Team Work
If you are parents of youngsters or plan to be in the near future, do yourself a favour and get your kids involved in organised, competitive, team sports.
Not only will the fresh air and sunlight be a benefit to them, their social skills will be enhanced, they will learn to be humble winnners and be gracious losers. A few will even go on to make a decent living from their chosen sport.
It is a well known fact that the second most important position that one person can hold in Australia is to be captain of the Australian cricket team. For sure it is a better paying position than that of Prime Minister. Less of them to remember as well.
Team sports open doors and give pathways that few other choices can. Become a member of a cricket team and the possibility is there to become both the Australian cricket captain and PM!
Personally, I played in a magoo’s Premiership in 1982. A long time ago and I see others from this team rarely. However, when I do meet one of them or the team collectivley the bond that made us successful all those years ago is instantly reignited and the mutaul respect flows.
A Great Leader
I wrote the following piece just over two years ago when the 1982 team mentioned above were having the 40th Anniversary reunion of that successful season and I was unable to attend.
“A little self indulgence....
‘Twas September 1982, the Steve Miller band were weaving their magic with Abracadabra, Eye of the Tiger was motivating countless suburban and country footballers and many Jack’s were looking for their own Dianne. Carlton was about to take the Premiership over Richmond and Gurners Lane would soon storm home to win the Melbourne Gup. It was the year in which George Bailey and Nick Riewoldt were born.
I was a 20 year old nursing a severe hangover having just been part of a team that won the GFL Reserves Premiership.
I was sent a copy of the team photo this week and it reminded me of a number of things, first and foremost that it was one of the strongest reserve teams that I have seen and that it was a pleasure to be surrounded, week after week, by such good players. It was actually a tough year for the club as players yo-yoed back and forth from the seniors to the reserves. Great for us blokes who played mainly in the frosties that year.
Leadership, let’s talk leadership. We had a seriously good Captain/Coach in Eric “Bricka” Smith who had entrusted myself with the match day captaincy for the season. But given Bricka’s own leadership skills and the number of leaders throughout the team, across every line, my role was little more than the coin tosser. I was, and am proud, to be given this role as it provided great experience for future roles in life. When I look at the team photo I see probably a thousand games of senior GFL appearances in it. Handy for the two’s.
A week after the Grand Final was won we had the B&F count, the same day the team photo was taken. I was fortunate enough to have the most votes when the count had ended. Surprisingly, the Captain/Coach had not polled a vote despite winning the League award a few weeks earlier. Thanks mate. Again, I take pride in this award knowing that playing with good players, week in and week out, bought the best out of me.
Great memories still and they always will be. Great to be part of such a good team with good players and leaders. A great learning period, absolutely instilling in me the need for everyone to be part of a team. Losing with pride and more importantly winning with grace and humility. Get your kids playing in a team.
Matters returned to the norm some weeks later, I backed Kingston Town in the Gup”.
And that Great Leader? It was Eric Smith, not me.
Around the Grounds
Let’s take a look at the Collingwood Football Club for a minute. The Collingwood team were the Premier team of the AFL competition in 2023.
Collingwood Coaching Panel
And no to all the non Collingwood supporters, the panel is not shown as a jigsaw because it is a puzzle.
It is far more important than that and I believe one of the major reasons that the Magpies were a successful team in 2023. Although jigsaws are puzzles, they are held together by the pieces interlocking with each other and creating the full picture when assembled. Individual pieces are irregularly shaped making the successful completion both challenging and bringing joy when completed.
The rounded tab on a jigsaw puzzle piece is called an interjamb with the hollow they fit into is named a blank. Other names exist but for this exercise I am sticking with interjambs and blanks.
How do you complete a jigsaw? Corners first. sides second and then the middle? It doesn’t matter really, what we want is for all the puzzle pieces to hold together when complete, when under stress, we do not want cracks to appear. I would suggest that a jigsaw that is on a table when a minor earthquake occurs would remain together. Scrabble pieces would be all over the shop. With a jigsaw, it is held together because of the interjambs all working together not separating from their opposites, the blanks.
Special mats are available for you to complete your jigsaw on. At any stage of the total exercise to complete the jigsaw, the mats can be rolled up and unrolled at a later date, the jigsaw still intact. Those interjambs doing their job.
Let’s take a closer look at the Collingwood jigsaw. So far our jigsaw consists of 25 interlocking pieces.
