Successful sports coaches have some things in common, researchers from McGill University and the University of Queensland in Australia found. Notably, they engage in post-season introspection, focus on creating a good team culture and include their athletes in finding solutions to problems.
The researchers looked at the experiences of Canadian university-level head coaches of sports teams who had been at that level for at least 15 years and had records of success, including having won championships, but who then experienced a poor season.
The research team conducted extensive individual interviews with the seven coaches (two women, five men), asking about the strategies they had used to get their team back on track.
The centrality of self-reflection and team culture
"They all had different reasons for why it didn't go well, but they all practised critical self-reflection and figured out what they needed to do to fix the culture," explained Gordon Bloom, professor and chair of the McGill Department of Kinesiology & Physical Education, a co-author of the study.
All participants had indeed returned to their prior level of excellence within two seasons of the difficult one.
"Even though they were among the most successful coaches in the country, they really felt this thirst for knowledge, asking 'What do I need to do better? Where do I get this information from? How can I learn?' instead of just saying 'Well, I was successful for the last five years, why should I change it now?'," Bloom said.
Several of the participants mentioned having consulted their athletes to learn more about what went wrong and how to go forward. Sometimes, rebuilding team spirit has also meant cutting disruptive athletes from the team, no matter how talented, he added.
Reconstruction strategies like involving organizational staff in creating time and tools for coaches to practise self-reflection during the season or building athlete leadership groups to facilitate communication and a shared vision can help sustain success in the long term, the study suggests.
The role of courage in leadership
The researchers framed their participants' willingness to learn from failure as a form of courage. They also noted how this concept has been neglected in the literature on coaching, which has often put emphasis on other characteristics, such as confidence.
"Coaches, particularly at a high level, are seen as these saviours, these sort of enchanted people who always have the answers, are always great and achieve success," explained Bloom.
In this high-pressure context, admitting and confronting mistakes can be difficult, he said.
"These coaches are not 'supposed' to talk like that, because if they do, it's assumed the team's going to fail. It takes a lot of courage to say, 'Well, I wasn't really at my best this time, and I challenge myself to be better. '"
Can this teach us anything about effective leadership in other spheres of life?
The professor certainly thinks so.
"If you're working in a business or in any environment where you're leading people, there are going to be times when you don't do well. If you want to get back to the top, you have to be like these coaches, you have to self-reflect, you have to learn, you have to involve people in the process, and you have to be willing to change," he said.
About the study
"From distress to success: Serial winning coaches' strategies to reestablish adaptive culture and successful performance" by Madison M. Fraser, Gordon A. Bloom and Clifford J. Mallett was published in the Journal of Applied Sport Psychology.
This research was supported by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC).
