When evaluating team performance, choosing the right leader can lead to improved performance.
In studies evaluating the effectiveness of three different groups: competent leader, random leader, and self managed democratic groups, the teams that had the leader with competence in the field and understanding of the technical aspects of the business outperformed the other groups. Even self managed groups outperformed the teams that had a randomly assigned leader.
I think that the key point is not trying to find the best leader, but to avoid choosing someone who does not understand the business. There are plenty of ways to improve management and leadership skills; formal education, reading, attending seminars, certifications, but that will not matter if that person does not understand enough about what the work actually is. Teams routinely choose leaders that display confidence and physical attributes, but may not possess the technical skill or understanding. These teams then lag behind because they are not able to make the best decisions. In turn, look to people that have excellent technical understanding and leverage their knowledge.
This is in line with other research that demonstrated that teams preferred leaders who had similar backgrounds to them. They felt these leaders understood them, and their role, better and were then able to be more effective in their leadership.
Take the time to understand the business and the technical aspects of what is needed to be successful. This will improve your ability to create strategy and become successful. When in a hiring position, do not just hire someone who has a degree, make sure they know the business.
"Leadership qualities" vs. competence: which matters more? Harvard Business Review, 11/5/15
Thursday, November 5, 2015
Recommendations on Tackling in Youth Football
The American Academy of Pediatrics released a study looking at tackling in football. The authors of the study performed a literature review looking at the mechanisms of head, neck and catastrophic injury in football.
Not surprisingly, the act of performing a tackle, or being tackled, is a leading mechanism of injury in football for head and neck injuries, catastrophic injuries and other serious injuries. One of the leading causes of concussion in youth and high school sports is head to head contact. The main recommendation in this area is to continually stress proper tackling technique and educating players and coaches on the importance of keeping their heads up and making contact with their shoulder pads, thus reducing the mechanism of head to head contact.
The authors summarize their findings of tackling in football by exploring the idea of limiting contact in practice to reduce the overall occurrence of head contact throughout the season, but do point out that it is not fully known how much of an impact this will make. They also discuss increasing the age at which players initiate contact and the possibility of non-contact leagues. This would allow those that are interested in playing, but are concerned for head injuries, an outlet to enjoy the game with a decreased injury risk.
As athletic trainers, we play a key role in the recommendations made by the authors. The last two points that they recommend on tackling in youth football are to institute neck strengthening programs and have an athletic trainer on hand for contests. We have the ability to educate coaches, athletes and administrations on the risk of head injury in football (and sports in general) and the implementation of programs to reduce to the risk, including strengthening and skills based technical training. Having an athletic trainer available to athletes allows injuries to be detected and treated earlier.
While the risk of injury will not be eliminated in sports, we can hopefully continue to make progress with our educational material to keep all of our athletes healthy and active.
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