the swarm

All reporting of weekly mileage should now be to the comment section of the blog.

Something to think about, with apologies to a significant literary work...

"For the strength of the Swarm is the Yellow Jacket, and the strength of the Yellow Jacket is the Swarm"

Kudos to anyone who can name the literary work.  This week we go back to Eugene for the USATF National and Junior National Championships.  Brandon will compete in the men's 800m, Bailey will compete in the women's junior high jump, and Ryan will compete in the men's junior triple jump.  Wish them well as they represent us in one of the biggest meets of the year!

Now let's finish what we began two weeks ago with the last two items of the 4 THINGS YOUR LEADERS MUST DO TO CREATE A CHAMPIONSHIP CULTURE...

3. LEADERS MUST CONNECT THE CULTURE
You also need your leaders to serve as the primary Connectors within your team. This means they need to connect the various subgroups on your team so that they don’t splinter off and become corrosive cliques.

Opposing subgroups often arise within teams based on a variety of factors: starters vs. the reserves, the upperclassmen vs. the underclassmen, the people the coach recruited vs. those the coach didn’t recruit, etc. While this is natural and a positive when the subgroups get along and work together, sometimes these subgroups become internally competitive and combative with each other and create divisive cliques on your team.

Your team leaders must help to keep the natural subgroups working together for the benefit of the entire team - not battling each other. Good team leaders connect with all the natural subgroups on your team and understand each subgroup’s viewpoints, challenges, and value to the team.

For example, some years back, Chester Frazier was the starting senior point guard on the Illinois men’s basketball team. Even though he was an experienced senior, Chester made a point of connecting with the freshmen on the team by reaching out to them often. Even though the perimeter players had different workout times, Chester also made a point to hang around afterwards so he could be at the gym when the post players came in for their workouts. And even though he was a starter, he still worked with the reserves after practice so they could get in some extra shooting. Chester made a special point to connect with all the various subgroups on the Illinois team to keep everyone on the same page, which gave him great respect and credibility as a leader. Your leaders must also take the initiative to reach out to the various subgroups on your team to keep them all connected.

"Great leaders are great connectors."  Jeff Janssen

4. LEADERS MUST BE THE CARETAKERS OF THE CULTURE

The fourth important function of your leaders is to serve as the critical Caretakers of your culture. If your team is going to be successful, you must establish high Standards in practices, conditioning, weights, the classroom, on campus, and in the community. Your team leaders must vigilantly monitor your program’s Standards on and off the playing field and hold everyone accountable to them. When people meet and exceed your team's Standards, your leaders should be the first to congratulate them and call them out to the rest of the team as a positive example.

When people fall below the Standards, as they inevitably will, your leaders must constructively confront their less-disciplined teammates for the good of the program. Holding teammates accountable is an ongoing, challenging, and uncomfortable job for many leaders, but nevertheless a necessary one that absolutely must be done for the overall health of the culture. If your team leaders let your team's Standards slip or allow others to abuse the culture intentionally or unintentionally, your culture soon decays and collapses right along with your leader’s credibility. In this way, your team leaders serve as the guardians and caretakers of your culture. Like the safety guardrails on a treacherous highway, leaders must keep their team from running off the road and into the ditch, or worse, off the side of the mountain.

“The final piece in a championship team is leadership. The most attractive type of leadership to me is the student-athlete who is a coach on the field. I want a driving verbal force who won’t let standards slip. That’s how teams with ordinary talent can win championships.”
  Anson Dorrance, North Carolina Women’s Soccer Coach