Felsted’s Director of Sport Blog ‘FortKnightley’ looks at sporting issues that are relevant today and will leave you all with something to think about. Follow on Twitter @dirfelstedsport 

The Importance of Empowerment 

Leadership within sport is certainly a topic that has taken up many column inches over the years and certainly a keen discussion subject for all those who follow sport. It is clearly easy to be a leader when you are not one, but with so much inside coverage on elite sporting teams today we have a better insight of the leadership role on the team and environment surrounding that team. It is clear that one model does not fit all and so the skill of leadership seems to fall on having the right approach for that team at that time. This is no doubt no different for any organisation where the leaders’ approach can impact on so many and their opportunities for progression and improvement. 

There are many theories as to which style of leadership is desirable given the situation the team finds itself in, and it was watching the recent documentary on the Australian cricket team, ‘The Test’, that highlighted the difference a leader can make to a team. This documentary followed the team for two years after the fall out of ‘sandpaper gate’ and the appointment of ex-Australian Test player Justin Langer as the leader. 
 

Theories can be a little generic, suggesting a team in a difficult position or strong position requires an autocratic leader and all other teams in the middle a more democratic approach. However, teams are made up of so many diverse individuals, purely following a theory might be detrimental? In my experience, I always start with the principle that you need every member of the team believing what you are asking them to do for the team is valued and is valuable to the goals of the team. Once you lose someone from the process, it can be hard to get them back and it will certainly have a negative impact on the cohesion of the whole team. This can lead to leaving players out or asking a player to play a different role in the team, the key part of your leadership. 

The very notion that leadership is dynamic suggests you have to be adaptable as a leader. This could go against the belief that you have to be yourself, but I think what it means is that you need to evolve as a leader, so your team can evolve as well. This allows a different approach or style over time, while still being true to yourself. Justin Langer clearly took a team over that was not in a good position. They were being lambasted in the press across the world and especially in their own country. Three players, two of them proven performers at test level were sent into exile for 12 months. Langer had a team in disarray and with the world's media breathing all over them. He seemed a good choice as he had a track record of being knowledgeable, gritty, hard working and an honest leader. He had strong beliefs and was very comfortable with this more autocratic leadership style. The team needed a clear direction to move on from the issues that had no doubt been bubbling within the team for a while and had manifested themselves in South Africa. He also was potentially leading a side who had a number of players who weren’t convinced themselves they were good enough for international cricket and an appointed captain who wasn’t necessarily a dead cert for the starting XI. 

The episodes that really interested me were when the team had started to evolve. The banned players were potentially not far from returning and so that process needed managing and it was becoming clearer who was up to international cricket. It was clear that the team needed empowerment and a sense of ownership into the journey they were on as a team. Langer who had been picked to right a sinking ship for his no nonsense, intense and disciplined approach was now in need of adapting his approach. You could see he had to work hard to hand over the responsibility to the players and give them empowerment. This in the short term for a coach can be a scary time as you feel that you are not in control, like before, but in the long run if the philosophy and vision was clear the end result is progression and team 
cohesion. The players are more invested in the journey and with a growing experience and feeling of value the results start to arrive. 

The best leaders are then able to reinvent themselves for the next team and this will certainly be true of those school coaches who have a team for a short period of time and then need to adapt and tinker their approach for the next team coming through the following year. Creating a feeling that they belong to the teams before and after them will certainly help as you then have something much bigger than the individual or single team. The best leaders can get players focused on the team and not the individual, which will allow the talent to come through without the inhibition of flying solo.

Charlie Knightley
Director of Sport