Craig McRae (Senior Coach)
Born in South Australia
Drafted at number 22 in the 1994 AFL Draft
Played 195 games for the Brisbane team(s)
Kicked 232 for the Brisbane team
Richmond Assistant Coach from 2007 - 2009
Brisbane Assistant Coach 2010
Collingwood Assistant Coach 2011 - 2016
Richmond Assistant Coach from 2017 - 2020
Hawthorn Assistant Coach 2021
Collingwood Senior Coach from 2022 - present
Craig “Fly”" McRae visits the Saigon Saints in 2010. Agreed to go to Collingwood for the 2011 season on the ‘phone at the Apple Hotel in Thai Van Luong St.,
Brendon Bolton (Director of Coaching/Back line Coach)
Born in Tasmania
Was never drafted
Never played a game at AFL level
Coached Hawthorn for 5 games in 2004
Coached Carlton from 2016 to 2019
Joined Collingwood in 2022
Chloe McMillan - AFLW and Development Coach
Collingwood’s AFLW coach since 2020
Josh Fraser (Head of Development and VFL Coach)
Born in Victoria
Drafted at number 1 in the 1999 AFL Draft
Played 200 games for Collingwood
Played 18 games for Gold Coast
Kicked 168 goals representing both clubs
Carlton Assistant Coach from 2016 - 2019
Collingwood Assistant Coach 2023 - present
Justin Leppitsch (Head of Strategy/Forward line Coach)
Born in Victoria
Drafted at number 3 in the 1992 AFL Draft
Played 227 games for the Brisbane team(s)
Kicked 194 games for Brisbane
Assistant Coach at Brisbane from 2007 - 2008
Assistant Coach at Richmond from 2009 - 2013
Senior Coach at Brisbane from 2014 - 2016
Assistant Coach at Richmond from 2017 - 2021
Assistant Coach at Collingwood from 2022 - present
And there we will stop and carry on with our jigsaw.
Apart from McRae and Leppitsch there are not too many similarities and among the team. Born in three different States, male and female, some played at the highest level while some did not. And while McRae, Leppitsch and Fraser were successful players who had terrific careers, none would be referred to as an out and out champion. Did I mention the McRae and Leppitsch are triple Premiership players so they obviously know something about winning. I mentioned in a previous section the bond that forms amongst Premiership players in bush Leagues. I can only imagine the bond between AFL triple Premiership players. It would be expected that their interjambs and blanks are stuck tight.
Communication
With such a diverse range of individuals making up the Collingwood coaching panel, communication and a common goal is vital. The likes of Leppitsch and then Bolton in particular would have their own ideas having coached at the highest level themselves. The others on the panel may be using this role as a stepping stone to coaching an AFL team themselves. I am positive they would all have varying thoughts on what the game plan should be.
The defensive coach cannot have a different plan to the forward coach nor the midfield coach. They get the plan from the senior coach McRae and must deliver it to their charges no matter their own thoughts. I am sure however that their thoughts are listened to, discussed with and dissected among themselves and others before McRae makes the final decision, a decision he then is responsible for.
None of this consensus decision making rubbish that absolves all from responsibility when things go awry.
So we must think of the interjambs on the jigsaw being ears and the blank being the mouth. There are ears and mouths on all four sides of a jigsaw piece. I see this as “down and up”, “side to side to side” and “up and down” communication. The information regarding the plan is disemminated, discussed and then rerouted to the top. As we rise from the bottom to the top of a jigsaw, each higher level takes responisbility for their level of decision making and then discussion at their level. In the Collingwood example. The most important communicators are the forward lines, back lines and the mid field coaches. McRae would know and appreciate this fact given he spent 15 years at that level. That level is where “buy in” to the plan is achieved.
The interjambs are very important. More important than many give them credit for (or use them).
We had a player in that Premsiership team that we nicknamed “the Lizard”, we thought his ears were painted on. Thankfully he was capable of turning his real ears to the “on” position for three hours of a Saturday.
The jigsaw grows
So, the jigsaw we have looked at so far consisted of 25 interlocking pieces, controlled from the top, but it only works because all the information is dissemeinated up and down, sideways and down and up. But the Magpies didn’t win the flag with just those 25 pieces of the jigsaw.
Of course, the players contributed to a very important part of the process, actually playing the game. There was a squad of 44 players of which 38 played in the senior side during the course of the season. All 44 contributed to the success though.
In this part of the jigsaw there would be more sideways communication than up and down and down and up. The senior coach would have control of all the players of course but the back, forward and midfield coach would have a lot of responsibility in communicating the coaches message. I am sure that the player leadership group, as well as individual players would offer some feedback and this would be passed on, whether this would make a lot of difference to the overall game plan is debatable. I am sure though that all coaches would listen, discuss and consider those point of views.
Listening to the players creates harmony and increases the sense of belonging within the larger group. “Buy In” in further increased.
I am also sure that McRae would not ask the back line coach to go and give the forward line some instruction and if he did so, the forward line coach would have been consulted before hand. The channels of communication must be clear and precise.
The interjambs and blanks are still ears and mouths and as the season progressed the ears would be open more as players strived to remain in the actual team for each match, culminating in the finals campaign and ultimately the Grand Final.
