PLAYER LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT
This booklet aims to help you evaluate leadership in your team when preparing for your season.
Every successful sports team needs leadership. As coaches, we use our training sessions and
match-day team talks to lead and instruct our teams, but once our players hit the pitch we know the
influence of our captain or leadership team is important. We need them to share in the
responsibility of driving the implementation of the game plan. Whether you are joining a new team
or selecting a new leadership team, there are some very important considerations to make before
the season begins.
“A leader is one who knows the way, goes the way, and shows the way.”– John C. Maxwell
Which qualities do you value most in a leader?
Honesty
Communicates effectively
Confidence
People-oriented
Empathy
Accountability
Enthusiastic
Focus and drive
Positive attitude
Creative/Innovative
Inspires
Calm under pressure/composure
Set's goals
Responsible
Open to feedback
Takes initiative
Committed
Acts strategically
Willing to learn
Ability to delegate
promotes teamwork
Self-control
Discipline
Self-aware
Values time
Approachable
Shows courage
Nurtures their reputation
demonstrates good sportsmanship
A combination of several of these qualities can indicate an existing foundation of good
leadership ability. While some of these leadership qualities may be more naturally present in the
personality of a leader, they are definitely something you can develop and strengthen over time.
The leadership group/captains of your team have a primary purpose to support the vision of the
season and every leadership group/captain will need unique guidance as they navigate the roles
and responsibilities they play in your team.
What make's a great leader?!
Successful characteristics or “traits” are those key factors that many effective leaders have in
common. There are many traits of effective leaders - we have highlighted a few here that we feel
are pretty important when you are looking to build leaders in your team:
1. Set the best example
The reality is, your behaviour is transferable, and you are actively teaching your players how to
behave in certain situations.
A key relationship that players look at is how we as coaches interact with our match officials. If
your players witness you interacting positively, greeting an umpire, approaching moments of
disagreements in a respectful manner or having a drink together after a match, they are more likely
to carry that same approach onto the field. To us, that is professionalism.
The same goes for training days and off the field commitments. Turning up before your players,
having an enthusiastic attitude to training and enjoying your time working hard together is giving
the rest of your team a reason to keep their eye on the ball and be driven to succeed.
If you are conducting yourself in a negative manner – then your players will see no reason why they
can't behave in exactly the same manner on the field.
The best leaders are often the hardest workers on the pitch and the most respectful of their sport.
This is particularly important with youth players or those new to your team environment. It's even
true if you are taking over as the coach of an existing structure. Players are actively learning from
you because they want to be a valued member of the team, they want to fit in and also be the best.
Set a good example, and your team will feed off your enthusiasm and positivity to give you the best
chance of achieving your goals.
2. Awareness
Developing leaders who are able to keep everyone pulling in the same direction even when the
pressure is on or there are external factors like a large crowd in play is very important.
Your leadership group will need to learn that certain players will react differently to different kinds
of leadership. A loud, passionate team talk will work for some and for others, a few words from a
captain might be what they need to get in "the zone" or back on track during a match.
They will, over time, begin to know how to get the best out of their teammates. It is a process and
awareness is developed while building relationships and working on your game plan.
Q: What are your perosnal goals for the season as a coach?
3. Passion
Sport is intrinsically passionate. You all feel the same set of emotions out on the pitch every
weekend: euphoria from victory and disappointment in defeat. As a leader, you have to embody the
positive side of those emotions (commitment, dedication and passion) to drive your team towards
their goals.
Teaching your leaders that caring for their teammates and our sport from a wider perspective are
both ways they can show passion. It's not all about high-fives and loud celebrations; passion can
be about showing compassion for your teammates and respecting officials and the opposition.
4. Enthusiasm
A similar quality in many ways to passion, enthusiasm is an important characteristic for a leader
and one that can be displayed in a number of ways.
On the pitch, enthusiasm is being the first to every ball, offering encouragement to fellow players,
or getting their teammates back on track when they're looking down. But encouragement also
stretches to their day-to-day behaviour as a leader, and can often be more valuable in the long run.
You can encourage this by being supportive of team bonding activities and open to new ideas they
may have or feedback they offer. Enthusiasm is infectious! Put energy into everything you do and
your players will learn that it's a great way to work hard and can be very rewarding.
Q: What team traditions do you want to maintain?
Q: What are your players looking forward to the MOST about this season?
Q: Who in your team do you believe can be part of your leadership group/captains?
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5. Ability
Leaders are often elevated into their position because of their ability (particularly team captains).
The skills they need to lead can be developed over time and as the creator and implementor of a
team strategy, it is important that you are able to recognise which of your players are really able to
take on a leadership position and how you divide responsibilities.
6. Communication skills
Communication is a vital area in a team sport. And if any member of the team needs to nail it
down, it's the leaders of your team. At the very core of great leadership is inspiring others towards
a series of goals. To get those goals across to team members, you need to be able to
communicate them effectively.
Make it clear to your players what you want to achieve and how you intend them to contribute to
achieving it. Clear, concise communication can really boost your success rate as a leader.
Again, awareness is an important factor that ties in with communication. You know the players
that you lead better than anyone, so learn to take the right communicative approach for each of
them.
Here are a few things to consider about communication linked to group cohesion:
Set clear expectations when dividing roles and ensure that everyone works equally as hard.
Be an active coach, influencing by setting goals for everyone to reach their best performance.
Create leadership buy-in, where everyone is willing to give their best for the good of the team.
Point out that competition between players should never be a detriment to achieving the
team's overall goals.
Encourage two-way communication (player-coach). Ask for feedback.
Implement a conflict resolution system that is fair and transparent.
Make time for 1-on-1 feedback and supervision. Developing leadership is a cycle and needs to
be monitored closely to reach it's full potential.
As a young leader it is easy to confuse “leadership” with “being a boss.” Encourage your
leaders to focus on what their teammates do right and be more of a mentor.
Very different personalities can be successful captains, appreciate and celebrate uniqueness.
7. Motivational skills
As we've mentioned before, your player's position as a leader means in times of trouble, heads will
start to turn towards them.
Teaching your players how to motivate themselves and each other; how to take external factors
(e.g. crowd size, away games, weather) as motivation is a great way to get the best out of each of
them. Your leaders will drive this in your team and infusing this with your game plan and training
habits can help accelerate this process and grow morale and unity as a result.
9. The will to win
One common theme runs through the finest sports leaders – an insatiable will to win. Great
leaders are the ones that win every 50/50, bring their absolute best when the team needs it, pushes
their teammates on and never gives an inch to the opposition.
Bringing energy to everything they do as they hunt out a victory, leaders are winners as they put the
required time and effort into what needs to be done to win. As long as these ruthless character
traits don't' spill over into aggression or the use of unethical methods of victory, a complete and
utter will to win should be high on the list of must-haves for sports leadership.
10. Believe in yourself and your vision
As a coach, it is your job is to plan out a vision in your own head before 'imprinting' it into the
minds of your team. Many of the characteristics required to be a successful sports leader interlock
with one another. Whenever you call upon them, do so as another step on the ladder to your longterm vision.
Your vision requires the ability to know how to get there, communication to let other know how
they will contribute to success, and motivation and enthusiasm to share your vision and win the
support of others. Without knowing where your end game is, your capacity to lead is not clear.
Outline a series of goals for you, your team and your individual leaders to steer them towards what
you want to achieve this season.
Q: What do you want to achieve this season as a team?
Q: How will your leadership group/captains help you achieve this:
Q: What will be a clear indication of whether your leadership team has been successful this season?