In a salary cap world, are sports physiology, psychology, physical and mental preparedness, training, analytics, equipment and even sleep research becoming commodities? Could leadership be an untapped source of competitive advantage?
Sport organizations often overlook the connection between the performance of the leaders within the organization, (Ownership, President, Director of Operations, GMs, Coaches, etc.) and team success as measured by wins and losses. Even the connection between the leadership provided by the coaching staff and the success of the athletes is rarely measured beyond wins and losses. Beyond that, what of those who lead the coaches and those who are responsible to create a sustainable culture of winning within the organization?
Even where there is a perceived connection between front office leadership and overall success, sport organizations face a gaping void in measuring leadership performance beyond wins, losses, attendance, and financial results. Measurement is focused instead on analytics applied to athletic performance. Innovative leadership analytics have uncovered new measurement possibilities for individual/team improvements for leaders that impact the win/loss column. Quantifiable increases in genuine and measurable leadership effectiveness form the foundation of creating a winning culture.
Our approach to sport leadership relies on three fundamental ideas:
* We Simplify sport leadership by clearly articulating the leadership framework and the measurable differences between good and great leaders.
* We Quantify leadership by establishing a dynamic scorecard that measures sport leadership performance before, during and after the engagement.
* We Integrate leadership by providing executive/executive team coaching that connects measurable leadership with real-time organizational challenges that are unique for each team.
Wins and losses – game by game, season by season – is the obvious measurement of competitive performance. What lies behind performance can seem subtle, and yet makes a tremendous impact. The temptation to apply quick fixes is almost irresistible. A handful of teams and franchises have developed a sustainable winning culture by working on leadership both on and off the field of play. This begins with measuring and improving leadership behaviors at the top of the organization and continues down to the coaching staff.