Leadership - Age Group Development
It is an almost unavoidable fact that most successful programs, in any activity, will be built and led by one individual. The hardest thing in the world for an organization to accomplish is to reach a standard of excellence under one leader and then attract new leaders that continue such a standard of excellence decade after decade. Afterall, one person is only going to last just so long at any program, whereas a true dynasty can last far, far longer. The U.S. has such a tradition in our team sports, Canada in hockey, Brazil in soccer...and the XC power countries have such a tradition in XC skiing. What then constitutes true leadership in XC skiing?
1.) Qualifications
One of the biggest problems that almost everyone outside of Europe faces is the relative lack of national education or accreditation programs for XC skiing coaches and instructors. Political and economic factors greatly influence this vexing situation.
Of course, even with the world's best ski education system we still would have a problem in deciding which individuals are qualified for certain positions. Afterall, when was the last time you saw a NBA or NFL team select a head coach based on a credential from a basketball or football seminar?
Since "qualifications" are such an arbitrary quality, I prefer to boil things down to how well suited a particular individual is to the job at hand. Sure, an ability to ski technically well is pretty dang important but what else? In no particular order...
- Pure teaching ability
- A fundamental grasp of technique, waxing, equipment, and race skills
- Ability to communicate with different age groups
- A working knowledge of and appreciation for the ski industry
- Experience in political redtape and/or business
- Education into training principles and basic exercise physiology
- Public relations background
- Excellent organization and planning skills
- Event management skills
Whew! And this is a partial list!
When you look at this list and then consider that so few professional opportunities actually exist in XC skiing, it is no wonder that development is such a difficult milestone. One of the highest priorities, then, for individuals looking to start or build world-class, hometown programs is to recruit leaders that can match this seemingly impossible qualifications list--and to find a way to keep those rare gems around!
2.) The Big Name?
Here's a commonly accepted news flash in the athletic world.....the best athletes rarely make great coaches.
Many times the great athletes are pretty good clinicians (particularly in XC where the smallest technical tidbit can seem like a revelation) but they rarely can make the leap to really being something special as a teacher and a coach. It is even rarer still when a super talented athlete also has the ability to construct lasting programs from scratch.
Go ahead and think about ten coaches from any sport at any level that you consider to be superior teachers and leaders--I guarantee that the vast majority were not superstars as athletes. The best coaches and program builders all too often just missed out on Gold Medals or sat on the bench much of the time.
However, a much more elusive concept concerning big names is the assumptions swirling around big name coaches. Here's a shocker folks...a recognizable name does not constitute proven skills or results.
Need another jolt? A European passport doesn't necessarily reflect organizational genius. Indeed, some of the greatest errors in North American skiing history have been made by coaches with the Euro credentials and/or were the biggest names in the business. This isn't to say some big name coaches are not worthy of far more adulation than they already receive!
The point is that people are people no matter what their name is or where they are from. True leadership talent comes in all shapes and sizes.
3.) The Ability To See The Big Picture
This encompasses all the elements making up the Organizational Philosophy section. If a qualified leader is interested merely in short-term pay-offs it is very likely they will get what they are after. Goals such as X number of Junior Olympic medals or X number of National Championships are relatively easy if you work with enough talent and have enough resources backing up the program. Long term goals are far more difficult to reach yet, ironically, do not necessarily cost any more. But they do require leadership talent.
A really good coach or program leader in any sport can often dominate a local or regional level. Just think about some H.S. coach in your area who has won 957 straight league or state titles in some sport. Happens all the time.
Domination at a National level requires a stronger program but if the sport is weak enough or the event weak enough (a key distinction), you'll still see the top programs win out.
Internationally? All bets are off.
This adds up to a progressive increase in difficulty as more and more numbers come into play. Sooner or later you start running into more and more programs that do things really well like you do and then sheer ability and execution start becoming the dividing line.
A coach with a big picture philosophy not only understands this progression but he/she goes beyond the competition to focus on something far more important. How long does it take for a young skier to really master both techniques? 6 years? 10? How long does it take for a skier to build up to international training volumes? Generally, 6-12 years after the age of 14. What about human development numbers? When will an athlete reach their maximum physical development? Their ideal height? Weight? Emotional development?
Add it all up and a truly great XC ski leader understands the just how important the philosophical priorities are to succeeding not just in the short term, but in the long term as well. The sweetest irony is that those that focus on long term results often end up being champions on the short term level as well!
4.) Organization, P.R., Politics, and Business
Something needs to be said about these topics and how they relate to XC ski coaches and program leaders. Some folks still naively believe that sport is all just fun and games devoid of a bottom-line or personal agenda. This is big time wrong. Sadly, pure sport for the sake of going out and playing almost doesn't exist anymore in this world. Liability, insurance, financial pressures, greed, turf wars, lack of personal responsibility...an almost endless barrage of barriers to pure play exist and confront all of us daily.
Now don't get bummed out because you just read that. It doesn't have to change you or the way you approach XC skiing. It just means we need to be aware and we need to be smart!
Think about these real-world situations I've witnessed over the years...
- A highly-talented and respected H.S. team quickly stained a great relationship with a nearby commercial XC Center when a few team members shoplifted a few items and a few team members did not clean up after waxing skis in a common area on a number of occasions.
- At another commercial area, a youth team conducted informal jump practice into the middle of a teaching area on a busy weekend day.
- A highly respected elite team got caught with several team members openly sneaking onto a commercial trail system just before a National Championship.
- At another commercial area, a youth team conducted informal jump practice into the middle of a teaching area on a busy weekend day.
What's the big deal here? The common thread between these examples is that in each case the coach or leader involved could have prevented the problem. In each case listed the program greatly strained relations with a strong industry supporter and lost a tremendous amount of respect within the host community. Without strong leadership in all phases of an organization, seemingly innocent blunders can suddenly blow up into huge problems. With excellent organization, a leader can secure enough help...and make sure the help knows when to say "no"! With good P.R. skills, a leader can make sure that parent, school, community, commercial, and regional/National groups all know what is happening within and around the program. With knowledgeable political skills, a leader can make sure that representative bodies act fairly and in the best interest of the common good. Superior business skills will enable a program leader to understand the point of view of commercial ski areas and ski companies--and allow the actual program to operate in a financially realistic mode. Finally, tying all of these items together, a strong leader will always demand a level of personal responsibility and respect from every member of the organization at all times.
And you thought all you needed to do was slap some klister on the skis!
5.) It's Not What You Know...It's What You Are Willing To Learn
I touched on this in the philosophy section but I'll add a little something here. Think about some brilliant coaches from any sport. If you go back into their development as coaches you will find some unmistakable similarities.
They often had brilliant mentors that they learned from and based their style and philosophy around; they always emerge as brilliant teachers and communicators. Not just good...brilliant; they often were very good, yet not quite great, athletes themselves; they show a characteristic passion for complete development of the human being.
The details of running a ski program or even training a future Olympic champion are actually pretty darn simple--they take an amazing amount of effort and time--but they are pretty simple. Great coaches seek to go beyond the small stuff and reach for goals such as a comprehensive development of a ski community and complete development of athletes as good people as well as good skiers.
On to Leadership
