A coach, coordinator or sports director, but also any manager in a company, is expected to be able to lead as well as give orders. However, reality tells us that being a “boss” does not imply having leadership skills within a group or team. Therefore, we are going to make a distinction between being a boss and being a leader:
Being a boss: run players, athletes or professionals who are under his/her command.
Being a leader: inspires his/her players, athletes or professionals.
Natural leadership is what really inspires, as long as formal leadership is which we would associate with commanding. Thus, if we stick to the world of sports, we say that a coach will always be a boss, but not always be a leader. This is extensible to the business world, replacing the figure of the coach with the section manager, director, etcetera.
Currently, the leader’s tendency is to approach a proactive profile, willing to open up to new learning. A leader who “knows that does not know” will have great professional challenges and will have such awareness that it will allow him/her to have greater:
Capacity for self-assessment, accepting weaknesses.
Maintaining self-control, acknowledging strengths.
A leader who is able to recognize weaknesses will be taking the first step to correct them and to continue with his/her evolution and urgent learning process. In the same way, by being able to recognize strong points, he/she will avoid “excessive self-demand”.
This proactive tendency should not be directly related to age. We will find some examples in the sports world and business of “veteran” bosses who adapt perfectly to this profile, while others, younger, do not have this flexibility. Therefore, we must avoid simplifications and apriorism in this regard.
Which factors influence leadership, in addition to commanding?
Personality: the leader/boss’ own character. We cannot hide who we are; our way of being defines our way of understanding “being a leader/boss”. In the same way, our personality will condition our relationship with the environment, with power, and with our work team.
Capabilities: which depend on talent and learning ability. The way of communicating, of managing the context, or of leading will be talents that will condition capabilities. Learning allows us to move forward, avoiding underdevelopment and evolving transversally.
Influences: they can be other leaders/bosses that we have had, others that we have seen working or who we have talked, or that we have analyzed. The sum of influences conditions our way of leading.
Experiences: which come from successes, but especially from failures and mistakes. The internal management of failure will be essential in our way of leading and in our professional and personal evolution.
Bibliography:
Casas, R. (2023): “Escucha a tu baloncesto. El valor del entrenador”. (Bubok Editorial).