How do you take responsibility for something you don't control?
That's the job of a leader.
It is a big job for a coach to take responsibility for a team of 15-25 players… But consider a few questions:
Is current leadership optimized to get the best results?
Can more be done?
Is there a way to make leadership more effective in a team?
The amount of leverage you have to move the needle on leadership depends on one thing…
How many leaders you have.
The more leaders you have, the greater your chances are for accountability to your cultural standards. If you have at least 5 leaders you might be able to do something like small unit leadership.
Unit Leadership
Small unit leadership is a great way to operate in a team.
One player looks after 3 or 4 players in his small unit. Instead of team captains feeling like they have to take responsibility for all other players, they are challenged with a more manageable number of teammates.
Can we push this even further?
The Boston Bruins think so…
The Bruins Case Study
Bruce Cassidy has implemented something very unique to the Boston Bruins culture. They are afforded this ability with tremendous leadership from their huge core of players. The Bruins have so much leadership that each player has one other player that he is responsible for.
Chara has McAvoy, Bergeron has Kuraly... all the way down the roster.
One leader has one player to mentor, look after, up-skill, and hold accountable to the standards of the Bruins. Even when a player like David Backes has been scratched during the playoffs a few years ago, he still had an obligation to check in and see how his one teammate was doing and feeling.
He had an obligation to be a great teammate even when he could have been upset about his personal circumstances. It's much harder to be selfish when you have to model correct behavior and mentor a teammate. It's no wonder why this team consistently is in the hunt every year. Should you steal this idea and run with it...
Maybe.
Half of the Boston Bruins roster in Cassidy's eyes are proven leaders, that is why it works for them.
But at least it should get you thinking about talking to your captains...
They might feel the burden of having to hold 20 players accountable.
It might be overwhelming for them...
Have you asked them?
Do they have any input?
Can you co-create a solution like small unit leadership with them?
Or maybe they have an idea better than anything that I have just written about.
Identify and attack solutions together.