Player or Coach?
"I don't make a player and a player doesn't make me a coach. We make each other." Mike Krzyzewski
In sports, the debate rages – player or coach as the key to a team’s championships? Most notable is the Brady Belichick debate. Was Tom Brady, the New England Patriot’s quarterback responsible for 6 championships – an impossible feat in a challenging league such as the National Football League? Was it coach Bill Belichick who was the key to the Patriot’s success? I’ll leave this debate to the sports fanatics and pundits and shift to leadership. I don’t believe a single person can carry the day. For this blog player will mean subordinate, and coach, leader or boss.
Leaders are (or should be) coaches. They see the business (game) from a wider view – beyond individual players. They may be older and more experienced. They help their players see things they cannot see for themselves. A coach has the luxury of watching a player play finding fault and offering tips to help them improve – helping them integrate better with the greater team. A coach must do something with that talented player leveraging that talent for the greater good.
Star players can take what the coach gives them, leader’s intent, and rally other teammates behind it. They can, indeed, make a significant impact with their talent. Like Tom Brady, players can and will sacrifice for the greater good – a championship. They go the extra mile helping another teammate and sacrificing their own time and energy for the greater good. Star players know to keep their ego in check. They are coachable. They know they constantly have something to learn. They stay sharp, and ‘on their game.’
When you have a combination of a star coach and player, steep mountains can be scaled. Their integration, open and honest conversations, and selflessness are a must. Filling a room or business with great coaches and players is woefully inadequate.
I hope I have been a Belichick level leader. I hope that I have been a Tom Brady star player. I like to think I’ve been both. I defer to my ‘players’ as the judge. I do know that it took both to win championships however they are defined in an organization. I’ve won many and I’ve seen many won when player and coach team up behind the greater cause, vision, and mission. I hope the Coach K quote gave it away. The answer to the subject line in this blog is BOTH!
Make it Personal!
Rob
Rob Campbell