The Art of Followership

I've been fortunate enough to be in the coaching profession longer than most guys I work with have been alive. I have been everything from a Volunteer Assistant to a College Head Coach and have worked for and with many amazing people. I also spent several years in the corporate world. One thing that I learned early in my career was that rushing to work every day with a goal of pleasing my boss and being a great FOLLOWER usually makes for a pretty rewarding experience for both myself and my leader. One other thing I have learned is that regardless of my title, I always have a boss/leader! Everyone easily recognizes what an incredible LEADER Kirby Smart is as the HFC at Georgia. I'm guessing his skill set as a FOLLOWER is also World Class!

I am proud and excited to know that my son has chosen to be a coach as well. Pretty cool that he is going into the "family business." I hope he is as fortunate in his career as I have been in mine to have had so many LEADERS help teach me how to be a FOLLOWER! There is always plenty of "how to" information regarding LEADERSHIP, but not as much around FOLLOWERSHIP which makes no sense for a couple of reasons:

1. People ascend to positions of leadership by demonstrating knowledge and abilities to perform a role over a period of time. They GROW into the positions.

2. People are placed in positions of followership quite often with little or no understanding of their role, the mission/vision of the organization, resources available to drive success, challenges of the position, history/culture of the organization, etc.

Still today, I find myself developing/learning new things because of a foundation of being a willing follower. All of the great coaches and successful business LEADERS I have worked with are great FOLLOWERS. Most of the people I have gotten to know/work with that were unhappy in their roles were, in my opinion, bad FOLLOWERS. Everyone wants to read the latest book on LEADERSHIP. I wonder if a book on FOLLOWERSHIP would make a Best Seller list. I hope, for the sake of a long and satisfying career, my son has great LEADERSHIP regarding FOLLOWERSHIP! I hope he gets taught how to follow. As a player, he has heard from an early age, "Be a leader!" As a PROFESSIONAL, I hope he learns to be a FOLLOWER!

I have worked for every kind of leader imaginable. I have been a part of wildly successful teams/organizations and I have been a part of teams organizations that experienced results that led to a change in the actual leader. There is no doubt that LEADERSHIP matters but in some cases, where success was not highly achieved, I could argue that it was due more to FOLLOWERSHIP than LEADERSHIP. Great organizations have great LEADERSHIP AND great FOLLOWERSHIP! Is it possible that assistant coaches would be happier and feel more rewarded in their role as assistants if we focused on helping them develop as FOLLOWERS?

After some reflection and research, here are some qualities of great FOLLOWERSHIP:

Non-Negotiables

1) Loyalty

2) Integrity

3) Passion for work/commitment to excellence

4) Love for people/your team

5) Be ON TIME!

6) Appearance! Look Like a PRO!

7) Pace...Be ON FIRE for your Role!

8) "I work for the best HFC in football...Period!" Has to become your core belief!

Approach

1) Support Head Coach and Team mission (No Personal Agenda)

2) Reinforce PROGRAM values, principles, and standards (No Personal Agenda)

3) You are always representing your Head Coach and your program–realize the power of your own example

4) Take pride in and fulfill your role (Especially the little stuff..."other duties as assigned")

5) Check your ego at the door–be careful of your pride, it’s not about you. (No Personal Agenda) 

6) Servanthood–pour into the lives of others

7) An assistant’s overall tone should be positive.

8) It’s all about TEAM! (No Personal Agenda)

9) Make the “Big Time” where you are

Communicationan

1) Use we/us/our instead of I/me/my (NO "My Guys")

2) Must have honesty in all interactions.

3) Treat ALL staff as colleagues/peers/equauls–Head Coach is your boss, others are co-workers.

4) Never talk to anyone (other than the Head Coach) about another staff member unless it is positive.

5) DO NOT talk whenever the Head Coach is talking.

6) NEVER undermine the Head Coach. (Disagree in private, Support in public)

7) Find out what the Head Coach needs from you and DO IT!

8) Pick your times to discuss certain things with the Head Coach–be aware of “Mind Space.”

9) Don’t just point out problems…present some solutions.

10) Be a buffer without being a crutch.

11) Do not allow players to play you against the Head Coach or other staff.

12) Don’t “write checks you can’t cash.” (Don’t overextend your authority.)

13) Look for legitimate ways to encourage and complement.

14) Verbally and non-verbally convey to players: “We believe in you.”

15) Check for consistency

A. Are we doing what we are saying?

B. Are we reinforcing it?

16) Develop positive relationships with other staff, department members, administrators, and faculty.

Execution

1) Be at ALL presentations by Head Coach to team.

2) Pitch in–help other coaches/staff members when you can. Share burdens, nothing is beneath you. Everyone has a role.

3) Make the job of the Head Coach easier–take on tasks that help the Head Coach focus on the team.

4) Anticipate–what does the head coach and team need? (See the need and fill it)

5) Share material and resources.

6) Share information: Team issues should be out in the open.

7) Bring these every day: Energy & Encouragement–be a battery charger–your passion and energy should inspire others.

8) Time management: Invest time where it matters most. Teach, develop, help team win.

9) Attention to detail: Little things matter.

10) Continually develop, hone, and evolve teaching skills (Your position group, Phases of the game, Master and Teach CURRENT Systems).

11) Teach every day (be demanding without being demeaning) The game is over-coached and under taught.   “Blocking and Tackling”

12) Laws of learning: instruction, demonstration, imitation, repetition, correction, repetition.

13) Experience has taught me: Simplicity of the game and execution of fundamentals.

14) Learn and use YOUR program’s terminology. Consistency is CRITICAL for players!

15) Be available for extra work/film with players.

16) Watch video of your team (Self scout).

17) Program organization: Play book, Drill book, Criticals (Special Situations), Team notebooks, Game Notes

18) Game Management

A) Bench demeanor 10% emotional–90% analytical

B) Staff interaction (Positive, Analytical, Team-oriented Never allow players to hear anything negative about team or player coming from you.)

C) How do you need to feed information to Head Coach? (How does Head Coach process info?)

D) Leave officiating issues to the Head Coach.

19) Post game breakdowns

A) Watch game tape

B) Take emotion out of it; Analyze what happened and how and why it happened.

C) Know what hurt your team; Know what was effective for your team

D) Notes/charts/stats

E) Suggestions for next practice/game/moving forward (support with video clips often).

Growth

1) Pat Summitt: You never arrive in this game. You are always learning and improving.

2) Don Meyer: Get all the good ideas, but you can’t use all the good ideas.

3) Growth is intentional. Become a better teacher and communicator.

4) Continue to increase your value: other skills, teaching, scouting, other duties, etc.

5) Be a lifelong learner

A) You can’t give away what you don’t have.

B) The same principle that applies to your players applies to you-KEEP GETTING BETTER!

C) Read, observe, listen.

6) Seek out mentors and people who can help you learn and grow.

7) Success is “rented” and the rent comes due every day.

8) Realize that the one certain thing is change and uncertainty… things will change often in this profession.

9) Talk to Head Coach about you long-term goals and aspirations (But always do a great job where you are. When the team wins–everyone wins)

10) Appearance and presentation

11) Leave it in better shape because you were there.

12) Take time to “Sharpen Your Saw.”

13) Be thankful and appreciative. Enjoy the journey

FOLLOWERSHIP takes work, commitment, and LEADERSHIP! I just know that those who possess this quality find constant success and fullfillment in their careers. There will be dark days and bad people in any profession but that will not be the rule. The general rule that I have experienced is that an attitude of FOLLOWERSHIP makes for an awesome run in most any career! And remember...No matter your title, you have a BOSS!