3 Lessons From 2 Great Coaches

Here’s some weirdness for you.

I love watching the footy every weekend but I don’t follow any particular team. Instead I prefer following the careers of each coach.

That’s not too weird is it?

Every coach has his own motives, moves and machinations and there’s a lot to be learnt from them. Their success leaves clues.

You might not expect it but there is a lot of overlap between footy and finance. They are not the odd couple you might otherwise expect. Rather, it’s more like a match made in heaven.

And this weekend we get to see two of the best coaches perform on Rugby League’s biggest stage – the Grand Final (GF).

If Des Hasler, the head coach of the Canterbury Bulldogs, and Michael Maguire, the head coach of the South Sydney Rabbitohs, were businessman and investors, I think they’d be very successful.

Here are three lessons I have learnt from watching these two greats…

Turnarounds

Before each coach started at their respective clubs three years ago, both teams struggled to find a friend let alone win a game. They had great player rosters but they just couldn’t get it together.

Since then, both men have worked over time to turn each team around. They’ve done a spectacular job to get them to the GF.

Lesson: the best teams are not found, they are created. Businesses and property deals are exactly the same.

Man Management

Hasler and Maguire are great exemplars of good leadership.

Their leadership style is ‘stick and stand’. They stick by their players through thick and thin but don’t stand for any rubbish. Neither of them are afraid to bench their best.

Maguire said it best a few weeks ago, “…deep down, young men crave accountability whether they realise it or not and you can’t resile from that”. That’s gold!

Both men are tough love coaches and their players think the world of them in return.

Lesson: accountability builds self confidence and trust. If a team member won’t be accountable you need to bench them. The money game is exactly the same.

Standards

This is my favourite lesson. Watching both these coaches over the past three years has proven that raising your standards is the fastest way to turn around any organisation and create lasting change.

As a player, no one set higher standards for himself than Hasler. He was ultra-fit and tougher than a two dollar steak.

When the team had a day off he would do ‘extras’ by himself. He’d run sand hills for an hour at Palm Beach or find an 18 hole golf course and sprint every second fairway.

As a coach, he travels from Collaroy to Belmore every day and arrives at his office in time for the 6am news. And he never leaves before 8pm. It’s a 170 km round trip.

When his team plays at Brookvale, just five minutes from his place, he still drives to Belmore, gets on the team bus back to Brookvale, returns to Belmore after the game and then drives back to Collaroy arriving home around 1am.

And guess where he is five hours later watching tape of the previous night’s game?

Maguire is no different. Two mornings a week he does a fitness session with the team trainer before the team arrives. His directive to the trainer is simple: to push him harder than any player in the club. He usually finishes each session dry reaching.

Lesson: The very best coaches constantly raise their own standards and demand more of themselves than other people ever expect. Eventually it rubs off. Every successful venture has the same culture.

The Scoreboard

Just to be clear, this Moowsletter was not intended to be some blokey, macho piece, dripping with blood, sweat and tears.

Instead there is a more significant message here…there has been no mention of goals.

Goals are great but they’re not for everyone. The fear of disappointment is too much.

Great coaches like Hasler and Maguire have shown that if you constantly raise your standards and build good habits the results will come. The scoreboard will look after itself.

Have a great week and remember…weirdness can be wonderful!