Thar Be Dragons
In 2008, I published a book titled “Talent and the Secret Life of Teams.” The motivation for the book was the leadership of a volleyball team that won Nebraska’s first National Championship in 1995.
The phrase “secret life” refers to the leadership that takes place off the court when the coaching staff is not present. How do the players interact with each other? How invested are the best players on the team in the younger players? Who are players listening to when things don’t go well in a match or in practice? Have the players committed to the behaviors that will give them the best chance for success?
This is never easy. It can be difficult for two people to become a team, let alone twelve or eighteen. Think of a team as a group of rowers in a shell. Everyone must be in synch with the cadence of the coxswain. This requires physical and mental preparation. If one rower isn’t prepared, or if one rower doesn’t trust the coxswain, the shell moves off course or, in the worst case, moves in circles.
For a team to be the most efficient, every player must embrace their role. How hard is this? Think about the places you have been employed. How often has every employee been passionate about the vision of the owner or manager? The larger the business or the more difficult the challenge.
Thar be dragons. Twenty years ago, a Division I volleyball team was composed of twelve scholarship players and a couple of recruited walk-ons. Not all the players were ready to play. Some were exceptional athletes but may have had limited experience in high-level volleyball. They were developing players. On a team of fourteen players, there might be seven or eight who were competing for positions. Even then, there were dragons.
A significant player might be involved in an unhealthy relationship. A team captain might be in her first romantic relationship, which takes precedence over relating to her teammates. Two players might be battling for the same position, and the one who loses creates negativity in the locker room. A team has plenty of talent, but no one is willing to step up and hold their teammates accountable. The best player(s) on a team aren’t interested in relating to other players off the court.
Social media, the portal, and NIL are dragons that coaches didn’t have to deal with ten years ago. I recall having a conversation with a player who I thought was spending too much time responding to her pager. I had a conversation with a player on a team whose coach I was mentoring in 2004, and I was shocked when she said she received twenty text messages a day. Those challenges seem quaint today.
The portal, NIL, and social media are challenges for coaches. Social media may be the biggest challenge for the players. I receive several messages a day from people responding to my posts. Yesterday, someone asked me if it hurt the team when a player spoke out on political issues such as abortion and transgender athletes. I responded by saying that college is a place where people transition from adolescence to becoming adults. They entertain new ideas, and now they have a platform to express them. They are flexing their intellectual muscles. Unless they break the law or say something that abuses other people, particularly their teammates, they have the same rights as every other citizen.
Social media can become a significant distraction (dragon) for players in multiple ways. If a player spends more time on TikTok than relating face-to-face with teammates, it becomes a dragon. If a player pays attention to what followers think about their performance in an individual match, it can become a distraction. If players become consumed with how many likes they get on their posts, and it becomes more important than communicating with their roommate, that can become a dragon.
I ran a summit in Vail on extraordinary coaching for several years. To attend the summit, a coach had to leave their cell phone in their room. Some coaches went into withdrawal. Some raced back to their rooms to check their phones, while the majority were engaged in conversation with new friends while walking to lunch. I’m not sure if I could run the Summit today. When I have posed this question to coaches that I know, they doubt that coaches would be willing to commit to not having their phone beside them while someone was presenting on a coaching topic.
There may be ten to fifteen teams that have the talent to compete for a National Championship. They have solid setters and liberos. They have experienced pin hitters. They have extraordinary coaches. What we don’t know is what is happening with the secret life of their teams. What is the leadership in the locker room when the coaches aren’t present? Are the most influential players spending time off the court with younger players and players who have recently joined the program? How will a player respond who loses a starting position in a tough battle with someone who just joined the team? Are the players willing to set aside a focus on social media for the fourteen weeks of a volleyball season?
A coaching staff can impact these issues, but the leadership inside a team is even more important. This is what we mean when we use the word “culture.” The most successful teams are likely to have the fewest distractions. Every team in the country is going to experience “a dark night of the soul.” It will come with an unexpected loss to a weaker opponent. It will come when an injury happens to a talented player. It will come when there is a players’ only meeting that results in a fracture or a recommitment to the behaviors that give the team their best opportunity for a remarkable season. Thar be dragons everywhere. And here is the thing. We need dragons to make our lives significant. Sometimes we get lucky, learn from past failures, commit to being uncomfortable, and set off with hope and a commitment to not let our teammates down. Let the journey begin. #Humanex Ventures
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