He always got the best out of his players, because no one ever wanted to let him down or each other down, because the bond he built between us all was so strong. We would have done anything for him and each other.
William, ex-international player
Leadership occurs when a person influences others to do what he or she wants them to do to achieve specific goals (Murray & Mann, 2001). Within rugby, the coach or captain of a team can influence how his or her players think or play during matches. A good leader knows how to get the best out of the players. For example, some players may respond better to being given firm instructions or to being told off after making a mistake because they use the criticism as extra motivation. Other players might go into a shell and respond negatively to firm instructions. Those players require a more caring approach from the leader. To become a better a leader, you need to be aware of the dynamics of leadership, which involve the relationships between the leader, the other players, and the situations.
Are leaders all alike? The answer to this question is no—not all leaders are alike. Research has suggested that effective leaders can have various personalities. For example, one coach or captain might be calm and an extremely successful leader, whereas an equally successful coach or captain may lose his or her temper on a regular basis. Five different leadership styles have been identified.
A leadership style refers to how the coach makes decisions and what processes are involved in making decisions. The five leadership styles are autocratic, autocratic-consultative, consultative-individual style, consultative-group style, and group (Chelladurai & Trail, 2001).
• Autocratic style. Coaches or leaders who follow an autocratic style solves all problems themselves, making use of all the information that they have at the time they make the decision.
• Autocratic-consultative style. Leaders who follow this approach seek information from other coaches or other players whom they believe have relevant information. A decision is made independently after this consultation.
• Consultative-individual style. The coach speaks to all the players and other coaches individually and makes a decision, which may or may not include contribution of others.
• Consultative-group style. Leaders who adopt this approach speak to the group as a whole and discuss any issues or problems in front of the group. As with the consultative-individual style of leadership, the final decision made by the coach may or may not include the contribution of others.
• Group style. The coach presents the problems to all the players and coaches. The other players and coaches then make a joint decision without any input from the head coach.
The styles of leadership are on a continuum. At one end of the continuum the coach makes all the decisions himself or herself (i.e., autocratic style of leadership). At the other end of the continuum the coach has no input and the players make all the decisions (i.e., group style of leadership). Within sport, the autocratic and the consultative-group models of leadership are the most widely preferred leadership styles of coaches and captains. The effectiveness of the style used, however, depends on the situational circumstances (Weinberg & Gould, 2011).
Callard the PLAYER
The captain got on the bus and launched into the side: “It is a big cup game today, and we are going to hit them head on, make every tackle, front up in the aggression department, and seize every opportunity that comes our way. Stand tall, stand together, and take nothing from them. It may be their patch and their territory, but we are going to storm it as a team. It will favour us today because we are going to be united!” It was passionate, emotional, and stirring stuff, but it was flawed! At the time the captain made this speech he was injured, so he wasn’t the one who was going to be sacrificing his body. Even worse, immediately after speaking he got off the bus and drove himself to the game. Leaders sacrifice everything and offer all to the cause of the team, but this one did not. This is just one practical example of how you don’t want your leader to perform!
Callard the COACH and PLAYER
Some of the best leaders I have seen in the game as both a coach and a player are those who lead from the front. They are worth their place in the side and can encourage and inspire the team around them. But this is only half of the leadership role! They have also been good communicators, both with peers and with those above. They have courageous conversations with the management and are not frightened to request what is best for the team. Finally, they are good decision makers in the heat of the battle. That doesn’t mean that they make all the decisions on their own, but they can feel, read, and see what is around them.
A number of myths about leadership need to be dispelled so that you can grasp what leadership is and become a better leader yourself (Hughes, Ginnett, & Curphy, 2009).
Good leadership is more than just common sense because, as a leader, you are dealing with people who have independent thoughts. For example, think about whether rugby coaches and captains need to act confidently. The common sense answer is yes; of course, they need to act in a confident manner. But as a leader you have to be aware that at times you need to understand that other coaches’ or players’ views are important. You have to be prepared to listen, take on board what they say, and act in a humble manner. Therefore, effective leadership is more than just common sense because common sense does not take into account the feelings and thoughts of the players whom you are leading.
