Why Coaches Coach: Leadership Insights from the Athletic Arena

Leaders may gain a valuable insight from athletic coaches.

Most people have some background at some level in sport. Because they often have this past, they can be very vocal as they see your teams play. And their opinions often reference just how dumb a coach you are!

If you coach, it is a given that you will have your critics.

When you are having a losing season, the profession is no walk-in-the-park. The crowds at games, the radio, the newspaper, and the television are constant reminders that times are tough and that you are the leader.

Given the above, even though you may not recognize it during the difficult times, you do realize at the end of your career why you coached. It is all about relationships. It is about the players who become your friends – cherished friends. You develop an incredibly strong bond with your players and you come to believe just how privileged you were to have coached them.

The literature seems to reflect that today’s leaders neither direct nor manage their people; instead, they coach them.

If leaders realized that they are coaches and took the above lesson from athletic coaches, it could really impact their leadership decision-making in such a positive way.

You coach for the long-haul – for the relationships and the friendships that you build for a lifetime.