Teamwork Intelligence Conversational Exercise

The following questions are intended for leadership conversation involving coaches and players. The deeper your conversation goes the closer and clearer you get to understanding the heart and mind of each team member. The deeper the better; adverse incidents happen daily—it’s a guarantee.   

 

 

What Can You Do When Something Unfair Happens?  

Let’s Talk About It!

A) Accept the fact that the world is not fair.

• Conversation Starters:
  What do you mean by the word being fair?
  Should you accept the fact that the world is not fair?

B) The most important thing to remember when something you think is unfair happens to you is to not dwell on it.

• Conversation Starters
  How do you dwell on adversity?
  Is there any way the world could be made fairer?

C) When something unfair happens to you, emphasize what you have rather than what you lost.

• • Conversation Starters:
    If you can’t make the world completely fair, how can you deal with it?
    Explain this sentence and apply in your team situation: Successful and happy players and coaches never dwell, at least not for long. Such coaches and players are too busy building a team.

 

What Got You to Good Won’t Get You to Great Some coaches are more talented than others. Pause for a moment. That’s a fact of team sport life that few coaches would dispute. The challenge is how to develop the coaches (head coach or assistant) who appear to have the highest potential. So you might be asking yourself, “How do I go about developing my coaching talents?” Don’t wait. If you’re ready to put forward the resources needed to become a rising star in the coaching ranks, take action. For the past 20 years, I’ve been working with coaches and athletes in the areas of leadership and team building. During this time I’ve noticed a deficit in time, effort, and energy when it came to identifying and developing high potential coaches. It seems as if excellence in leadership is a given. But it’s not! You don’t become a high–potential coach by merely “putting in the time.” Just working hard isn’t the x-factor. Neither is high potential a natural gift. I’m helping high achievers and high potentials become self-aware and increase their personal effectiveness. If you’ve got a deep commitment to excellence, building right relationships, guiding with influence and accelerating change, let’s talk. I’m looking for high-potential coaches with a desire to be mentored one-to-one by me. My coaching program is for those coaches willing to pay the price, ready to invest in developing their career for the long-term. If you are interested in talking about how you can go from high potential to high achievement—let’s talk. [Cory 623.330.3831] Sample of What You Will Learn -Deep Coaching: Inspiring Others to High Performance -Humility is not Optional: It’s a Necessity -What Coaches Need to Hear -Entering the High Impact State of Coaching -The Social Context: Intrapersonal and Interpersonal Dynamics -Conquering Denial -Managing Envy Kind regards, Dr. Cory Dobbs Ready to Coach You! (623) 330..3831

New to the Second Edition of Coaching for Leadership!

We are pleased to announce a new chapter to the second edition of the best-selling Coaching for Leadership. The chapter, The Big Shift: Unlock Your Team’s Potential by Creating Player-Led Teambuilding, connects the previous edition of this book to its origin, as well as to the future of team sports.

The new chapter sets forth a practical and applicable agenda for change and improvement. The reader is introduced to seven vital elements of change; seven shifts of traditional mental models that lead to the new core principles necessary for creating a player-led team culture. Click here for more information about Coaching for Leadership

About Cory Dobbs, Ed.D.

Cory Dobbs is the founder of The Academy for Sport Leadership and a nationally recognized thought leader in the areas of leadership and team building.  Cory is an accomplished researcher of human experience. Cory engages in naturalistic inquiry seeking in-depth understanding of social phenomena within their natural setting.

A college basketball coach, Cory’s coaching background includes experience at the NCAA DII, NJCAA, and high school levels of competition.  After a decade of research and development Cory unleashed the groundbreaking Teamwork Intelligence program for student-athletics. Teamwork Intelligence illuminates the process of designing an elite team by using the 20 principles and concepts along with the 8 roles of a team player he’s uncovered while performing research.