Some people believe that leaders are born with specific genes that allow them become leaders, which is not true. Leadership is not an innate quality that some individuals are born with but others are not. We accept that people are born with specific personality traits that are associated with leadership qualities, but having those traits does not make someone a leader. For example, a person who is an extrovert and very talkative may not necessarily be good at giving talks to a team of players, nor will the introvert necessarily be ineffective at giving speeches. For example, although an introvert could by shy and quiet, he or she may be extremely knowledgeable about the game and may offer in only a few words a message that is more effective than the points made in a long speech. The experiences that we have can also mould us as people and help us become better leaders. Therefore, everyone has the potential to be a leader.
Some people believe that leadership can be learned and developed only through leading. If so, the applicability of this chapter is somewhat limited! We acknowledge the importance of experience but also think that learning about leadership can help you develop as a leader.
Although you can work on a number of things outlined in this chapter to become a more effective leader, the answer to this question is no. We could provide you with a list of behaviours associated with great leaders, but these would not be effective in the long term. There is not a simple recipe for becoming an effective leader because effective leadership depends on the interaction between the leader, the players, and the situation. But you can work on some skills that will help you develop as leader after you have become aware of how the players and situation interact in the leadership relationship.
Chelladurai (1990) suggested that a relationship exists between optimal team performance or team satisfaction and the behaviour of a leader. This relationship depends on the situation that the leader’s behaviour occurs in (see figure 15.1).
Optimal team performance occurs only when a leader’s behaviour in a certain situation matches how the players within a group would want their leader to behave (preferred leader behaviour). In particular circumstances, however, the situation may require a leader to behave in a specific manner. That is, pressure from the organisation in which the leader operates may require the leader to behave in a certain way. For example, if a player commits an offence away from rugby, the bosses of the rugby club may instruct the coach to drop the player. The coach may have no choice but to comply.
To maximise team performance, a leader must take into account the specific situation that he or she is in and the preferred leader behaviours from the players within the squad before initiating actual behaviours. Remember that as the situation changes so might the preferred leader behaviours and required behaviours. The relationship between these variables can change from situation to situation, so one form of behaviour will not be effective in all situations.
Callard the COACH
A method that works well is to have a small group of players within the team form a leadership unit. This unit meets with the coach, talks out decisions, and establishes the chain of communication. For example, the group might include a defensive captain whose responsibility is to control the defensive structure and be the focal point for it. A person who has control of the lineout would be responsible for calling the options both to win the ball and to steal the ball on the opposition throw. There are no set rules about this group, but it helps to establish on-field leaders and spread the burden of responsibility. After all, the game is about the players.
Effective leaders have three basic skills: technical, interpersonal, and conceptual (Katz, 1955; Northouse, 2007). These skills are not personality traits because we are not born with them, but we can all learn them and use them to become better leaders.
• Technical Skill. Technical skills refer to your knowledge about the game of rugby such as your knowledge about attacking and defensive formations and your knowledge about specific skills such as passing technique, kicking technique, and lineout throwing.
• Interpersonal Skill. Interpersonal skills refer to your ability to work with other people within the team environment such as the players, other coaches, medical staff, and conditioning staff. You need to be able to communicate with people, be aware of your own perspective on various matters, and at the same time be aware of the opinions of others. Interpersonal skill is about your ability to create an atmosphere of trust whereby your players feel comfortable and secure in playing rugby and in expressing their opinions.
• Conceptual Skill. Conceptual skills refer to your ability to work with various ideas and concepts and then implement such concepts on the pitch. For example, a coach may develop new strategies in relation to playing a particular team. An effective leader is comfortable in presenting his or her ideas.
Callard the COACH
When the players play they should all be leaders; that is, each player is responsible for his or her particular area of the game, and all have to be accountable for their actions. As a coach I want leadership from all players, because each has to ignite and inspire the team at crucial times. One person cannot do that alone; it has to be a collective effort.
You can assess your leadership skills by completing the questionnaire presented in table 15.1, which we adapted to rugby based on the original questionnaire produced by Northouse (2007).
Questionnaire instructions: Read each question carefully and describe how accurately the questionnaire describes you as person. Indicate your response by circling the appropriate number.
