturally develop into a casual leadership position; however, the coach or teammates may assign a specific athlete as their team leader and refer to them as the "team captain."
One of the biggest misconceptions among coaches who are in leadership positions is the belief that children are not capable of taking on responsibility for others. As a result of this attitude, coaches and sport educators may miss opportunities to develop leadership in young people through physical activity and participation in sport. By not just focusing on the physical skills of sport, coaches have a unique opportunity to foster the positive psychological development of their athletes. Sport coaches can encourage the learning and understanding of certain personal and social skills that are necessary for leadership (for example: collaboration, the ability to work well with others, proficient listening skills, empathy, and effective confrontation techniques).
In order to incorporate the development of leadership skills into their coaching/teaching philosophies, adult leaders must embrace characteristics such as vision and charisma, and model appropriate leadership qualities themselves (i.e., use of effective communication skills and sensible decision making strategies). In order for coaches to have a vision, it is imperative that they first have an idea of where they want to take their team, what they want their team to accomplish, and how they plan to make this vision a reality. Coaches who are interested in developing leadership qualities in their athletes should establish this skill development as a central component, or goal, of their own personal vision and effectively communicate how the development of leadership skills will fit into the "big picture" of the team's sport experience. It is important for coaches to share with their athletes the ways in which their vision of the development of leadership skills is going to be accomplished (ex, everyone has an important role on this team and will be given the opportunity to develop effective leadership skills).
A second characteristic that fosters leadership is charisma. Charismatic leadership is a special quality that adult leaders may acquire by being receptive to the different needs of others. Coaches who demonstrate charismatic leadership that is perceived as credible and reliable by the athletes are those individuals who make a conscious effort to understand what motivates their athletes and empower them to be the best they can be. If coaches want their athletes to believe in the importance of leadership and to feel they have the personal capability to become leaders, coaches must display appropriate leadership behavior themselves.
Characteristics of the Athlete Leader
Leadership skills are the skills and strategies that athletes may use in leadership situations, such as, solving performance-related problems, or resolving interpersonal conflicts among teammates. A few examples of leadership skills are presented below:
- Hard work and dedication
- Knowledge of the sport
- Ability to get along with others
- Confidence in one's ability to lead others
- Ability to understand the team's vision or objectives
- Awareness of self and others
- Communicate effectively with coaches and teammates
- Display respect for coaches, teammates, opponents, and officials
- Ability to handle pressure situations
- Facilitate satisfaction among teammates
- Perceived as credible and reliable by coaches and teammates
- Collaboration, or ability to work with others
- Taking responsibility for one's actions
- Adopting a sense of accountability for teammates
Strategies coaches may use to develop leadership in athletes
Coaches can initiate and negotiate the development of leadership skills by mentoring athletes during the process of acquiring and refining the various skills that foster leadership behavior. Below is a list of recommended strategies that youth sport coaches may incorporate into their teaching/coaching philosophy and use in everyday training to make development of leadership skills a priority:
1. Define leadership that is specific to your objectives and is consistent with your expectations as a coach. For instance, make decisions that put team goals and leadership skills first.
2. Explain to your athletes why development of leadership skills is important to you.
3. Recognize and encourage the consistent use of leadership skills by your athletes (e.g., acknowledge athletes who encourage teammates to engage in responsible conduct or provide encouragement to other athletes who are struggling with the concept of leadership skills).
4. Create opportunities for athletes to have a "leadership moment" (i.e., ensure each athlete will have a "practice run" at being the leader both in practice and in competition).
5. Teach collaborative learning and performance strategies. In order for leadership development to be successful, all athletes must treat each other with respect and learn how to work together as a collective group.
6. Allow athletes to be the leader by selectively relinquishing some control and some power to them. (e.g., have different athletes lead a warm-up or practice drill).
7. Teach athletes to have respect for themselves and they will learn to have respect for their teammates, coaches, opponents, and officials.
8. Introduce leadership skills that are developmentally appropriate. Athletes should be given responsibility that is consistent with the psychological and physical development of the child.
Conclusion
The development of effective leadership demands time and involvement from the coach to teach athletes to think for themselves and develop a sense of independence while at the same time, learning to work with each other. By using sport participation to emphasize the development of the fundamental skills that result in leadership, coaches can provide youth athletes with the opportunity to acquire important interpersonal and relation-management skills. Coaches who make an effort to develop not only the physical competence but also foster social competence will provide their athletes with long lasting skills that will beneficially impact their lives beyond sport.
|