Every Team Needs A Coach
There is something that unites sports teams, debating teams, professional teams, and every other team around the world, regardless of the industry. This place of unification is the fact that every team needs a coach. It’s no coincidence that the role of a coach within a team is irreplicable! Whether it’s a footy coach or a professional team coach, teams would crumble without their expert knowledge, their vision, or their guidance!
The Role of the Coach
The everyday tasks and specifics of the coach will differ between industries and contexts, but the overarching roles and responsibilities don’t differ too much. The leader defines the vision. Teams need vision so that their actions and tasks are given meaning and direction. Teams without vision become stagnant and dysfunctional because no one knows the greater cause or the goal they are working towards. The coach’s vision and the articulation of their vision have to be clear and purposeful, otherwise, there is no point.
The coach is a great source of guidance. Think about it, footy coaches develop the plan, and they make sure everyone knows where they’re going to be on the field, what they’re going to be doing and offers guidance for the ones who may be unsure of their role or direction on the field. For the coach to be offering the best guidance possible, they have to be able to empathise with the problem at hand and give a clear solution. Without this designated person in the team, everyone will have more problems than they can poke a stick at, and no solution!
A good coach can turn a group of people into a team! A group of people isn’t a team until a coach or leader can come along and create a shared vision, trust, cooperation, clarity, and purpose within the team. Let me tell you now, a group of people who are out of step with any of the above things, won’t find success! Someone who can come along and integrate trust, empathy, cooperation, vision, and purpose into the heart of the group, that someone is a true coach!
What Happens to Leaderless Teams?
If coaches and leaders are so important to teams, what does a team with no leader look like? Leaderless teams become indecisive without their leader. The best leaders empower their teams to be confident in their decision-making, however, when a team is leaderless decisions don’t get made in a timely manner and individuals get caught up in the midst of having too many options.
Leaderless teams also become disorganised. The coach within the team is responsible for setting the standard for communication and organisation, without that standard or example of good communication, teams will crumble under the weight of disorganisation. When a team doesn’t have a coach, the team is directionless. The leader brings the vision to the team, and without a common goal, individuals will go in any direction they feel, creating chaos of direction.
Teams need someone who can instil values and exemplify ethical processes, without it, the team can fall into unethical traps within their work. The integrity of a team is put on the line when good values aren’t the standard. Teams without integrity get messy and messy isn’t the pathway to success. We want success that comes from our own hard work, and it feels good to reach success without cutting ethical corners. Evidently, teams without a coach are messy, directionless, disorganised, and paralysed by decisions. Does that sound like the kind of team you want to be a part of? I don’t think so!
Even Coaches Need a Coach
If you are the coach, dare I say it, you need a coach! Even former CEO of Google Eric Schmidt had a coach, even though Schmidt was at the very top of the business and was the coach for many of his teams! I would even go as far as to say that majority of wealthy and successful business people, performers, CEOs, leaders, and coaches, all have a mentor, a guide, a coach! If the best of the best at the top value the input of someone above them, why shouldn’t we?
As the coach, with the many roles and responsibilities of leadership, you need someone who can help you clarify your vision, find your strengths and weaknesses, problem solve and cultivate successful mindsets and values. Bearing the weight of leadership alone is a heavy task. Just because you’re at the top, doesn’t mean you have to be at the top, alone!
Mentors will give you real lessons they have learned in the real world. They’ll give you wisdom, the big picture, comfort, and guidance. Good coaches are interested in their own development as well as their team’s development, and the best way to do this is to be a coach with a coach! Your team will thank you for it!
What Kind of Coach Do You Want to Be?
Without leadership in teams, teams aren’t teams, they’re just groups of people playing directionless tug-of-war. These aren’t the kind of teams that bring about success. What kind of team do you want to create? Be the kind of coach that will take them there!
Hey! You’re Biased! – #18 Hindsight Bias (Knew-it-all-along Bias)
Ever heard someone say “I knew that was going to happen” after something happened that no one could have possibly predicted? Well, this is the hindsight bias, which is the tendency for people to overestimate their ability to have predicted something that couldn’t have been predicted. This phenomenon causes people to believe something was more predictable than it was, and to oversimplify the cause and effect. Let’s get unbiased!
If you want to know more about trust in teams and why it is so crucial, click ‘here'!
References
Jimenez, B. (2019). The role of a coach in building an effective team. TLNT. https://www.tlnt.com/the-role-of-a-coach-in-building-an-effective-team/
Hedstrom, R. (n.d.). Making your team work: how coaches can transform groups into teams. Applied Sports Psychology. https://appliedsportpsych.org/resources/resources-for-coaches/making-your-team-work/
Eades, J. (2016). What happens to a leaderless team? Learn Loft. https://learnloft.com/2016/04/12/what-happens-to-a-leaderless-team/
Scott-Dixon, K. (n.d.). Who is your mentor? Why trainers and coaches need coaching. Precision Nutrition. https://www.precisionnutrition.com/whos-your-mentor#:~:text=They%20care%20about%20helping%20you,%2C%20and%20caring%2C%20individualized%20mentorship.
Jubelirer, J. (n.d.). Everyone needs a coach . YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XLF90uwII1k&t=2s
