Latest / The Gill Athletics Track and Field Connections Podcast / #56: Gill1918 Presents Dave Emeott “Layered Leadership” Powered by Coach O

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#56: Gill1918 Presents Dave Emeott “Layered Leadership” Powered by Coach O · The Gill Athletics Track and Field Connections Podcast

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  Welcome to the Gill 1918 Project, a podcast series by
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  coaches for coaches, powered by Gill Athletics.
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  Think of it as the Ted Talks of track and field coaching.
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  Short, insightful, and packed with valuable strategies to help
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  you grow as a coach. This episode is part of the
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  Youth and Beginner Series, brought to you by Coach O.
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  In this series, we focus on topics relating to coaching
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  youth athletes, coaching beginner athletes of any age,
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  and supporting brand new coaches as they find their way.
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  With that in mind, let's grow. You've probably seen this video
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  before. The guy is dancing like a
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  lunatic at a giant music festival, summertime, hot,
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  totally alone. It's awkward.
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  It's wild. Then another guy joins them.
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  Suddenly people swarming. A movement has started.
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  That video is titled First Follower.
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  It's been viewed over 8,000,000 times.
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  It's used to explain leadership. But every time I watch it, I
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  don't see necessarily leadership.
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  I see coaching because a great coach is, is out there all
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  alone, like the crazy dancer, some wild idea in their head.
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  Hey, you know, it'd be fun kids running, not just a little
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  running a lot. And and for a while it's just
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  you, the coach in the field, talking about culture and
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  character and details. But then someone joins you.
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  That's your first follower. That's your spark.
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  That's your first real leader. I'm David Head, track and field
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  coach at East Kentwood High School near Grand Rapids, MI and
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  over the years we've been blessed to win 8 state
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  championships, a national title, 3 runner up state titles,
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  multiple coach of the year awards, and oftentimes I'm asked
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  what's the secret? Here's the truth.
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  We don't always have the fastest kids, but we always have great
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  leaders. We've built a culture where
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  leadership doesn't stop at the coach.
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  It spreads across the team. Here, Here's something I've
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  learned. If you're the only leader on
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  your team, you're already behind.
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  You need what I call layered leadership.
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  Let me be clear, I'm completely opposed to naming captains.
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  We have we, we don't name captains on our teams.
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  We feel like all of our kids have a chance to be leaders and
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  that's important. Here's the reasons why we don't
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  name captains just so if if that's what you're into.
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  Let me give you some some thoughts on that. 1st is when
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  you name captains and you already have someone who's a
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  capable leader on your team and everybody would vote them to
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  make them a captain and put AC on the chest.
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  You're just stating the obvious that kids already a leader.
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  He really didn't need a team vote to determine who the leader
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  was. Second, it limits leadership.
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  Some kids think, well I'm not a captain, I'll just stay in my
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  lane. Other potential leaders go quiet
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  when you name captains because they they figure it's on that
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  kid to to be the leader and 3rd. It can create drama no matter
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  how you choose. Captains vote, coaches pick,
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  draw straws. I don't care how you do it.
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  Someone feels left out. A kid, a parent, a group of
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  parents. And now you're spending hours
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  explaining why Jimmy's a captain and Johnny isn't a captain.
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  That's not leadership, that's a distraction.
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  So we don't name captains. Leaders step up when they're
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  needed. We build a system where
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  leadership can come from anywhere.
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  Seniors who model effort. Juniors who help organize.
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  Sophomores who speak up. Freshmen who bring energy.
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  Leadership isn't a title, it's a behavior.
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  Your job as a coach isn't to do everything.
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  It's to build a system where leadership is shared, modeled,
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  and multiplied. I used to choose captains based
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  on performance. Now I choose leaders based on
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  influence. Can they bring people with them?
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  Can they be the first follower who sparks a movement?
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  And the best part? There's no limit to how many
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  leaders you can have on your team.
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  On our team, we have line leaders, group texting and
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  messaging leaders. One kid who sets up the tent,
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  the team tent, and he leads the group into doing that.
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  Another who checks the bus at the end of the meets to make
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  sure they're all cleaned up. We, we give leadership roles all
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  the way around. Everyone gets a chance to be a
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  leader. And when they do a good job of
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  it, we publicly praise them and we make sure everybody knows
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  that that Timmy was an amazing leader when he, you know, broke
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  the tent down in the middle of a rainstorm the other night.
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  And we privately coached those kids when they need to grow.
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  If things didn't go very well, then we then we bring them
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  private. We explained to them what they
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  need to do next. We teach them to to lead in all
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  three directions. Up.
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  Support the coaches down, mentor younger teammates across, Hold
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  your teammates and peers accountable.
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  Who was my first follower? My first follower was Kevin
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  Jackson. Kevin Jackson was an amazing
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  athlete in our school. He was a football player and a
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  basketball player. And if we voted back then for
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  captains, which even at that time we weren't voting for
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  captains anymore, if we had voted, he would have unanimously
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  been named the captain on our team with with no doubt at all.
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  But we didn't need to do that because everybody knew who the
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  leader was. He was the leader and more
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  importantly, he inspired others to lead.
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  I was that crazy guy in the hallways showing up at lunch
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  talking to anyone who'd listen. And most kids thought I was nuts
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  because I was, I was telling everyone I was basically trying
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  to sell hard work to teenage kids, which is never easy.
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  But Kevin listened and and Kevin jumped on.
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  Kevin didn't think I was crazy. Kevin was a leader and and he
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  wanted to bring other people in underneath our tent and and help
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  us to win championships. So as a multi sport athlete,
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  Kevin played many sports, but in track and field he won
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  individual state titles, he won relay state championships and he
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  could. But more important than any of
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  that, he connected with his teammates.
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  He embraced our character lessons which we taught every
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  single day and he helped build something bigger than himself.
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  And just like that, a movement began.
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  Kevin sparked a 13 year one run where we had won eight state
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  championships and and 3 runner ups and and a leadership legacy
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  that echoes in our program to this day.
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  So let me ask, who was your first follower?
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  Who will be your next one? What lessons are you giving them
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  so that your culture grows, not just survives?
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  Because here's the deal, A as a coach, we don't just build
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  workouts, we build movements. And sometimes the most powerful
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  thing we can do is invite someone else to lead besides
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  ourselves. If this message resonates with
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  you, I've been writing a book called Beyond the Finish Line,
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  The Art of Transformational Coaching.
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  It's filled with stories like this one about growth, failure,
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  leadership, and legacy. When the time is right, I'd love
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  to share more. Thanks for listening and go find
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  your first follower. Hey gang, Mike Cunningham here.
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  Thanks for joining us for this episode in the Youth and
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  beginner series Powered by Coach O Powered by Coach O is more
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  than a platform. It's a movement to benefit track
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  and field by supporting coaches, athletes, parents, officials and
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  event directors in countless ways.
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  Find out more and get yourself plugged in to the Powered by
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  Coach O by visiting coacho.com today.