Bye, Felicia: Replacing The Head Coach Is Not The Answer To Your Team’s Problems

Sports teams have long been in the habit of the constant rotation of their head coaches due to one issue or the other.

In previous times, the head coach was just like the club. The free hand given to coaches was such that they carried much influence and were immediate solutions to problems in high-performance sports.

Nowadays, coaches are sacked when professional clubs, sporting organizations, or even national teams in all sports (particularly football) do not perform as expected. Then new ones are hired to begin winning trophies immediately.

While this is possible, it is rare. Realistically, we know if such a coach succeeds, it will most likely be a matter of a short time before there are shouts of “sack the coach.” This usually comes as a result of failure (failure here is relative).

Some teams will go through this process over and over again as if the head coach will fix every problem facing the club, and they continue to fail.

The reason is that, in the past, a team’s culture was always the creation of the head coach. However, in modern times, the players, the board, staff, fans, and management own the club’s culture, so hiring one individual and expecting them to change the organization’s culture entirely on their own is laughable.

Great coaches are leaders only when the organization absolutely supports their leadership. Also, a team surrounded by positive people, a great culture, and innovative thinkers is consistently competitive in all competitions.

The opposite is the case for a team surrounded by negative people.