Leadership is one of the most essential skills for a coach (or an athlete too, for that matter) to possess. Common thought is that leadership ability is something you are born with: either you are a good leader or you aren’t. In fact, that is completely false. Leadership ability can be developed and improved just like any other skill. This guide will outline three important strategies of leadership that are often overlooked, but need to be constantly in mind if you wish to lead your athlete(s) to success. These strategies are adapted from The 33 Strategies of War by Robert Greene, a must read for coaches and athletes alike.
This is part three of a three part series. Read part one or part two.
Strategy #7 – Transform Your War Into a Crusade: Moral Strategies
The essence of this strategy is that as a general you need to constantly be monitoring your army’s morale. If your army’s morale becomes a problem, it will already be too late. If your army’s mind isn’t into fighting, then they won’t fight as well as they can.
How can coaches use this strategy?
People have heard time and again that mentality is over half the battle. They’re right. As a coach, you need to constantly have an eye on your team’s morale. If your team’s not focused on the upcoming competition, their performance will drastically suffer. By getting your players to focus on the greater good of the team, you can overcome many obstacles your team will face.
So how do I improve my team’s morale?
There are eight crucial areas that you need to keep in mind. By monitoring and improving these eight, your team’s morale will soar, and their performance and success will go with it.
- Give your team something to believe in. This can be anything from the team’s tradition, its fans, whatever. They need to have a reason to believe in the team. If they don’t, their morale will suffer.
- Monitor how they are physically. Seasons are long, and if they need a rest, give them one. You need to keep your players’ physical states in mind. It makes no sense to run your players into the ground.
- Don’t be a hypocrite. If your players see you a hypocritical, whether not enforcing rules fairly or not following them yourself, their morale will drop.
- Don’t let your team relax. Keep them focused on one task after another.
- Make them feel what you’re speaking. Talking to them about how important a game against a rival is, means nothing. Make them feel how important the game is.
- Don’t be only the nice or mean coach. If you’re only known as nice, your players will try to get one over on you. If you’re only harsh with them, they won’t care to play for you.
- Give them something to aspire to. Make your team want to be remembered as one of the great ones.
- Take any negativity seriously. Quickly remove any negativity in the team, as it can spread like wildfire.
Your team’s morale is vitally important. It make the difference between winning and losing. How many times has a better team lost to a weaker opponent? Don’t let that happen to your team.
Further Reading:
The 33 Strategies of War by Robert Greene – this series is based off of three strategies discussed in Mr. Greene’s book. However, all strategies discussed in the book are immediately implementable in sports. I strongly recommend this book.
The 48 Laws of Power by Robert Greene – another outstanding book by Mr. Greene. This book will teach you the different ways people will try to influence you as a coach, and how your opponent tries to gain control over your team’s performance.
