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Seven Habits of Highly Effective Coaches


Seven Habits of Highly Effective Coaches

About twenty years ago I was promoted from a Financial Adviser to a Sales Manager immediately becoming responsible for helping a team get the best out of their working day. Overnight my whole outlook on work altered.

I'd gone from being responsible solely for myself to having to put the needs of the team first. I had to try to work out how to best help them. However, I'd never really understood how to best help myself let alone a disparate group of Sales people.

I decided to look for help and was introduced by a mentor to The Seven Habits Of Highly Effective People by Stephen R. Covey. Despite clearly sitting on the Self Help shelf, one I tend to avoid, this book helped shape my thinking as a Manager and a person.

Recently, I've revisited the work as I often do and tried to apply it to my Football Coaching. I really cant recommend this book highly enough.





The Seven Habits.

For his Doctorate, Stephen Covey reviewed 200 years worth of material on Success. This eventually formed itself into his now famous book. He believed that this writing fell into one of two camps:

1. Character Ethic - Older Writing

Were basic foundations such as Integrity, Patience and Loyalty drove an individuals success.

2. Personality Ethic - More modern writing

Here, traits, skills and personal techniques are the key to success. Essentially, if you just copied the skill you should have the same results.

Covey decided that both are required for success to be long term and repeatable. He believed that simply changing your outward behaviour was not enough if those behaviours were not rooted in solid basic foundations.

He explained this simply:

"You may have fantastic map reading skills ( Personality Ethic ) but these are useless if you've got the wrong map" ( Character Ethic )

So his work is an amalgamation of these two Paradigms. You need the skills to play out the game, but you need the Character to understand what the game is and why you are playing it.

As he believes that success begins from the Inside - Out, you can see he is trying to move the writing back towards the Character Ethic.

Three Stages

Covey's Habits move us through three stages:

  1. Dependance
  2. Independence
  3. Interdependance

Most writing on success focuses on Independence. Being able to cope on our own but Covey realised that success, if built on the Character Ethic, can not stop there,  it must reach out to others and be inclusive. So his Habits are formulated as such:

Habits 1,2,3 will help us win the personal battle and become truly Independent and 4,5,6 will help us become Interdependant. Habit 7 reminds us that success is built on continual improvement.

The Seven Habits and Football Coaching.

Moving from Dependance to Independance

Habit 1 - Be Proactive

Proactive people are driven by values and goals that are independent of whatever else is going on. They do not get buffeted around by events outside of their control.

Proactive people are resourcesful and focus on solutions not problems. They are very clear on what they can control and what they can't and only deal with things appropriately.

As a coach, I have a clear idea of what is inside my control. How we coach, where, how we play etc. I'm clear I am in control of these things and can answer these questions if anyone asks. I'm also clear that they are my responsibility and no one elses.

I'm also clear that I have to play 7 aside, use a size 4 ball, have 10 players in my squad. I can't control any of this so I don't even try. Why would I?

I have far too much to do with the things I can control. Why fight it? Accept it and get to work.

Essentially everything you are wanting to do, trying to do, will begin with yourself.


Habit 2 - Begin with the end in mind

I've written before about a Footballing Philosophy. This is were it all starts. What are your Principles? What do you value?

Remember these are your Principles and your Values don't be swayed or knocked off course by others. Be clear on what you want the end to look like.

Is it as many kids as possible playing football each week or are you striving to win a league and cup double?

This really does not matter. Just make sure it sits well with your values and be as clear as possible.
Once you've worked this out, can you find a way of writing it down simply and communicating it to everyone who needs to hear?

After all, if you've no idea what youre trying to achieve, how will you know when you've got there?


Habit 3 - Put First Things First

Ok, so you're clear on what it is you're wanting to achieve, you have a clear idea of what success will look like. You've also decided it just starts with you. No one else is going to help, you need to be Independent. What do you do?

Firstly, you don't do anything that isn't in your control. Just don't let it bother you. Work backwards from your vision and list all the things that need to be done to achieve it. Write a Syllabus for your coaching over the next 3 months or the whole season. What are you going to coach and when and how?

Don't continually rush around trying to firefight things that look urgent but aren't crucial. Just stick with the plan.

Below is Covey's Time Management grid. Probably the most important lesson in the book.  Where do you spend your time?



Write it down and make it happen. You control this 100% so make it happen.


Embedding these habits will move you from being dependant on others. Parents, Club Officials, League Officials or players and towards Independence.


Habit 4 - Think Win/Win

As your vision and goal is based on your values and principles, you should never lose sight of the fact that Win/Win is better than Win/Lose.

Its better to try to find ways of achieving your goals without trampling over everyone elses. Yes this is sport and someone will win and someone will lose. But that's the game. The game finds its own winners and losers. We don't have to go around creating more.

Have you sought out people with similar goals to you? Can you work together so that you both achieve your goals?

I've seen coaches refuse to offer advice to others because they think everything is a zero sum game. "The only way I can win is if you don't. Why would I help you?"

This is clearly ridiculous and is mixing up the game result with Success.


Habit 5 - Seek First to Understand, then to be Understood

You may have a very clear philosophy and understand it completely. You may be striving to be Proactive and make things happen.

But, you don't live a bubble.

The key to relations with Parents, Officials and importantly Players, is to take time to Understand others. I see this as the essence of coaching.

Are you clear on what others are saying and why? Or, are you more concerned with just getting your point across? How about, for a moment we just slow down and put ourselves in someone elses shoes?

Genuinely try to UNDERSTAND.

How can you coach someone if you don't understand? How can you be looking for Win/Win solutions if you don't even know what a win looks like for someone else?

I had a coach who said all he wanted for his team was to not get beaten heavily every week. As he'd explained I realised we a chance to both win here. I rearranged my team and made it difficult for my players. We drew 2-2. My players got a great development opportunity and they enjoyed a rare result.

If all you're doing is going around trying to get people to understand you, you are not a coach.


Habit 6 - Synergise

This is about finding solutions that you may never have come up with on your own. Your players are all different. We should celebrate this and not look to sheep dip our players through a process.

Go to the local FA CPD workshops, take more qualifications if you can, go and watch other sports coaches and maybe even get them to take a few sessions?

Its also about seeing your team as greater than the sum of its individuals. Football is a team game and we should look for solutions to improve the team not just the individual.

Would the team be better if your best player wasn't always played as the attacker? What could happen if he played as a defender?

Have we at least tried?

Habit 7 - Sharpen the Saw

All the above habits can drive us towards success. However, there is a danger that we do nothing but saw away.

Every coach needs to take time out to Sharpen the Saw and work on making themselves better when they get back to work.

This isn't just learning and developing oneself but also making sure we are healthy and not neglecting important relationships. Its no use being a great dedicated coach of a football team if your marriage or your relationship with your kids is falling to pieces. Eventually something will give and this could effect everything.

What are the key relationships in your life?

  • Worker
  • Business Partner
  • Husband
  • Father
  • Son
  • Coach
Make sure you are applying the habits equally to all these areas and don't forget YOURSELF.

Stephen Covey's book was an eye opener for me and I have returned to it many times. It applies to all our lives and can help us be more successful as coaches.

If you haven't got it, get it!

























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