Ostracised Newbie or Welcomed Addition?

We’ve all been, or at some point, will be the ‘new coach’.  Starting in a new coaching role, or any job for that matter, is an exciting time; whether its your first role or an opportunity to step up a level.  New people coming into any kind of organisation bring enthusiasm and different perspectives, but they can also bring unrest and discontent.

Sometimes things go well – really well. Other times, it can bring resentment and hostility.  New coaches may meet opposition to their ideas and become demotivated all too quickly. 

Often the new coach who faces hostility is a ‘whirlwind coach’ – who comes in full of good intentions, ideas and energy, ready to revolutionise (as they see it) the poor practice currently occurring: they have all the answers. 

I’ve been that coach. And that approach was probably more linked to my ego than anything else, and perhaps feeling like I needed to prove to others why I was appointed.

But I’ve also been a different coach – one with a more thoughtful and measured approach.  This resulted in more meaningful changes, which were relevant and important to the players and got buy in and support of other coaches in the club. And it was so much more of an enjoyable and rewarding experience!

Some thoughts to consider:

- Begin with ‘why’

Its easy to look at things and think ‘they’re doing it wrong’ or ‘I’ve got a better idea’.  But the current coaches have probably iterated the curriculum and processes over and over again – what you see now is a result of time and effort put in by the people around you, so being hyper critical may well turn others against you. Some of your ideas may have already been tried, or are being used in a different way. Don’t just assume that what you see now is all there’s ever been. 

And remember, what worked for you previously in a different context won’t necessarily work in this one.  Instead, begin with ‘why’; ask with an intent to listen, to understand why things are done the way they are, and what’s gone before.  You’re then in a much better position to have realistic expectations of which of your ideas to implement first, and how.

- Build relationships and trust

Face it – you’re currently the ‘unknown’ – to both the players and other coaches.  For the players, you are a key person in their enjoyment of the sport, their development, and in some circumstances, their retention in a talent development programme.  So consider how you can begin to get to know your players – not through data and statistics but by actually talking with them and trying to understand who they are and what’s important to them.  Then use this to inform your coaching.

Similarly, you’re an unknown quantity to the coaches now working alongside you.  Are you a threat to their position? Will you be easy to work with? Just like you should with the players, find ways to connect with the other coaches.

- Know your own non-negotiables

There may be things that you don’t like, but decide they’re not a priority to change yet. Its not about accepting bad practice, but about choosing what to impact and when, recognising that you can’t change everything all at once. However, you have to be clear about which of your own beliefs and values, that, no matter what, are non-negotiable.  These are things that you stand firm with. For me, these include safety and respect – that I will always respect others.  These are things that I can control and will not waive on. Be clear on what these are and be prepared to say no if current practice breaches them.

- Figure out how you can add value

Once you’ve got an understanding of the context, the players and the coaches you’re working with, you’re in a much better position to evaluate how you can add value to the programme.  How can you enhance what is already in place? How can you support a process or initiative which another coach is passionate about? Once other coaches see that you’re willing to embrace and support their ideas (and not simply shoot them down), and the value that you can add, they’re much more likely to be open to hearing about and being supportive of yours.

- Remember you were excited about coming here!

The first school I worked in, a successful lesson was sometimes simply one where all students remained in the sports hall for the whole lesson without any fights breaking out…  it was a steep learning curve and I developed a whole variety of skills through necessity.  In my next school, as Head of Girls PE, staff’s main complaints centred around kit - particularly students bringing ‘the wrong type of football socks’.  At first it sounded ludicrous to me that was their biggest moan! Yet only a few weeks into it I could feel myself beginning to empathise with petty negatives, instead of focusing on the important aspects and being excited about a new and different challenge.  Don’t let others sap your energy or drag you into their negativity. Remember how you felt when you were handed the role – tap back into that when you feel yourself being negative to help put things into perspective.

So keep that energy and enthusiasm. Model good practice – including how you treat other coaches - and recognise that in order to be heard and have the opportunity to begin effective change, others need to be willing to listen.  That’s much more likely to happen if you are first willing to understand your context and the people involved, to build trust and add value to what’s already there.

Learning from Learners' Learning...

When attending coaching courses or completing a formal coaching qualification, there’s generally someone else nudging us to learn new things. We’ve got to try things out in practice and maybe even do things that we’d prefer we didn’t have to – to help us develop as a coach but also, so we meet the demands of the qualification.

But what happens when the course is over? More often than not we go back to the comfort of our own club or setting, and do what we did before (but hopefully somewhat better, with a greater depth of knowledge and application). But certainly in the safe surroundings we’re used to.

However, consider the demands we place on players (and students) – the expectation that they should be hungry to learn, willing to take risks and find ways to challenge themselves to get better – do we actually address our own ongoing development as a coach in the same way?

I’m a firm believer in practicing what you preach – whether that’s as a coach working with players or a teacher working with student-coaches. When we watch these students coach, what do we want it to look like, feel like, sound like - and how can I model that in every session in my teaching with them, whether that’s on the pitch or in the classroom? 

