Volleyball and management

How to be a great

manageror … lessons I have learnt from coaching volleyball

Volleyball and

Management?I am a self-employed management consultant and

trainer. I am also a volleyball coach.

Over the past few years, I have begun to use

sporting analogies from my experiences of

coaching volleyball as a way of explaining core

leadership and management principles.

I have been fortunate to have been asked to give

talks about this. Here is a synopsis of my talk.

Who am I?

• Self employed Management

Consultant/Management Trainer

• Passionate about People Management …

passionate about getting the best out of people.

• Experienced Team Manager … a wide variety

of teams both local and remote.

• “Enthusiastic” sportsman … sport has always

played a big role in my life.

Why are we talking about

Volleyball?• Former player and now coach

• Coach for University of Leicester Volleyball

Club - both men’s and women’s teams

• Clear parallels between coaching and

management

• Sporting analogies help articulate the point

• Here are 7 key points about leadership and

management

Be careful what you ask

for…In my first year, I asked my players what they

wanted to achieve. They said “We want to win the

league”

So training, team selection, tactics, behaviour was

focussed on winning.

The result was that we won a lot of matches, the

men won the local league, the women came 2nd.

BUT, we did not improve beginners, we lacked

strength in depth and we had falling-outs.

1

Be careful what you ask

for…Setting targets can produce unexpected

consequences. By focussing on the one target, we

forgot that the club is about more than winning:

people play to enjoy themselves and to make

friends.

Lessons:

• When setting targets, consider the wider picture

• Concentrate on the outcomes (developing

players) rather than the outputs (getting results)

1

High Expectations

I expect my team to be brilliant. I tell them all the

time that I believe in their ability.

By doing that, it gives them the confidence to

improve and to succeed.

If I tell my players they are useless and have to try

harder, some of them may believe me and not try to

improve.

Set the bar high and encourage them to make it!

2

High Expectations2

This means I have to lead by example.

I have to be first into training. My sessions have to

organised and professional. I have to treat the

opposition and the referees with respect.

If I want my team to behave a certain way, I have to

be the best at it.

“As a man changes his own nature, so does the attitude of

the world change towards him” Mahatma Gandhi

Team ethos

I am nothing without my team. A manager

achieves nothing without the hard work and

brilliance of his/her staff. The same is true on the

volleyball court.

I focus on my players and their needs. My job is to

give them the skills, knowledge, confidence to be

able to perform.

But they are the ones who perform!

3

Throwing toys out of the

pram• Challenging poor behaviour is difficult

• Make it clear what you expect

• Nip it in the bud

• Set up a code of practice

• Ask the team to define their own standards and

self-regulate

• Team defines their own values and standards of

behaviour

4

Throwing toys out of the

pramChallenging poor behaviour is difficult in any

context.

A player who behaves badly infects the whole

team. It causes disharmony and can lead to the

team failing to perform as a whole.

My secrets to managing poor behaviour are to:

a) Make it clear what you expect

b) Nip it in the bud early

4

Throwing toys out of the

pramNowadays, I ask the players to set up a code of

practice.

I ask the team to define their own standards and

self-regulate. Team defines their own values and

standards of behaviour.

It creates a better environment, it makes it harder

for people to behave badly and it is easier for me or

the players to tackle any issues.

4

It takes time to change

techniquesImproving someone’s poor service technique, for

instance, takes time.

The player has to “unlearn” the old technique and

focus on the new one.

Performance dips as the player get used to new

ways of working

As a coach, I have to help the player persevere,

even if it means they play worse for a while

5

It takes time to change

Changing processes takes time in the workplace. It

takes time for your staff to get used to new systems

and processes, so remember there may be a dip in

productivity.

Changing behaviours takes even longer and needs

a lot more support and re-enforcement!

5

Sport is all about

confidenceConfident players = happy players = better players

How many times have you seen a sports team play

terribly when they have lost a couple of times and

then suddenly flourish after a couple of wins?

A coach’s job is to remind them that they are good

players, to remind them of what they are capable

of.

6

Work is all about

confidenceConfident teams = happy teams = productive teams

Make sure you recognise achievement in your

team. Inspire and challenge them to do better.

Believe in them.

But remember: every person is an individual with

different goals, different “triggers”.

Learn to manage the team and manage each

individual within the team.

6

I had to learn how to be a

coachWhen I started to coach, I read books, I asked for

advice and I planned my sessions carefully.

I still read books, I still ask of advice, I attend

courses and I watch Youtube! I also ask for

feedback from my players so that I can keep

improving.

I am not a “born coach”, I have worked hard to

become a good coach.

7

When I first became a manager, I attended

courses, I asked for advice, I got feedback. I have

continued to research more, listen more and learn

more.

In my opinion, managers are developed, not born.

Good managers become good managers because

they work hard at it.

That is why I provide training in how to become

better managers.

7 I had to learn how to be a

manager

Results?

• We had some successes - 5 local league titles

in 3 years, a great team spirit, size of club has

grown.

• We did some stuff badly - we still don’t develop

beginners well enough, we had at least one big

bust up.

• AND … we had a great

deal of fun and I want to

learn more and become

a better coach

Thank you

www.pkms.co.uk

[email protected]

@paul_pkms

07595 702878