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May 02, 2007
The Modern Mantra
Gees here we are in May 2007 and what’s making news . Queries over who has authority at the Geelong Football Club. Bomber comes out after a loss and says that after a bit of consultation with the players they have decided on the correct course of action after such shocking loss. Then Bomber comes out and say’s he’s not sure who was on Simpson. Not that I believe this but really its just makes one want to ask , “Who is steering the ship”. Just who is charge? So whats changed? Twelve months ago when the rumours were flying about player infighting I posted this
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I feel the cause for problems like the infighting of players usually falls back to authority, who’s got it, who thinks they’ve got it and who’s using it.
To have too many guy’s thinking they have dibs on being "The Man" is bound to cause problems when the opinions are ignored.
I can remember at the start of the year when Leadership was such a focus that this deferment of power thing was all the rage. Power to the player group, let them set the bench marks, lets them set the punishments etc etc. and I’ve got to say I totally disagree with this attitude. You may have success with it but I just don’t think its the best model.
As early as 95, when Carlton did us in the GF, this empowerment of the players was the big thing. Parkin basically handed over the rules to the leadership group. Oh they were just so much smarter than us using this shinny new paradigm of the future. They won the premiership and boldly told us it was their leadership that made their club so much better than ours. Who could argue when they are drinking out of the cup but it was really funny down the track a few years when their oh so fine club became a rabble and ran off the rails. With a novice coach and younger player with less talent all wanting their say, things got only worse so they felt the need to get A level coach in to sort it all out He had to clean house, some big names too, because too many guys wanted to go their own way and didn’t like his.
A couple of sayings ring true to me.
"To many chiefs not enough Indians"
and
"Never put the patients in charge of the asylum"
For a coach to defer decisions is for him to defer his power. Its not his job to be a social worker or a mentor or a buddy. We aren’t playing Auskick here where everyone gets a run and success is gauged on the fun enjoyed. Power trips should be when Port Adelaide travel interstate not sub-personal or sub-group thing because human nature generally doesn’t work they way, Democracy is a fine way to run a country but not a footy side. This is the big time and the coaching job is big time, he is not there for a free ride, coaching is not meant to be a bumpless, stressless, passive vocation. Leadership is hard and real leadership is lonely, its not communal.
I haven’t seen too many war movies where there isn't is a proper order of command. In the battle when the grunts get told to go , they don’t sit down and debate the merit of the proposal. They go , in the face of danger, in the heat of battle , they go. Why? Because of conditioning, because of the correct model for authority and leadership and because they know its for the benefit of the unit where the lives of his mates depend on him and his. Debate is for white collars in Canberra. When the "u know what" is going down and its hitting the fan from pillar to post, you better have a clear, uncompromised message of what you must do. "Choice", that’s a magazine that’s not read in the Army. Its why they originally called the leader of the side a "Captain" , just like in a Defence Force model. Now five captains, all wanting to go their own way is a sure way to increase the body count or perhaps decrease the win count in our area of concern.
Is this happening at Geelong? I don’t know but if it is, its like an infection that no amount of penicillin can cure. Why did Blight , on arrival at the Crows clean house with some of their champions and bring in his own guys? Because he was the man and anyone who thought otherwise found themself packing their bags.
If we have too many chiefs , maybe they should think about what they look like in different colours. Geelong has climbed too many hills, payed too many bills to now put up with too many dills. If anyone, and I mean anyone thinks they are above MY club's long term good they are sadly mistaken.
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Now here we are in 07 , after an investigation that simulated the Spanish Inquisition , after we hired diferent coaches and Balmey and blow me down with a feather duster , we are still giving the appearance that we leaderless , that after everything , we are no close to having a strong leader running the footy dept.
Hey , I know I’m old fashioned. The new mantra is give power to those who are in the position to “do” , the onfield participants. The trouble is not everyone deserves a say like this .How do I know this? Because our B&F winner from last year has said so. Should we really have players who are picking and choosing when to go in the heat of battle also having input into leadership decisions? Andrew Bews in the Addy , describing his footy experiences within a team environment said this “Why does the club (Geelong) continually sidestep contentious issues and use the honesty of players as their scapegoat? Its great to include the player body on most levels of communication, but perhaps the coaching hierarchy is avoiding their responsibility to be accountable” Later he said “Bomber has a likeable nature, but there comes a time when as a leader of an organization , you need to become ruthless”.
There may be some positives in player empowerment. Lets all hope the Steve Johnson is one of them but I suspect that we will never be a legit main stream contender until we have a real hard bastard in charge. A guy willing crack eggs to make an omelette , a guy wanting to be on top of the stagecoach with the reins in hand not somebody content to be inside letting the horses choose where to run , some running straight and maybe others running wild.
Posted by Turbocat at May 2, 2007 09:58 PM
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