1 = not true
2 = seldom true
3 = occasionally true
4 = somewhat true
5 = very true
The questionnaire that you have just completed is designed to measure three types of skills associated with effective leadership: technical, human, and conceptual. Score your technical skills by adding up your score for questions 1, 4, 7, 10, 13, and 16. Sum your total score for questions 2, 5, 8, 11, 14, and 17 for your total score for interpersonal skills. Finally, add up your scores for questions 3, 6, 9, 12, 15, and 18 to reveal your conceptual score. Enter these scores here:
Technical skill score: _______
Interpersonal skill score: _______
Conceptual skill score: _______
The scores that you received for technical skills, interpersonal skills, and conceptual skills are out of a maximum of 25. By looking at the scores and noting the differences among them, you can determine your strengths and weaknesses. You will also be able to identify areas in which you can improve. For example, if your score is lower than you would like for either technical or conceptual skills, you can increase your knowledge on those areas by reading coaching manuals or attending coaching conferences. Alternatively, if your interpersonal skill is somewhat lower than you would like, you can work on developing your interpersonal skills and the way in which you interact with your players and other coaches.
Bill Parcels, a successful coach who won two Super Bowls in American football, identified a number of skills that he believed were crucial to successful leadership. Most of the skills can be classified as interpersonal skills because they are related to the way in which a leader communicates with others and his or her values toward other people (Parcells & Coplon, 1995). The meaning of each leadership skill is presented in table 15.2.
Lawson (2009) proposed six steps to becoming an effective leader. At the start of this chapter we stated that there are no quick fixes to becoming a more effective leader. Likewise, these six steps will take an initial effort and require continuous effort over time. These six steps can become a way of leadership that you do every day to lead your players.
Step 1: Clarifying Your Centre The centre refers to your inner beliefs and core values. When your inner beliefs and core values are clear—that is, you know exactly what you stand for—you are more likely to have a positive and powerful influence on players. According to Lawson (2009) some people never test their inner beliefs and therefore never become leaders. When you are a leader, your inner beliefs are always questioned. To clarify your centre or to identify your inner beliefs, you have to understand what engages you. Leadership is the act of engaging yourself because when you become engaged you can influence others, without even trying. To identify what engages you, answer the questions in table 15.3.
By answering these questions you are identifying what engages you and what your inner beliefs are, which is referred to as clarifying your centre. Completing this procedure is not a task that you do only once; it is a lifelong task because your beliefs can change with age and experience. Being aware of any changes that occur is crucial.
Step 2: Clarifying What Is Possible In step 1 you look inward to identify your inner beliefs, whereas in step 2 you determine what is possible and look outward. Essentially, you have to work out where you want to take your team and what you want to achieve. Be realistic when identifying what is possible for your team to achieve within the time that you have available.
Step 3: Clarifying What Others Can Contribute You must be able to clarify what players and coaches can do because without a firm understanding of how they will contribute to your vision for the team, they are not likely to commit to the cause. You should not underestimate the importance of being able to judge others’ capabilities, because this skill is crucial to being an effective leader. For example, you might ask questions such as these: Which players have the skills to play the way that you want the team to play? Which players have the attitude to train the way that you want them to train? Which players have the potential to develop new skills? Are all the players currently playing in their best positions? By asking these questions and other questions to clarify what your players can do, you are starting to assess how your players and coaching staff will help you to achieve your goals.
Step 4: Supporting Others So That They Can Contribute As a leader you should support your players and coaches by encouraging and developing them as people and players. You can do this by empowering your coaches and players to take responsibility and by identifying ways in which your players can become better. Encourage your players to be the best they can be and do not punish mistakes, especially if they make mistakes when they were attempting to play in the manner that you want. Be constructive in any criticism that you give players so that they can go away and work on aspects of their game.
Step 5: Being Relentless After you have established the vision for your team, be relentless in achieving it. You can do this by not letting setbacks discourage you as they occur along the way and by directing enormous stamina and energy toward achieving success.
Step 6: Measuring and Celebrating Progress Most players or coaches who work under you require positive feedback at some point to give them motivation and reassurance that they are doing the right things. Statements such as “You are improving your tackling” and “You are really grasping how I want you to play, which is excellent” will encourage your players. The most effective leaders realise the importance of encouraging their players.
• Leadership occurs when a person influences others to do what he or she wants them to do.
• Leaders are not all alike, and leaders have various styles. There is no right or wrong approach to leadership.
• Effective leaders have technical skills, interpersonal skills, and conceptual skills.
• How you behave as a leader should be influenced by the situation because circumstances will affect the success of your decisions.
• You can become a more effective leader by adhering to the six steps of effective leadership.