This was very different from my prior experience with coaches. It seemed to me that they were paid to yell at players for mistakes. How many times had I heard it in my life?
Concannon, catch the ball!In hindsight, it was a miracle none of my coaches before college had a heart attack in the middle of screaming at me for some miscue.
Concannon, make your layups!!
Concannon, PLAY DEFENSE!!!
My college coach, though, did nothing like this. Now, I do not mean to suggest he never yelled about anything. In fact, the reality was almost the exact opposite. During some practices, he was in an uninterrupted two-hour long tirade. But even during his most furious outbursts, his comments were directed at the team.
What if someone missed a layup in practice? We miss easy shots all week and expect to compete at a college level? BULLSHIT! And he would slam the ball into the ground before storming off the court.
How about if someone made a mental error? We just put two or three good possessions together. The games are forty minutes long. YOU DO THE MATH! And he would slam the ball into the ground before storming off the court.
Once the ball returned to Earth, we would resume practice. Sometimes, the message would sink in. Other times, our commitment to mediocrity proved impervious to suggestion. But at no time was there a man-management issue stemming from his criticizing a single player in public. By the way he delivered the message to the team instead of the individual, our coach avoided having anyone take his criticism personally.
The way he acknowledged individual accomplishments stood in stark contrast to his criticism. If someone made a great play, Coach was the first to point it out. The message was sometimes delivered with the same ball-slamming enthusiasm we saw during a bad stretch of practice. At other times, it was delivered subtly during a film session or in the post-game locker room. One way or the other, though, if he saw someone perform well, he made sure the player knew.
This was, without a doubt, the most valuable management skill I learned from Coach. It is important, if appropriate, to praise individual team members in public for accomplishments, successes, or progress. If something is going wrong, the ability to generalize the message is invaluable. The method acknowledges how people tend to respond to criticism. When a failure is articulated to the team as a whole, it often proves the starting point for improvement or progress. But if someone is singled out directly, it becomes possible for the message to be taken personally.
It is never appropriate to criticize a subordinate in front of others. All it takes, after all, is one disgruntled person to undermine months and months of careful team building. Unless a manager thinks it is possible to criticize everyone for every error, getting into the habit of singling people out publicly because of a mistake is sure to lead to perceptions of unfair treatment from team members. (2)
This does not excuse a leader from fulfilling the responsibility of giving constant feedback. But the way to identify problems, explore solutions, and improve performance matter. A leader who gives feedback carelessly risks losing the support of the team in accomplishing these critical tasks.
Footnotes / exceptions / misquoted sitcoms
1. With one notable exception…
There was actually one player who he did directly yell at. This happened about once a practice. I could never figure out why this player was the only one ever singled out. Good exceptions prove the rule, I suppose.
2. Plus, you know, other basic ideas like ‘being nice’ and things…
‘We're living…in a society!’ –George Costanza