Cory has worked with professional athletes, collegiate athletic programs, and high schools teaching leadership and team building as a part of the sports experience and education process.  As a consultant and trainer Dr. Dobbs has worked with Fortune 500 organizations such as American Express, Honeywell, and Avnet, as well as medium and small businesses. Dr. Dobbs taught leadership and organizational change at Northern Arizona University, Ohio University, and Grand Canyon University.

The number one priority of every coach, player, and administrator is building the team’s culture—not winning. And if you get that right, most of the other stuff—such as tactical precision, selfless behavior, teamwork intelligence, and mental toughness—will happen as a natural by-product of the culture created by the team. This is how culture works: players and coaches create each other. The challenge of shaping a team’s culture is that culture is shaped by behavior and likewise, behavior is shaped by culture.

However, most players are blind to teamwork dynamics. The result is team culture of the high-performance variety is more elusive than most of us care to believe. But it’s true. It is very likely your culture is nothing spectacular. To understand changing culture you must engage “leverage points.” Figuring out where to start is far from straightforward; it depends upon where your team is and where you want to go. Sounds simple enough, it’s not. So where might you begin?

In short, a good place to start—a leverage point—is to seek out whatever creates toxicity. So what is the most pernicious poison of culture building? Playing time. Every student-athlete wants more playing time. On the one hand student-athletes are quick to declare “all in” on the team thing. Yet, on the other hand, the world says take care of number one—and student-athletes are all in here too. In the spacious context of self-interest, one can self-justify what one does in the interest of the team. From the perspective of the student-athlete, the needs and wants of the individual player need to be met by some type of desired compensation. Simply said, if a student-athlete pays the price of time, effort, and energy—contributing to the development of the team, they’ll expect to get something in return.

The line that separates the individual’s self-interest from the team’s self-interest is blurred; it’s difficult to see where one begins and the other ends. We know they overlap, spill-over, and interrelate, yet do not know exactly what form the mixture of these two driving forces will contribute to the team’s culture. However, learning how to navigate this messy terrain will help coaches, players, and teams to see more and do more. If done right, the navigation of the messy terrain will give you a new way of looking at the pernicious problem of playing time.
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The greatest and highest reward for one’s effort and toil is not what one gets for it, but who one becomes by it. This small, but potentially seismic shift in perspective—a radical reorientation—is filled with a profound sense of promise and possibility. The rewards are undeniable. Toiling for others on the team is noble, and unites the team. Participation on a team provides comfort and community. By being a part of something bigger than one’s self student-athletes gain meaning and worth. The athlete’s toil and inner struggle are never in vain if the goal is well-being; accessing a higher level being, and redirecting and reshaping one’s inner experience so that they have the freedom of choice on who they want to become.

New to the Second Edition of Coaching for Leadership!

We are pleased to announce a new chapter to the second edition of the best-selling Coaching for Leadership. The chapter, The Big Shift: Unlock Your Team’s Potential by Creating Player-Led Teambuilding, connects the previous edition of this book to its origin, as well as to the future of team sports.

The new chapter sets forth a practical and applicable agenda for change and improvement. The reader is introduced to seven vital elements of change; seven shifts of traditional mental models that lead to the new core principles necessary for creating a player-led team culture. Click here for more information about Coaching for Leadership

About Cory Dobbs, Ed.D.

Cory Dobbs is the founder of The Academy for Sport Leadership and a nationally recognized thought leader in the areas of leadership and team building.  Cory is an accomplished researcher of human experience. Cory engages in naturalistic inquiry seeking in-depth understanding of social phenomena within their natural setting.

A college basketball coach, Cory’s coaching background includes experience at the NCAA DII, NJCAA, and high school levels of competition.  After a decade of research and development Cory unleashed the groundbreaking Teamwork Intelligence program for student-athletics. Teamwork Intelligence illuminates the process of designing an elite team by using the 20 principles and concepts along with the 8 roles of a team player he’s uncovered while performing research.

