Detroit Pistons head coach John Kuester has seemingly “lost his team” as evidenced by 6 of his players recently missing a pre-game shoot around as an apparent display of no confidence in the coach. Of course, Kuester is not the first (or only) coach to ever have his leadership style questioned, nor is he the first to lose the confidence of his players (Peak Performance for Coaches). In fact, coaches from every level of sports regularly face similar situations – especially when teams struggle to win games. In some cases, the separation between the coach and his players widens as the season progresses, usually resulting in poor team chemistry and team cohesion — and the coach resigning or eventually being let go. Of course, there are also a fair number of coaches who rebound from losing their players, and in some cases they actually strengthen their team as a result. So what should a coach do if he perceives that the players on the team have lost faith in his leadership abilities? Interestingly, the same person-to-person conflict resolution model that communication experts regularly suggest using can be successfully applied in these situations as well.
- First, it is important to be objective and fairly evaluate the current situation. This means setting aside personal, subjective opinions and instead focusing on the factors that have lead to the team problems. This also means the coach needs to take a close look at his actions to date, especially things that he may have done to cause the situation (remember, coaches are human and prone to mistakes, too).
- After gaining a clearer picture of the problem(s), as well as owning responsibility for any personal actions that may have caused the situation, the coach should offer to listen to his players to see what their impressions are of the problems on the team. It is important for the coach to tune in and take notes, and clarify any misunderstandings. Remember, the coach does not need to “cave in” to all the player’s concerns, but he should at least genuinely listen to what they have to say.
- Once the coach has a better understanding of the player’s insights, the coach can then look at what things make sense for him to change based on the player feedback. Of course, conflict resolution does not mean that the coach take full responsibility for the team’s problems, but a good start to rebuilding relationships is to begin by gaining insights and making changes before asking others to do the same.
- Finally, the coach must decide what things he cannot change because of his own integrity, and then he must report back to the team his final position on the points of contention that he feels right about. By soliciting feedback from the players, and then acting on some of that feedback, the coach will be in a much better position to report back with his final decisions. At this point, the coach needs to have conviction in his stance on things, but also reassure players that he will continually monitor the situation in case future changes need to be made.
Resolving conflicts are never easy, and this can be even more difficult when a coach feels as though he is against an entire team. Still, active listening skills can really help build trust and rapport, elements necessary when it comes to rebuilding relationships. When leading people it is not about “winning arguments” or imposing ones will upon others, but it is instead about learning from past mistakes and building stronger relationships for the future. When coaches do this, they ultimately strengthen team chemistry and cohesion, resulting in more wins on the field.
www.drstankovich.com
