In Pursuit of Excellence: Learning
from Elite Sport on Developing
Talent Effectively
Dr Bill Gerrard
Professor of Sport Management and Finance
Leeds University Business School
Session plan
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
“Let’s Go”
Ideas session
Group discussions
Report back
“Where are we?”
Who am I?
• Professor of Sport Management and Finance, Leeds
University Business School
• Research focus: performance and value management in the
pro team sports industry
• Recent teaching portfolio:
Corporate finance (MBA)
Value and performance management (MBA)
The football business (2nd Year U/g)
• Qualified football coach (UEFA B License)
• FA psychology for coaching (Level 3)
• Assistant coach, University of Leeds Men’s Football
You can’t be serious!
What can we
learn from elite
sport on
developing talent
effectively?
Ideas session: in
pursuit of excellence
Re-creating
the Street
Alternative
World Views
Holistic
Approach
EXCELLENCE
Winning
Goal
Setting
Coaching
What’s your coaching/
teaching paradigm?
Transactional
Paradigm
Transformational
Paradigm
Knowledge Transfer
Detachment
Capability Building
Involvement
Coach-Led
Command Style
Player-Centred
Guided Discovery
Instrumentalist
Efficiency
Expressive
Excellence
Performance:
outcome or process?
Performance as outcome
Short-term perspective
Quick-fix solutions
Summative assessment
Having mode
Performance as process
Long-term perspective
Get the fundamentals right
Formative assessment
Being mode
Total football or
4-4-2?
Tactical systems:
top-down command
Total football:
player empowerment
Four corners model of
talent development
AWARENESS
CO-ORDINATION
ABILITY
SKILLS
ELITE
PERFORMANCE
MOTIVATION
ATTITUDE
WELL-BEING
ATHLETICISM
Mental skills training:
concentration
Close your eyes. Focus on your breathing.
Count each breath until you are distracted.
How far can you get?
Mental skills training:
Motivation
Confidence
Self talk
Professional attitude
Goal setting
Imagery
Relaxation
Focus and concentration
Coaching
•
•
•
•
Individual-focused
Coach as teacher, mentor, motivator, facilitator …
Holistic approach to understanding the individual
Emphasis on positive and forward-looking
approach – “who do you want to be”
The GROW model of
coaching
The coaching
process
Preparation:
• Session plan
• Objectives
“Fail to prepare.
Prepare to fail”
Typical structure:
–
–
–
–
–
Warm up
Drills
Conditioned games
Free play
Cool down
Guided discovery:
- Create problem
situation
- Give players
freedom to
explore options
Coaching formula:
STOP-DEMO-REHEARSAL-LIVE
“Tell me and I forget.
Show me and I remember.
Involve me and I understand.”
Effective coaching
ASPIRE
INVOLVE
DEVOLVE
INSPIRE
SMARTER targets
Specific
Measurable
Attainable
Relevant
Time-bound
Exciting
Recorded
Choose your goals carefully
CONTROL THE
CONTROLLABLE
OUTCOMES ARE
UNCERTAIN
TASK-ORIENTED
INTRINSIC
MOTIVATION
EGO-ORIENTED
EXTRINSIC
MOTIVATION
PROCESS
GOALS
PERFORMANCE
GOALS
OUTCOME
GOALS
Target specification
COULD
SHOULD
MUST
But be aware of the
language of targets
“You MUST achieve this performance level”
– Transactional
– Extrinsic
– Compliance
“You CAN achieve this performance level”
– Transformational
– Intrinsic
– Collaboration
It’s not about winning and losing.
Don’t judge yourself or the team by
something you can’t control. What
matters is that you and the team
strive to give of your best and to
improve.
Dealing with failure
Pro team sports has high failure rates
•Average teams lose 50% of their games
•Football managers get sacked every 2
years on average
•85% of full-time football trainees exit
professional game within 5 years
But few support mechanisms
Excessive focus on winning even in
youth development.
But winning is not a controllable
Re-creating the
street environment
10,000 hours required
to develop expertise
Structured coaching
can stifle creativity
“The street taught us. Messi grew up like this.
Messi taught himself instead of a coach saying
‘run from cone to cone with the ball, do this, do that’.”
Johan Cruyff
The street – real-life,
uncertain challenges
Streetwise – shrewd;
practical; experienced
Group discussions
Question 1: Is there a
role for the coaching
approach in university
degree programmes?
Question 2: Should we
be concerned with all
four corners of talent
development?
Question 3: Could
small-group teaching
be structured as a
coaching session?
Question 4: How could
we do more to ensure
that graduates are
streetwise?
Wrap up
Group discussion – report back
Where has the journey taken us?
Thank you