Cory has worked with professional athletes, collegiate athletic programs, and high schools teaching leadership and team building as a part of the sports experience and education process.  As a consultant and trainer Dr. Dobbs has worked with Fortune 500 organizations such as American Express, Honeywell, and Avnet, as well as medium and small businesses. Dr. Dobbs taught leadership and organizational change at Northern Arizona University, Ohio University, and Grand Canyon University.

 

Beyond IQ: How Grit and Reflection Can Change the Way You Coach

Dr. Cory Dobbs (7/29/21)      (3 to 4 minutes reading)

Angela Duckworth has been one of the leading researchers and voices on the topic of “grit” –something  she defines as “perseverance and passion for long-term goals.”  Duckworth has found that grit can be a powerful predictor of academic achievement and, of course, physical accomplishments.  She considers grit to be the behavioral and psychological ability of one to weather adversity and stay the course—willing to persevere in the short term for the longer term outcomes.  In her findings, she argues that achievement is not just a matter of raw intelligence or physical giftedness.  She suggests grit matters a great deal in all that we do. So the question arises can grit, through the practice of reflection, enhance coaching ability to reflect on events, relationships, and performance?

Several years ago a group of researchers were interested in understanding the importance of reflection to the processes of adult learning and leadership.  In their paper, “Learning by Thinking: How Reflection Aids Performance,“ the researchers reveal the importance of deliberate reflection to learning and leading through a series of experiments.

The researchers worked with small groups through a multi-week training program.  They broke the subjects into three groups.  First, they had a “reflection” group; they asked this group to spend the final 15 minutes of each day reflecting on what they had learned. The Second group was given the task of “sharing.”  This group spent 15 minutes reflecting, and then shared their thoughts with a peer for 5 minutes.  The third group, the control group, did not engage in any reflective activity.

The results aren’t surprising. The participants in the reflection group performed 22.8% better than the control group while the participants in the sharing group experienced a similar advantage over the control group participants. However, think for a moment about the work that you and your coaching staff do daily. What does the nitty-gritty look like?  Do you and your staff miss out on learning opportunities—those that will only emerge in the course of reflection?  Can you set aside 15-20 minutes for reflection and when possible include sharing in your coaching conversation?  Doing so will make your daily experience more productive and build confidence, individually and collectively, in learning by reflection.

Reflection is a powerful learning mechanism, so make time for deliberate conversation and reflection.  Reflection is an important coaching activity. Reflection is a skill that can be learned, developed, and practiced. If you want a sustainable advantage, take advantage of coupling learning by doing with intentional reflection.

New to the Second Edition of Coaching for Leadership!

We are pleased to announce a new chapter to the second edition of the best-selling Coaching for Leadership. The chapter, The Big Shift: Unlock Your Team’s Potential by Creating Player-Led Teambuilding, connects the previous edition of this book to its origin, as well as to the future of team sports.

The new chapter sets forth a practical and applicable agenda for change and improvement. The reader is introduced to seven vital elements of change; seven shifts of traditional mental models that lead to the new core principles necessary for creating a player-led team culture. Click here for more information about Coaching for Leadership

About Cory Dobbs, Ed.D.

Cory Dobbs is the founder of The Academy for Sport Leadership and a nationally recognized thought leader in the areas of leadership and team building.  Cory is an accomplished researcher of human experience. Cory engages in naturalistic inquiry seeking in-depth understanding of social phenomena within their natural setting.

A college basketball coach, Cory’s coaching background includes experience at the NCAA DII, NJCAA, and high school levels of competition.  After a decade of research and development Cory unleashed the groundbreaking Teamwork Intelligence program for student-athletics. Teamwork Intelligence illuminates the process of designing an elite team by using the 20 principles and concepts along with the 8 roles of a team player he’s uncovered while performing research.

