Rod Davis
Changing with the times is not enough
To be an effective leader you must change faster than the times. That’s about the only way to stay current in this fast-paced world. If you don’t you are simply being reactive to the changing needs of your team and, thus by definition, a step behind where you should be. Think about that for a second, let it sink in.
This applies in every facet of your life. Business, sport, family. In coaching it applies doubly, because of the mission statement: ‘To get the best out of the players, both individually and as a team’. So simple, and yet so complicated. If you asked me five years ago to describe my job I would have
said something like ‘identify the key factors to success for the team and instil them in the programme’. That style of coaching, although very effective in the America’s
Cup for 20 years, today looks archaic. Looking back, it almost feels ‘Eastern Block’ in style. Super organised, time efficient and unwavering in the execution of the plan. Also, sadly, inflexible and out of date. You could say that back in the day we had teams – where now
we have a collection of individuals, working on their own goals, not enough commitment to the team’s goals. Maybe, maybe not. But let that attitude go, it’s not going to get you anywhere nowadays. Like it or not, that world has changed. In 2017 it became apparent to me that the old system wasn’t
working as effectively as before. The ‘headmaster system’ had become outdated and it was time for a change. Today the players/sailors come with more skills than ever before.
Also more independence. They have been taught to think for them- selves and direct their own destiny. The progressive coach (or boss) not only accepts this but embraces it. Because that is about the only way to get the best of their player. It’s not that I have become a ‘woke’ kind of coach. I grew up in
a strict military family on US submarine bases during the Cold War. About as far from woke as you can get. But I do see the need to get the messages across if I am going to get the best from my players/people. And to do that I needed
36 SEAHORSE
to find a way that the message would be happily received! OK, that is all fine; let’s start talking practical applications. Given the current new players are very very good at sailing and
also believe in thinking for themselves (because some previous coach, or boss and experiences have served them well), and given they want to make their ‘own’ decisions… then the headmaster coaching style, top down, won’t work. What does work is bottom up, support-style coaching. Building the environment that allows the players to get the best
of themselves and each other. In effect the players become engaged in your mission statement, without knowing it. Call it self-coaching with parental supervision. When people ask me what I do? I answer: ‘I am an environmen-
talist’ – setting the environment in which the team can excel! To set that environment, don’t think about your coaching as much
as the way they take in information. It’s not about you, it’s about them. It’s about creating a world where minds are open to learning and getting better. Debrief, bad word. Really bad word. We all need to do reviews
and learn as we go. But mention of a debrief brings up a vision of an inquiry or interrogation. What went wrong and who is to blame? Defence shields go up and battle lines get drawn. Any chance of meaningful progress has evaporated. Here is a frustrating thing for the coach/teacher/boss. Each day
we have a massive amount of information that our sailors/pupils/team should know. But we have extremely limited time or effective ways in which to get that information across. Tired players that need to be on form tomorrow make for short attention spans. Same old story of life. We spend so much time doing that we
don’t have enough time to step back and think. We get so engrossed in working harder and harder, we run out of time for smarter. The sailing world of performance data, sail photos (both on and
off the boat), drone footage of starts and mark roundings, video on and off the boat, virtual eye tactical positioning, coach’s notes, a mountain of information… it all needs to be sorted and packaged up for presentation. Taken together it’s enough to make everyone’s eyelids start drooping. Just thinking about and dreading it.
MAX RANCHI
NICO MARTINEZ
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