A Tendy’s Guide to Team Leadership
By Intrigue
Leadership is changing yourself and the things that you are in control of for the betterment of a team.
One of my favourite teams is a group of people I play hockey with each week. While none of us on that team literally wear a C, we all make individual improvements for the group’s success.
As a goalie, I find my role to be one of the most unsuspecting when considering leadership in a hockey team. The question is: How do you make an impact as a leader when you’re not on the bench? Here’s a tendy’s guide to leadership:
Play in a league above
Do you ever feel imposter syndrome? Congratulations *confetti flies*. That means you’re doing something right. You need to surround yourself with people that are better than you in order to grow.
Playing the first few games in your new league will feel a bit rocky, trust me. Knowing this fact will make it easier to shake off the first few goals against you. Learn from them and move on. Be prepared to feel like you don’t fit in, that’s okay.
- Build your team, better than you.
Tap your posts
99% of the game is played blind. You’re not constantly looking at your net or your weaknesses. This makes it important to have regular touch points to keep yourself in check. These touch points will help you make accurate decisions when the unexpected happens. This is a proactive way to react accordingly.
- Have a weekly or bi-weekly touch point meeting with your team.
Communication: talk to your team, listen to your team
I talk to my team probably more than they’d like. I’m okay with that. It’s crucial for us to know where we are, where the competition is, and how much time we have — we are each other’s eyes and ears. The more a team can communicate, the more trust they build with one another. That seems pretty straight-forward, right?
When I first started in the league, I played the puck…very poorly. My defensemen would yell “cover the puck” when it would come to me to avoid a poor attempt at passing. The more that I played the puck, the better I got. The communication changed from “cover it” to “pass here” which meant that I was building trust while still listening to my team and taking their advice.
- Listen or speak, but be honest about the best solution presented.
Know when to play the puckIs your team gaining momentum or in need of a change? A great leader knows when to keep the momentum going if the team is displaying high energy. They will also know when to slow down the pace of the game to recharge the team’s batteries.
When our team has a power-play, I move forward to anticipate the shot down the rink to increase our team’s time-on-attack. When our team is on a penalty kill, I cover the puck to give them time to rest.
- Be the floodgates for your team.
Be the first to shake handsAt the end of every game, I make sure that I am the first one to shake hands. First, I set the tone with my own team. I tell them the truth: “that was a tough one”, “great game”, or “the other team played really well”. Now my team knows my stance on the game, and I can head over to the other team and shake hands with that same acknowledgment.
We may have some tough battles, but we will never have a game without competition.
- Acknowledge greatness. Lose like a winner, win like a winner.
To me the most important thing about any game I play is the impression I leave. That could be with my team, my opponent, or with myself.
In sports and in life, I recommend displaying gratitude and acknowledging greatness, because we all play in the same league — and odds are that you will play with or against each other again.
– James