Cory has worked with professional athletes, collegiate athletic programs, and high schools teaching leadership and team building as a part of the sports experience and education process.  As a consultant and trainer Dr. Dobbs has worked with Fortune 500 organizations such as American Express, Honeywell, and Avnet, as well as medium and small businesses. Dr. Dobbs taught leadership and organizational change at Northern Arizona University, Ohio University, and Grand Canyon University.

 

Have you ever coached a team that was talented but something was just missing and as a result it simply underperformed?

If the answer is no

… then either you haven’t been coaching long or you are one of the all-time great coaches.

The truth is a lot of teams fall short of expectations.

But why?

According to Dr. Cory Dobbs, Founder & President of The Academy for Sport Leadership, teams often become so focused on tasks and strategies and their commitment to the “team” begins to wane.

In the video clip below Dr. Dobbs discusses a case study he conducted with a team that was underperforming.

He shares the process he used to help them develop teammate accountability and become a more successful team that was focused on transformation, relationships, and harmony.

If you are a coach that is interested in the new science of leadership, teamwork, and teambuilding then you will want to check out Dr. Dobbs’s new masterclass: Coaching for Leadership.

In this groundbreaking course he shares his 3 Big Ideas:

• A Leader in Every Locker
• Coaching for Leadership
• Teamwork Intelligence

*The Soccer Toolbox subscribers: Use coupon code “Toolbox25” to receive a 25% discount on the course at checkout here: Coaching for Leadership Masterclass*

The information presented here was provided to me by another coach and I know how important it is to develop our young athletes into leaders not only for the present but also for the future wanted to share this with you because it says so much that can help assist in developing a leadership academy in anyone’s athletic program.

Editor’s Note from Brian: The purpose of this post is not to say that you should copy this program as is.  It has some aspects that are sport specific, but I feel there are many ideas that can be applied to any sport. You should take the ideas that you like and adapt them to fit what you think is best.  It also can be scheduled when you are able to do it.  The post is to give you ideas, not necessarily a blueprint.

Leadership Academy Purpose:

1. Raise awareness of the importance of quality leadership
2. Increase Leadership skills of athletes
3. Share the leadership workload
4. Develop the character of athletes

Value

Coaches often pin success on superb leadership; therefore, teams should not wait for leadership to cycle in on it’s own. Instead, like developing technique, strength, or speed, coaches should implement a plan for teaching and developing leadership skills in their players. Since captains and leaders spend much more time interacting with teammates than coaches, they can significantly impact the performance of a team. Thus, strong leadership will increase team production. Moreover, many competitions will create stressful situations for athletes. Building emotional and mental resiliency in athletes will help them to perform at their best despite high pressure situations. Finally, developing character and leadership in the school and in the community will improve the quality of life for all. Students, recognizing the virtue of high character, will be more apt to make ethical choices. Teachers will be better able to focus on teaching rather than behavior management, and coaches can worry less about losing players for conduct violations.

Meeting Schedules

The Leadership Academy will meet every two weeks for dinner, from 6:00pm to 7:30pm, at various players and coaches’ houses. The meeting day will vary in order to work around basketball, hokcey and track practices / competitions. Meetings will begin the second week of January and last until the last week in May. At these meetings, participants will discuss readings from Jeff Janssen’s Team Captain’s Leadership Manual, and also identify leadership and character weaknesses that the team should improve. From May to August, the Leadership group will meet once a month to discuss team issues or progress toward goals. During the season, they will meet once a week to discuss team moral, personnel issues, and logistical matters.

Curriculum

Week 1
The group will explore the concepts of leadership. By defining leadership, discussing the risks and
rewards of leadership positions, and reflecting on effective and ineffective leaders in the past, the group will establish a context from which to build new skills. In addition, players will self-evaluate their leadership as indicated by their commitment, confidence, composure, and character, as well as their ability to function as a servant, confidence builder, refocuser, team-builder and enforcer.

