1st Place Volleyball April 2010 : Page 12
leadership 6 How to Become a More Vocal Leader - Part 1 Jeff Janssen, Janssen Sports Leadership Center Having a hard time being a vocal leader for your team? This is a common concern for many emerging and existing leaders - as well as their coaches. It’s easy to talk with friends and teammates about the latest happenings, gossip, movies, YouTube clips, and other matters off the fi eld/court/track. But it is a lot harder for many athletes to be effective vocal leaders when it comes to practices and competition. Sadly, many competitions have been lost simply because of a lack of communication between teammates. Becoming a more vocal leader on the court and fi eld is a challenging and ongoing problem for many athletes. Further, if you play specifi c positions like point guard, catcher, setter, and quarterback, it is often even more important for you to be vocal for your team to be successful. One of our primary goals with our Leadership Academies is to develop athletes into strong, effective, and vocal leaders. As 21- time national champion North Carolina women’s soccer coach Anson Dorrance says, “The best type of leadership to me is the student- athlete who is a coach on the fi eld. I want a driving, verbal force who won’t let standards slip. That’s how teams with ordinary talent win championships.” So if your coach’s voice is typically the only one heard at your practices, we’ve got to change that. As Duke men’s basketball Coach K says, “On our Duke Basketball teams, I never want to be the only communicator. In order for a message to get across, it must be echoed by every member of the group. I constantly look for the members of my team who can help convey the message.” We help student-athlete leaders become more vocal in working with the coaches to co-lead the team. We want you leading vocally every day by setting the tone, reminding teammates about their responsibilities, reinforcing the positives, refocusing distracted teammates, calling out those who are falling below the team’s standards, and being the voice in the locker room when your coach is not around. Becoming a more vocal leader a process that takes time, training, practice, confi dence, and feedback. Helping you fi nd your voice as a leader takes time - but pays off in a multitude of ways for you and your team. 1 3 5 12 Phenom | April 2010 Reasons Why Athletes Are Reluctant to Speak Up Why is it so hard for most athletes to talk to their teammates during practices and competition? In working closely with thousands of student-athlete leaders, we have discovered six primary reasons why you are reluctant to speak up. In an effort to help you become more vocal, try to determine which of the six reasons listed below might be the greatest challenges for you. Lack confi dence in your status and legitimacy. By far the biggest obstacle that many student-athletes report is that they feel it is not their place to be vocal. Many defer to other teammates who they feel have much more legitimacy to lead the team. We often hear things like, “I don’t say much because I don’t want to step on the seniors’ toes.” Or, “I’m not the best guy on the team so I’m not sure if my teammates would even listen to me.” Don’t automatically defer to those who are older or better than you to be the vocal ones. Afraid to put yourself out there. When you lead, you take a risk and put yourself out there by asking others to follow you. This means that you have to consistently lead yourself effectively fi rst and foremost - being a hard worker, doing the right thing, maintaining your focus and poise under pressure, and staying confi dent despite obstacles and setbacks. Leading by example is challenging enough for most leaders - let along trying to get others to follow you. Because of this, many leaders are afraid to put themselves out there because they know they must be accountable to consistently lead themselves effectively. 2 Don’t understand the importance of being vocal. Some athletes don’t fully comprehend the value of them being vocal on the fi eld/court. They don’t understand how infl uential they can be as a leader in guiding the team. Don’t wait for your coaches to do most of the talking, and put most of the onus of team leadership on them. Not in your nature. Some more shy and introverted athletes say that being vocal just doesn’t come naturally to them. They are much more comfortable leading by example than being a vocal leader for the team. If this is true for you, there are still simple things that you can say without transforming yourself into an extrovert. And, if you are passionate, competitive, and want to win badly enough, you will fi nd it within yourself to speak up in competition - or else your reluctance to speak will be a contributing factor in losses. 4 Don’t know what to say. There are some athletes who understand the importance of being vocal and feel they have the legitimacy to speak up, they just aren’t sure of what to say or how to say. If you are one of these athletes, future parts of this article will provide you with some suggestions and coaching on what to say and how to say it. Not a habit. Finally, being vocal and saying the right things in the right tone of voice is a skill and habit that needs to be developed. You must dedicate the time and effort to build it into your leadership. You must become comfortable talking often enough that it becomes an expectation and habit for you. 6
Leadership
How to Become a More Vocal Leader - Part 1
Jeff Janssen, Janssen Sports Leadership Center Having a hard time being a vocal leader for your team? This is a common concern for many emerging and existing leaders - as well as their coaches.
It’s easy to talk with friends and teammates about the latest happenings, gossip, movies, YouTube clips, and other matters off the fi eld/court/track. But it is a lot harder for many athletes to be effective vocal leaders when it comes to practices and competition.
Sadly, many competitions have been lost simply because of a lack of communication between teammates. Becoming a more vocal leader on the court and fi eld is a challenging and ongoing problem for many athletes. Further, if you play specifi c positions like point guard, catcher, setter, and quarterback, it is often even more important for you to be vocal for your team to be successful.
One of our primary goals with our Leadership Academies is to develop athletes into strong, effective, and vocal leaders. As 21- time national champion North Carolina women’s soccer coach Anson Dorrance says, “The best type of leadership to me is the studentathlete who is a coach on the fi eld. I want a driving, verbal force who won’t let standards slip. That’s how teams with ordinary talent win championships.” So if your coach’s voice is typically the only one heard at your practices, we’ve got to change that. As Duke men’s basketball Coach K says, “On our Duke Basketball teams, I never want to be the only communicator. In order for a message to get across, it must be echoed by every member of the group. I constantly look for the members of my team who can help convey the message.” We help student-athlete leaders become more vocal in working with the coaches to co-lead the team. We want you leading vocally every day by setting the tone, reminding teammates about their responsibilities, reinforcing the positives, refocusing distracted teammates, calling out those who are falling below the team’s standards, and being the voice in the locker room when your coach is not around. Becoming a more vocal leader a process that takes time, training, practice, confi dence, and feedback. Helping you fi nd your voice as a leader takes time - but pays off in a multitude of ways for you and your team.
Publication List
