Encourage Leadership
Posted On: 10-26-2023
It is important that all teams have leaders. I don’t’ necessarily mean coaches, but rather those within the team. We see in movies all the time when a volunteer or leader is chosen, it is because everyone in the line steps back and leaves the one sole out front. Most times that method is correct, but digging a little deeper is worth the time in selecting a leader(s).
Start with criteria. Is their leadership highlighted by their popularity, talent, or their seeming understanding of the role of a leader.
Popular leaders may become leaders, embrace the role and be great leaders, but they may lack the knowledge of what being a leader really means. Popularity may at times isolate those that are popular and thus defeat the idea of true leadership. If that leader happens to be popular then it might take some effort to educate them into being a good leader. Coaches that means you as a leader.
Talent as a selection criterion is also often used and the best shooter on the team becomes the leader. Here though there may be other issues to be aware of especially when understanding how that talented shooter has the time to lead and be a great shooter. We can all agree or at least we should agree that being a great shooter takes a lot of work. The willingness to give up that work ethic may be problematic. It may also come to the surface that being the best can always be challenged and if disrupted can that leader overcome the fact that they are not the most talented.
The idea of truly understanding the role of being a leader is worth exploring. Leadership requires the ability to influence others to become better shooters, build relationships to grow the team, be a good communicator, be able to motivate, and understand the need to collaborate with others.
As you begin the process of establishing leaders put the required criteria out to the team, so they all understand what you mean by becoming a leader. Let each person decide if they can conduct the role of being a leader under the supervision of their coach.
Now this all seems easy, but we all know otherwise. When asking who wants to be the team captain seems to cause everyone to back up on the line and leave no one standing ahead. To resolve this, ask team members who they think would be a good captain. Ask by including the criteria and do they think anyone can meet those criteria? Eventually you will find the team identifies the most popular, most talented of if you did a good job of talking with the team maybe someone that indeed understands the meaning of leadership.