Week 2
The group will examine ways to motivate themselves. Participants will evaluate their own commitment level based on Janssen’s “Commitment Continuum” (Janssen, 29), as well as asses every team mate’s commitment level. The group will discuss why they placed each player at that place on the continuum and brainstorm ways to motivate players at the “resistant-reluctant-existent” (Janssen, 29) level.

Week 3
The group will explore the concept of confidence. Participants will look at confidence’s relationship with sense of self and the want to perform under pressure. We will discuss the four sources of confidence: preparation, strengths, past success, and praise, and also discuss ways to be resilient to events that threaten confidence.

Week 4
The group will learn to how maintain composure in pressure situations. Using a “traffic light analogy” (Janssen, 52), players will learn to recognize emotional states. In addition, we will discuss refocusing strategies like slowing the pace of play, controlling the controllable, and focusing on the present, the positive, and the process.

Week 5
The group will explore the concept of character. By discussing the importance of exhibiting character in the sport, in the classroom, in social life, and in the community, participants will raise their awareness of how their character establishes their credibility as leaders.

Week 6
The group will examine ways to function as servant leaders. In order to prevent leaders from becoming overbearing, we will discuss how helping younger players, preventing hazing, and completing day to day work creates a healthier team dynamic.

Week 7
The group will explore ways in which they can build the confidence of their team mates. Each squad leader will complete a “mental game assessment” (Janssen, 91) form on the players in their squad. As a group, we will discuss strategies for increasing the confidence and mental resilience of players. For example, leaders can let them know what to expect, remind them of their strengths, remind them of past successes, establish perspective, and encourage their teammates (Janssen, 93-94).

Week 8
The group will learn ways to refocus their teammates when faces with adversity. In essence, we will revisit the concepts from week 4, and discuss ways to teach others how to refocus.

Week 9
This week will focus in strategies for team building. We will revisit the team’s vision and mission statement, “clarify the commitments and standards” (Janssen, 112) necessary to achieve this vision, and discuss ways to help teammates accept their roles. In addition, we will brainstorm and create a teambuilding calendar to schedule events like an intersquad basketball tournament, a softball game, whitewater rafting trips, and team BBQ’s.

Week 10
This week will cover strategies for serving as the enforcer. We will address the reality that conflict is inevitable and that leaders must be prepared to handle it effectively. We will discuss approaches like encouraging first, then reminding and refocusing, then drawing the line, and, finally, involving the coach (Jansses, 126-127).

Squads

Purpose for squads:
1. Shared leadership amongst several instead of few. Share the load.
2. Provide more efficient methods of communication
3. Build stronger team relationships
4. Create healthy competition
5. Establish accountability for each other

Ways to earn points:
1. Successfully completing task (earning passing grades on quizzes, selling gold-cards, achieving set and measurable goals)
2. Winning competitions (Relay race, newspaper article, etc)
3. Citizenship (Community service…approved by one of the coaches)
4. Work ethic (Strength gain, measurable speed increase)

Ways to lose points: (and $1’s!)
1. Not completing required tasks (Team assignments, locker room cleanup) -1
2. Tardy -1
3. Unexcused absence -2
4. Violation of code of conduct -10

At the end of the season, the winning squad will finance a meal of their choice. The last place team will serve it to them!!

About the Author of this post:

Jerry Campbell has over 30 years of high school and college coaching experience. He has experience as a head coach, offensive coordinator, and various position coaches. He has written numerous football coaching articles in various publications, is the author of over 30 books on coaching football, and has produced 12 coaching video series. Additionally, he is a nationally sought after speaker on the coaching clinic circuit.

Recommended Coaching Resource:

 

“Tell me and I’ll forget. Show me and I may remember. Involve me and I will care.” -Your Student-Athlete The world of coaching is changing. In Coaching for Leadership you’ll discover the foundations for designing, building, and sustaining a leadership-focused culture for building a high-performance team. To find out more about and order Sport Leadership Books authored by Dr. Dobbs including Coaching for Leadership, click this link: The Academy for Sport Leadership Books