Transformational vs Transactional Coaching
Why do you do what you do and how?
(Action steps at the end of the article)
This first blog of my website has come through a lot of thinking over the years but it will be simple and spawn further blogs upcoming related to the same topic but just deeper. Why do we coach? Or for the parents, why do you teach your children what you do, the way you do? Or for teachers, or any other leaders, why do you do what you do and how etc. as compared to some other way? As an academic and coach, we always glean from others and need to give credit where credit is due and this first discussion is significantly based on Joe Ehrmann’s book and talks from his Inside out coaching: How coaching transforms lives. (Incidentally, when you read Ehrmann’s book, you will find out he was one of the most feared and angry NFL lineman and had a rough childhood and gruff image of manhood and this influenced his competition and coaching for many years until he realized he was transactional and had many transactional coaches).
In short are you a transformational coach (teacher, leader, etc) or a transactional one? This is huge!
I have been coaching for some 30 plus years at the collegiate level (coached top 5 NCAA players, top 3 ATP players and top 16 NCAA teams), have directed tennis clubs and run camps, academies in Southern and Northern California, Canada, England etc and have seen both types in all venues. Sadly many coaches are transactional and lest I or any of us thing it is simply either or, sometimes even transformational coaches slip into transaction. The difference is transformational coaches are introspective enough to get themselves out of that quagmire.
Transformational coaches ask these questions of themselves:
Why do we coach?
This “why” directs the expenditure of our time. Ehrmann notes that too often the response is transactional with even seemingly well intended replies such as ”it keeps me in the game,” or “I love the competition” etc. Yet these responses are transactional, using people to fulfill a need or result, etc. And far too often what I see in the tennis world are transactional oriented situations as well where even in clinics the goal and strategy is what is maximum number of kids per court to get the maximum dollar despite teaching them nothing. Do coaches actually, intentionally reduce numbers so the interaction is high, life lessons are integrated while good technique, strategy and mental/emotional development, etc are taught as well. Do tournament directors actually reward sportsmanship in a tangible way? Carol Wayman, director of Little Mo does a phenomenal job at this. I helped run clinics at an international Little Mo directed by Carol Wayman (and had her on my talk show soon to be on this website podcast section) when my son competed in the international Little Mo in Colorado many years ago. They gave out awards for sportsmanship in addition to placement. I have done that at all my collegiate tournaments since then. It is amazing how many collegiate conferences DO NOT hand out sportsmanship awards despite the constant so called emphasis on sportsmanship. The examples on both sides are endless and I welcome your empales to share as that is what my site is about: Equipping coaches, parents and players.
Why do we coach the way we do? In other words, what is it we do because of the Why we coach?
Answering this question is very significant. Our “why” we coach should inform and direct the why we do what we do. and I will leave that to you to think over. The power of affirmation, resiliency and grit are too great to miss intentionally developing in players. Building players positive self-concept is critical, so how do you do that? What about lessons of team responsibility, rules, respect for he game and others? How do you go about teaching those if those are important to you? In short, if you think young kids can learn more than most people give them credit for do you coach them up? Do you challenge them and have high expectations on court and on the field realizing that CAN be fun for them? Or do you teach down to them (water it down too much) reducing the skills sets to the lowest level attending? What do you do?
What does it feel to be coached by us/me?
Or think of it this way, what if a camera or audio was on you? I challenged my players on the concept of When people watch you (at any time) would they be inspired!? Practice with such a mindset; do what you do off the court with that mindset. Well, as coaches would others watching us be inspired? What about those we coach, are they inspired by us?
How do we define success? What do we want to accomplish by coaching?
Ehrmann pines that success means we compete with ourselves to be the best we can be capable of being…we are successful when we give something our all…win or lose. Coach Wooden (the legendary UCLA basketball coach) has influenced thousands of coaches and players with his view on this: Success is peace of mind which is a direct result of self-satisfaction in knowing you did your best to become the best that you are capable of becoming (see his book They Call Me Coach).
As a coach, I have always held that I am to see what my player or student is capable of doing and becoming (far beyond what the player even things usually) and helping them get there (to a place they never thought they could be). In short, most people do not know what they are capable of doing in the first place. That is what coaches do, envisions that for and with their players and help them get there. We are, in part, surrogate visionaries and confidence for them in that journey so to speak.
One last question that I find answers a lot about why one coaches, coaches the way one does, and defines success, etc. And that is this,
When you were younger, what person made the biggest difference in your life?
It is often someone who mentored, taught, or inspired us and is very often a coach.
What are your answers to these questions?
In short, a transformational coach is dedicated to self understanding and empathy, viewing sports as a virtuous and virtue-giving discipline. Transformational coaches believe young people can grow and flourish in a way that is more liberating and instructive than can be achieved through almost any other activity (Ehrmann, p. 6). This is why Ehrmann refers to it as Inside-Out coaching. Working on our inside, and then out of that comes the outward manifestation, the how and what of our coaching.
On the flip-side yet greatly related to this discussion is one of the great myths of American sports according to Ehrmann. It needs to be turned on its head. And that myth is that sports build character. NO. Most sports and programs have the mindset that one is to win at all cost. That is not character. Sports don’t build character unless a coach possess character AND intentionally teaches it. This is transactional coaching.
Another great point that Ehrmann presents is that there is NOT a more flawed measure of a child’s value than sports (school I would add, etc). The playing fields are uneven; genetics skew the results in favor of the proper body type for each sport; dedication and determination can do only so much. And yet some parents and coaches use performance as the measure of a child’s worth. How do you deal with this? That is, do you agree and if so what do you intentionally do to offset this?
Action Steps:
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- Dwell on the questions above and chat with a fellow coach or parent.
- Make a list of things you might do to make changes (pick 1 or 2 things and start there).
- Read the book I mentioned in this blog; Ehrmann, J. (2011). In Side Out Coaching: How Sports Can Transform Lives. NY, NY: Samp; Schuster
- You can also access other resources on my resource page.