So then, the next part of the jigsaw comes more and more into play. To fill the AFL team each week, players need to be drawn from the seconds or as they are known today, the Development team. They are there to develop into Senior players and as we heard earlier, 38 players from the squad of 44 player Senior football throughout the season. There, the Senior coaching panel must pass the game plan to the Development team coach and his assistants A very similar game plan will exist within both sides. The Development coaches and the Development players MUST become part of the jigsaw and their interjambs and blanks are equally important and maybe moreso for the recently drafted youngsters who will be expected to become regualr senior players in the near future. We currently have an overall jigsaw consisting of one hundred and twenty pieces (an 8 x 15 grid).
Our original 25 piece jigsaw, 44 pieces for the Senior team and 51 pieces for the Development team and other Football Department staff. Not all pieces have a name plate attached but that is where the effective communication takes place.
These pieces are all connected and all communicating up to down, sideways and down to up.
Support Roles
The support roles which play an important part of the team are numerous and varied in their roles but further vital cogs in the overall team. To mention some I will start with the medical staff that includes club doctors or doctors, physiotherapists, dieticians, conditioners, trainers, strappers, the team runner and water personel. These people keep the players on the ground, winning games and while they may not be communicated in full with the game plan they would be given enough information and previously gained knowledge to be trusted people within the club and team. There would be other roles I have missed. I suggest they would add another 80 pieces to the jigsaw. That is where I feel the team jigsaw ends. AFL Clubs would have many of these staff positioned in the football playing States.
Of course there are others who would see themselves as part of the team and they do play important roles. Executive boards, coteries groups, statistcians, sponsors, past players and administrative staff all support the team in attaining their goals but more in an indirect path. And don’t forget the loyal supporters, rabid or not.
About the Board of Directors, what is their role? In my humble, it is, that,
Board members are there to contribute to the development of the organisation’s overall vision and strategy. The board, for example, will usually play key role in the development of the strategic plan.
Their second area to focus on is strategy, a major part is in recruitng the initial part of the abovementioned jigsaw. They will set out the boundaries in which the Coaching panel operates.
Next, they will define the organisations ethical standards and social compliance parameters.
The Board shall then monitor the outcomes of the strategic plan and provide support to the CEO and Coach.
Finally, they should provide feedback to the CEO and Coach, hopefully without the need to sack either.
But whatever part a person or a group of people play they can only actively contribute if they are connected by interjambs and blanks, talking and listening, discussing and coming to conclusions after initially committed to the Teams goal. Conclusions that are responsibility of the decision maker. Egos will be bruised, confidence will ebb and flow and there will be hiccups along the way but whether you are the star player or the guy picking up the discarded strapping after the game, success will only come via communication.
On the Contrary
Before I get into the guts of this section, let me say that here I will ruffle feathers, dint some pride and probably have some fierce defenders of the current points I see as wrong. I can’t help how you feel and I will not apologise if you think I am incorrect. I will report on my observations in a straight forward manner. I hope that if you disagree with me that you will at least consider my opinion. If you do, I am happy with my work.
What follows applies to my time in Vietnam. I never saw this occur at all in Australia but sadly it continues to be an observation I make not just in my work life over the past 30 years, but observations I make in supermarkets, bars, restaurants and all manner of settings.
I don’t believe that Vietnamese people when they enter the workforce, when they have spent time in the workforce or when they reach some level of responsibility in the workforce understand the concept that one team is made up of numerous smaller parts. The interjambs and blanks are missing. The inter department personal communication is missing, At times it is though there are four solid walls surrounding what should be interacting departments. Squares instead of interlocking pieces.
It’s like the “I want to protect my patch with barbed wire fences” mentality versus the better “I wish to nurture my patch with patience and care” mentality. How many times have you been told by a department head that they have an important matter pending so please “support” them. A strong team of committed leaders will provide support on a 24/7 basis, not just for special occassions. That’s what team work is. That’s what work is. If it should happen everyday it is work, not a special occassion requiring additional support.
Some people jump from “team” to “team” depending on what situation bests suits the individual at the prevailing moment.
I want to assist in fixing that. I want those in a position to fix this problem to help fix it. The country, when this problem is fixed can take the next step developing the future of the great people, potentially great organisations and a terrific place to belong to.
It is similar to the scrabble pieces mentioned earlier. Leave them on table during an earthquake and you will have pieces all over the place, the only possible word they could spell is CHAOS.
Solutions. I have a practice of telling those who I lead to not come to me with a problem without also coming with a suggested solution. Give it some thought and we can solve problems together with the kudos going to the entire section or department. I have attempted that process on numerous occassions and have drawn almost nothing in response. Is it culture? Is it education? Is it general life? Nothing had delivered the a-ha moment.
Until recently! And the discovery was a dual edged sword, a double edged sycthe, where, in my opinion, the liability far outweighed any perceived benefit. This dual edged sword was a lack of a hierarchy creating subservience and the HR practice of pigeonholing.
Let’s start with pigeon holing.
Contact me via email for further information.
