Have you ever played hockey or are you an avid spectator? I ask this, because they offer two completely different perspectives. When you play hockey you know you need to make the puck go to the opposite end of the ice from your goal, but in order to make that happen you have a lot to think about. You need to skate well enough to fend off opposing players, do some great stick handling, protect the puck, know where your team mates are in order to pass and know where the opposing team members are in order to find the open ice and score. Lots going on there!
When you are a spectator, you get to see a whole different picture! You get to enjoy the game from afar, without having to juggle the tasks in order to make it happen. You see the over-all picture and it appears much easier from your view. You shout out instructions in hopes they see what you see, you cheer when they do the ‘right thing’ and you sulk when they don’t. Having played the game offers you a deeper understanding, in conjunction with your bird’s eye view and you ‘get’ it when a play doesn’t go the way you thought it should. When you’re a fan who has never played hockey, you have a limitation in your tolerance for what you consider a mistake.
A good coach of a hockey team has always played the game, and often several of the positions.
A leader is someone who has a bird’s eye view, and a clear and honest stake in the game. If they’re a leader who has come up through the ranks, sometimes they have a better understanding of the various roles and can permit and even tolerate with understanding when something doesn’t go as planned, and readjust accordingly. When they are new to the game, it’s especially hard to guide and coach with the same kind of patience.
GREAT leaders are those who take the time to learn what the various roles are, what they’re accountable for and what the core responsibilities are. A GREAT leader makes the effort to know what’s done at every level of the organization in a relevant manner to understand how it pertains to the entire game. What kind of leader are you?