Reader,
Recently, I was fortunate enough to observe a world-class leadership expert who is supporting a team in a mentoring role.
He works with multiple sports to assist in bringing to life the team’s shared values. His role is to facilitate discussion, supporting them in understanding how their values are lived, on and off the pitch.
He shared a quote, “Strong teams and weak teams have the same things written on the wall.” He then went on to speak about how “behaviours are values that are visible.”
Not only were these powerful statements, but what struck me was how he used the power of storytelling to connect to the players and staff. Whether it was examples of football stories or personal tales, he had the team leaning forward and willing to engage with a surprising level of openness.
This really got me thinking about how we as coaches can utilise the power of storytelling in our approach to communication and culture building. In youth football, the game is not just about developing players across the four corners, but making memories.
Ultimately, the stronger our connection is with the group collectively and individually, the more we can support performance.
Three things to consider
- How often do you take time during the season, or at the start of the season to establish team culture and values?
- Have you considered using story or themes to create a narrative around the team and the journey you’re on together? This can be a powerful tool in direction setting and making lasting memories for all of the people involved.
- How much ownership do you give to your players in this process? If you’re working with U8s, this might be less relevant, but if you’re working with youth players U13-U18 this can be a great chance to support them with skills beyond the game.
One thing for you to try this week.
Consider how you can use the power of storytelling to work with your players.
This could be on or off the field to create a story of a season, inspiration or an openness and connection that allows you to better connect.
Start by implementing an off-field session to establish or discuss team values, what the goals for the story of the season might look like and what processes may be important to get there.
One critical resource on the topic.
Check out this article on the importance of ensuring coaches create the right story with young players.
If we put our own agendas around winning and performance over player needs, we can lose players from the game altogether.
