Plain and Simple, it is Leadership that makes the Difference.

I am at a high school soccer match nearly every day and if it is a Saturday I will often take in multiple matches. I have seen some very good teams and some not so good teams over the course of my travels. Teams that clearly overachieve and others that just as clearly underachieve.  It occurs to me that one thing makes more difference than all others in determining whether a team succeeds or not -Leadership.

A coach can often make the difference in a program by setting a wise course and having a firm, steady hand upon the rudder, but it still takes player leadership for a team to be successful. Senior leadership is especially important on high school and collegiate teams. This is why even the best of coaches can suffer a down year now and again. Sometimes the leadership from amongst players just isn't up to par.

It has become clear to me that coaches need to make a very real and concerted effort to train leaders on their teams. It is every bit as important as training technical and tactical aspects of play. Sometimes more so.

What prompted this great revelation?  As is usually the case it is personal experience that provided the catalyst.  During my last stint as a high school coach the athletic director forbid me from conducting leadership training with the senior class. I had wanted to use Jeff Janssen's The Team Captain's Leadership Manual as a guide with the senior class. It seemed to be a matter of economics that blocked this proposal although the fact I had grown the program from 17 players to 29 in a single year seemed to be perceived as a threat to other sports at the small school as well.

I knew there was enough talent on that team to win a league title and make a deep, very deep, run in the state tournament. I also knew there were "strong personalities" in the senior class who could derail everything if they did not put the team first.

Great Leaders are Mission-focused

Poor Leaders are Me-focused.

I recognized we had two strong willed individuals in that senior class who were poor leaders. Not allowed to work with them on training to become good, effective leaders as I had planned it was necessary to become creative in doing so.  I did not reach those individuals with the message of mission-focused leadership.  More precisely, I could not find a way to override their me-focused attitudes in favor of a mission-focused attitude. As a result, the team had its best season ever, but still underachieved.

In the last 10 days I have seen two teams that are underachieving, in my opinion.  In both cases a lack of proper leadership amongst the student athletes is a primary reason.  In one case, it is good kids with no idea how to lead and probably receiving little training on how to do so.  In the other case it is more than likely me-focused vision amongst key senior players. To watch either of these teams it becomes apparent they have talent and play some great stretches of soccer, but just cannot put it all together consistently enough.When faced with adversity, they struggle to overcome it despite having the technical and tactical ability to do so. Something is missing. Something is preventing them from playing to their full potential. I am convinced that something is a lack of proper leadership from amongst the players.

As a fan of University of Michigan athletics I am familiar with Bo Schembechler's The team, the team, the team! speech. It is one of the legendary motivational speeches in the history of sports.  That team went on to greatness because they bought in, they believed in something greater than just themselves as individuals. Personal agendas were put aside. They played for one another. This is what great teams do.  I feel that environment can be taught and nurtured or in the very least enhanced through proper leadership training especially of key individuals.

The quality of leadership is the difference.

Make it work for your team.