In the first of a three-part series, I’ll discuss how to build loyalty among teammates, loyalty to the coach, and loyalty to the program. If you’d like to see the original blog post, check out Leadership Freak’s 15 Techniques That Build Loyal Followers.
Can you be a leader if no one follows? I’d say no. Since we’re the big leader on our teams, with smaller leaders underneath us, we’ve got to model great leadership so that our captains know what it should look like. Let’s look at how we can create a team of loyal followers who are willing to figuratively run through walls for us.
5 ways to build loyalty on teams
- Enable other’s success. Coaches are facilitators. Our days on the court or field are over, we now have the opportunity to give great memories (and a lifetime of intangibles) to our players. Whenever I have a recruit in my office and they ask me about playing time or what positions I’m looking for, I always say the same thing: it’s my job to put you in a position to be successful. Now that could mean they’re a starter…or they’re sitting until they figure things out. It could also mean that they’ve got to change positions, because there’s someone who’s better than them.
- Leverage other’s strengths. You may see something in your players that they don’t see in themselves. It could me a freshman who is a natural leader. You see it in her and of course you’ll nurture it so that when her time comes, she’s confident and ready. Maybe your film study shows you that you should move a player to another position where she’ll be a total rock star. If you tell it to her like that, she’ll be fired up to make the change.
- Improve other’s performance. This is the essence of coaching, right? If our players aren’t getting better, then we’re doing something wrong. At the end of the season, we should be able to go down our roster list and think of (at least) one tangible way that each person on our team has gotten better. A good way to ensure that happens is to have a game plan to make each individual better, preseason should show you what the players would most benefit from.
- Adopt high standards. I’m sure most of us have a “way” things should be done…it’s the [insert school name here] way. It’s understood that means we work hard, we focus, we take pride in our program, we support our teammates, we compete until the end, we never give up. I’m sure you’ve got some things that are your “way”. Make sure the team knows the “way”, believes in the “way”, and teaches the “way” to your newbies.
- Correct and discipline. A few years ago I had a young lady on my team who didn’t understand what effort meant. So I had to show her my definition of effort by assigning the team “opportunities for fitness” each time she made a lazy move for the ball. By the end of practice, she was sniffling with tears threatening to fall from her eyes. After practice was over, I asked her what was wrong. She said she felt that she was the cause of her team having to run at the end of practice. I told her in a light manner that she did cost her team a bit of fitness, but now she understood that going all out is very important to me and to the team’s success…and she also understood that her team loved her even when she screwed up. She left the gym smiling and I never saw that lazy player again!
The next post will discuss numbers six through ten: answer public challenges publicly, give meaning to tasks, stand behind people when they screw up, admit when you’re wrong, and be emotionally steady.
Part 2: 5 Reasons Loyalty Is Important On Teams
Part 3: 5 Ways To Earn Loyalty From Your Team