Because if I don’t approach teaching them in that way, am I really in a position to comment on a student-coach’s autocratic delivery style, or to challenge their attempts to engage players in their session if in my own teaching of these students I’ve paid little attention to those same points!?

As you can imagine, it certainly doesn’t always go to plan, but the intention to respect them, engage them and connect with their ‘why’ is omnipresent.  And whether its gone well or badly, I’ll always reflect on why.

I’m incredibly grateful for these interactions with students-coaches.  It continually challenges me to consider my practice and reflect on what works and why. 

And then there are the light bulb moments – when it clicks and makes sense; when they find a different solution to a problem; when they realise that the answer isn’t black or white, and there’s not necessarily a ‘right way’ of doing something; when they begin to question their beliefs and assumptions and what that means for them as a coach.

These are great for the students, but equally are great learning opportunities for me as a coach / teacher to unpack the learning environment and see what role it may (or may not) have played in these important moments.

So recently, when a number of students share that they’ve begun to have a shift in their thinking, and are starting to really question what coaching means to them, resulting in changes in how they coach – I definitely want to understand the contributing factors to this to hopefully make it happen more often!

In this instance, an important trigger appeared to be a recent assessment activity.  An assessment that many of them expressed that they didn’t want to do, yet resulted in the students gaining valuable insights for developing their coaching.  In essence it encouraged students to do the following things:

- step outside of your comfort zone

- collaborate: support each other

- collaborate: innovate together

- be brave – try new approaches

- be curious - question why things worked, didn’t work, why you do things the way you do

- challenge assumptions

- celebrate new insights

Gary Klein discusses how performance improvement happens by decreasing errors and increasing insights – the light bulb moments.  He did a great TEDtalk on insights and how to increase the likelihood of insights occurring (watch it here).  Reflecting on this recent assessment, it sits nicely with some of his advice, potentially enabling students to have more insights in to what worked and why.

So, thinking back to my own ongoing development as a coach (and teacher), what can I learn from this? 

Klein’s advice centred around being curious and challenging assumptions.  Well, I’m certainly curious and reflective – and although I probably spend way too much time thinking about all sorts, this undoubtedly informs my coaching.  In fact, in the process of writing this post I’ve started to question my understanding and application of a framework which I frequently use…

Similarly, I definitely feel the benefit of collaborating and taking time to talk with colleagues and other coaches – this community of practice type approach is really beneficial with sense making, innovating and challenging assumptions – but would be better if it happened more often.

However, one part of the students’ experience that I don’t think Klein’s talk highlights is willingness to put yourself outside of your comfort zone – to take risks which might challenge or even scare you, but may bring about a different way of seeing things or new insights.  I think the change of environment was key in kick starting the process.   I’m not sure how often I put myself in a new context with my coaching or teaching which takes me out of my comfort zone… something to consider.

And finally, I love the notion of celebrating new insights, even if its just a little smile to myself to acknowledge that my thinking is evolving :) 

Is it Teaching or Coaching (and does it really matter?)

Coming from a coaching background, 10 years ago in my teacher training I was repeatedly told that ‘teaching isn’t coaching’… and they were right – it did feel different but I couldn’t quite figure out why. Maybe it had something to do with the instruction to follow a set curriculum regardless of student learning: lesson 1: dribbling; lesson 2: passing; etc… (yes, I was actually told this and was surrounded by this as standard practice in that setting...).

But my lines between teaching and coaching have got a bit blurry lately.  I’m unsure whether my teaching background is informing my coaching or my coaching informing my teaching.  Or, more likely, both informing each other.

I have QTS and a PGCE in FE, but I’m finding now my default approach to classroom teaching is to consider “how would I approach this as a coach…” which seems especially appropriate when I’m working with Sport Coaching students.  

But ultimately, does it really matter what label we give to what we do?  

I recently listened to a Primary Care Trust discuss the changes they were implementing to patient care - finding out how patients want to access advice and care; provide a range of solutions based on differing patient wants and needs; frequent, varied assessment of the effectiveness of these and the patient experience to inform future practice.  Sounds a lot like coaching...

Teaching, coaching, whatever you want to label it, I’m of the opinion its basically about coaching people – not teaching a subject, or coaching a sport, but people.  And that’s a pretty good place to start: who are you coaching, what’s their ‘why’ and how can you connect with it?  And from there, what are you coaching and how are you coaching it – and each answer informing and being informed by the other.

In other words… constructively aligning your coaching:

A Framework for Coach Decision Making (Abraham, Muir & Morgan, 2010)

If we’re teaching people to be sports coaches, then to me the most important part in my delivery is to ensure I’m modelling what I would hope to see on the coaching pitch: someone who is motivated to be there, enthusiastic and cares about the players. If you can get those things right, then surely it’s a pretty good place to start:

So let's not bother with the pedantics of whether it's teaching or coaching, and focus on what's really important - the players.