HOW TO LEAD?
As a teenager, I played British lacrosse competitively. I played centre, which in my opinion was the best and most important position (not biased at all!).
Lacrosse is a great game. It's extremely fast, has no boundary lines so you can run great distances, is highly competitive and sometimes dangerous, which adds to the thrill. I was in my element playing centre. I was allowed to be everywhere and get involved in all the action. My parents would come to watch, and I’d be able to impress them with how often I had the ball or was near the ball, namely the action.
One day I got the ultimate promotion to Captain. Fantastic, I was now overseeing the whole game and got to wear the Captain badge of honour. I believed it meant I was doing the best, running the fastest, making the best tackles and also being the most vocal and encouraging on the pitch. I thought being Captain was merely an acknowledgement of my performance.
I was wrong.
I soon learnt that I had to adapt my approach to the game of lacrosse in an entirely new way. It was no longer my performance that mattered but the performance of my team. It was no longer essential for me to run for every tackle but to make sure the right people were going for the tackle to free up other players to shoot at the goal. My entire strategy had to shift from how I can be the best, with a tunnel vision of my performance to how can the team be the best, how can each player perform to impact the team the most effectively.
After this realisation, I chose to stop playing centre. I realised that that position triggered my need for my own performance to shine over the team. I moved to a position called 3H, an attacking position yet not meant to run everywhere and not meant to be “all things to all (wo)men.”
It was a sad day, I felt something similar to grief as I let go of this role that had given me so much identity and kudos. Yet I was excited to embrace true Captaincy.
In Lacrosse Captaincy is defined as:
“The appointed leader, having several additional roles and responsibilities over and above those of the other players. During the match, the captain decides the team's attack and defence strategies, set plays and substitutions”.
I had to learn, study and consider my team and tactics as a whole, acknowledging what each individual was good at and where they were weakest. From that place I could then make sure we were playing to everybody’s strengths, covering any blind spots and ensuring our approach was the best it could be.
Living in the fastest evolving epoch in history, I wonder how you are leading, how is your Captaincy? How are your attack & defence strategies, what are your set plays right now, who is tired and needs subbing?
As a mother to 4 children with 5 location moves over the past 10 years, I have had to Captain my family through great transition. A visual approach I use, which may help you as you lead, is this:
Think of your team (or family) as a garden. Where are the flowers appearing? Where are the weeds and where is the drought? Where are the areas of overgrowth that were beautiful but are now taking over and need pruning? (ie. someone creative with new ideas but going overboard and becoming a distraction to the team, or someone who errs on caution but is now consistently moaning). Where are both the ugly weeds and the pretty ones? Weeds are weeds and suffocate true growth. Weeds are the behaviours or patterns that are suffocating or demotivating your team.
Having this garden imagery will help you think of where life is ebbing and flowing within your team. The people we lead are not static and being aware of the ecosystem you are managing will help you know where and how to be a stronger Captain.
If you want to develop your leadership or your team, get in touch info@dollywaddell.com