Leaders Are Coaches Not All-Stars

Written by: Naomi Middleton

“As a leader, it is not about what you can do but what your team can do together.”

I grew-up the oldest of five kids. As a result, I went to many of my siblings’ sports games. In the beginning, many of them were quite stressful to watch. It can be very exhausting watching kindergarteners try and score soccer goals. Not only do they struggle to understand the basics of playing soccer but at times they even need to be reminded which direction they are going. However, in all the games that I watched, not once did I see a coach run on to the field to replace a player or save a losing game. Even though it would have been quite entertaining, it would have also been quite absurd to see a coach decide to be the star player in a kindergarten soccer game.

Most of us don’t coach sports teams, but we are coaches on our unique courts. We are coaches in our homes, churches, and jobs. And in our areas of leadership it is often tempting to act more like an all-star than a coach. In many ways, being an all-star is often easier than being a coach. We live in a world where all-stars are often celebrated more than coaches. Coaches are rarely celebrated for the win but always blamed for the loss.

Even though it might be easier (and more fun) to be an all-star, leaders are called to be coaches. Coaching is hard work and requires personal sacrifice. It takes discipline, planning, and most importantly humility. When we start to act more like an all-star than a coach, we are completely missing the point of leadership. True leadership is not about showcasing our skills or making a name for ourselves. Rather, it is about leading from a posture of humility. It considers other better than ourselves. So, what does it look like for leaders to act more like coaches instead of all-stars?

A Leader’s Job Is Not to Be the Best

Just like a coach, a leader’s job is not to be the best but to make others the best. In sports, a coach’s job is not to be the best player on the field. Rather their job is to make their players the best that they can be. This doesn’t mean that leaders can’t be excellent at things. However, it does mean that we don’t have be intimidated or insecure if others are better at something than us. We are not competing with those we are leading. Our job is not to showcase our skills but to teach others. When we realize that they don’t have to be the best at everything, we will start to celebrate those around us instead of put them down. We will value equipping people more than competing with people.

A Leader’s Success Is Not Their Own Accomplishments

Just like a coach, a leader’s success is not their own accomplishments but rather the accomplishments of their team. A coach doesn’t measure their success by how good they are at something but rather by how well their team is doing. As leaders it is easy to measure our success by our personal accomplishments. It is easy to think that things are going well because our skills are improving, or we are accomplishing things. Even though we need to lead by example, success should not be measured by our own accomplishments. True leaders measure success by the accomplishments of our team.

A Leader’s Job Is Not To Do It All

Just like a coach, a leader’s job is not to do it all. A coach should not (and can not) do it all when their team starts to slack. When people start to not pull their weight, it is easy for us to quickly stepping in and “save the day.” Not only is it often easier to pick-up the slack than to keep people accountable, but it also makes us feel needed (and a little like a hero). However, the problem with picking-up the slack too often, is that people will start to expect us to do it all the time. As leaders our job is not to be the hero. Our job is to train, mobile, and keep our team accountable.

A Leaders Job Is Not To Be the Star of the Show

And finally, just like a coach, a leader's job is not to be the star of the show. This is probably one of the hardest parts of leadership (because it takes the most humility). In sports, people don’t come to watch the coach. They come to watch the team. As leaders, we often want to be the star of the show. If people don’t know what we are doing, we start to feel insecure and undervalued. However, true leaders make it their mission for people to see their team (not them). As leaders it is our job to platform our team - not ourselves.