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Should Richmond recruit Lisa Alexander as an assistant?
- Thread starter year of the tiger
- Start date
Not as an assistant for the mens. She has no experience in this football environment. Dimma will rely on experience, he is not a hands on man anymore in the true sense and needs the right assistant to draw knowledge, facts and ideas from. What I would do, is get her as the woman's assistant coach. Learn the ropes and then apply her craft. if she is good enough getting either the job top for the womens or assistant for the mens in a few years time.
Now is not the time to start being conservative, well liked and equal opportunity sort of thing. Remember winning the premiership is hard work, good structures in admin, football, team and support.
If CEOs can swap industries, why can’t head coaches change sports?
Lisa Alexander
Herald Sun
November 13, 2020
(paywalled)
What is a high-performance culture? Regardless of the team, from the elite sport to the corporate world, a high-performance culture has several fundamental building blocks:
The team knows what it is trying to achieve. The purpose of the team is crystal clear, and this drives alignment: “We are all rowing in the same direction.”
A strong behavioural or values framework that makes it clear what is expected from team members. This culture needs to be actively nurtured, by all team members, without fear or favour.
There is no such thing as a high-performance team without strong relationships and genuine communication. The two attributes are closely linked.
The ability to have genuine conversations is what builds strong relationships, and the stronger your relationships the more genuine your communication will become.
Any leader, of any team, who can work with their team to achieve the above is more likely to have success in reaching their team goals.
I have been a leader, and responsible for a high-performance culture at the Diamonds, and seen it first hand at other elite teams.
When the newest player on the team feels comfortable to offer the captain advice on how to improve, and vice versa, the team is more likely to improve.
Throughout my life I have focused on three things — learning, teaching and achievement. I am driven by the desire to improve.
The ability to learn is fundamental to improving. I enjoy studying and reading, not just in the fields of my career (sport and education), but to gain a broader understanding of the world. I also enjoy learning from my experiences with others.
Giving and receiving feedback from those you collaborate with is an essential skill. How do I know what I can improve on if I don’t ask, and, critically, if I don’t ask with the genuine intention of listening to and considering what I am told?
The ability to teach (formally) also provides incredible opportunities for personal learning.
Understanding that everyone you are teaching learns differently, is at different stages of development and has a unique world view.
Tailoring your communication style and the information you are providing does not just happen; it takes practice and, again, feedback is essential.
There are not many environments left in the world where these leadership skills I have referred to are not seen as transferable. Most would agree that from a team leadership and culture building perspective I am qualified for a role in the AFL, or any other sport.
The argument, put by some but not all, is I have not played at the elite level, nor have I worked full-time in the code, and therefore I don’t understand how the “game” works.
My answer to that is simple — the “game” of a head coach is about creating a culture of success, for the assistant coaches, the other support staff, and the players.
I know I can do that, and I know most women in leadership roles all over the world could do that.
Lisa Alexander
Herald Sun
November 13, 2020
(paywalled)
What is a high-performance culture? Regardless of the team, from the elite sport to the corporate world, a high-performance culture has several fundamental building blocks:
The team knows what it is trying to achieve. The purpose of the team is crystal clear, and this drives alignment: “We are all rowing in the same direction.”
A strong behavioural or values framework that makes it clear what is expected from team members. This culture needs to be actively nurtured, by all team members, without fear or favour.
There is no such thing as a high-performance team without strong relationships and genuine communication. The two attributes are closely linked.
The ability to have genuine conversations is what builds strong relationships, and the stronger your relationships the more genuine your communication will become.
Any leader, of any team, who can work with their team to achieve the above is more likely to have success in reaching their team goals.
I have been a leader, and responsible for a high-performance culture at the Diamonds, and seen it first hand at other elite teams.
When the newest player on the team feels comfortable to offer the captain advice on how to improve, and vice versa, the team is more likely to improve.
Throughout my life I have focused on three things — learning, teaching and achievement. I am driven by the desire to improve.
The ability to learn is fundamental to improving. I enjoy studying and reading, not just in the fields of my career (sport and education), but to gain a broader understanding of the world. I also enjoy learning from my experiences with others.
Giving and receiving feedback from those you collaborate with is an essential skill. How do I know what I can improve on if I don’t ask, and, critically, if I don’t ask with the genuine intention of listening to and considering what I am told?
The ability to teach (formally) also provides incredible opportunities for personal learning.
Understanding that everyone you are teaching learns differently, is at different stages of development and has a unique world view.
Tailoring your communication style and the information you are providing does not just happen; it takes practice and, again, feedback is essential.
There are not many environments left in the world where these leadership skills I have referred to are not seen as transferable. Most would agree that from a team leadership and culture building perspective I am qualified for a role in the AFL, or any other sport.
The argument, put by some but not all, is I have not played at the elite level, nor have I worked full-time in the code, and therefore I don’t understand how the “game” works.
My answer to that is simple — the “game” of a head coach is about creating a culture of success, for the assistant coaches, the other support staff, and the players.
I know I can do that, and I know most women in leadership roles all over the world could do that.
Didn't you say the Diamond's were getting beaten regularly by the Kiwis at the end of her tenure? Not exactly a lot of contenders in world netball.
So according to Lisa any female CEO could be dropped into the position of Head coach of an AFL club and be successful.
The fact that Lisa believes this shows how naïve she is regarding the coaching of an AFL club and makes her unsuitable for the position.
The fact that Lisa believes this shows how naïve she is regarding the coaching of an AFL club and makes her unsuitable for the position.
According to her logic, Dimma could step into her position as coach of the Diamonds and win everything. Even people experienced as Aussie Rules players have to an apprenticeship before they cam step into a senior coaching role.
CEO‘s can change industries cause their skill base is 80% generic and 20% specific (rough guess) so it is possible to pick up the specific industry knowledge you need fairly quickly - I agree with her.
Can a lawyer switch industries (say to become heart surgeon or an engineer) or vice versa given the specialised skill set of each - not without a complete retrain so no.
So it comes down to the job design of the head coach - how much specific skills / industry knowledge is required.
I think head coach is more sport specialised than she is aware off but I could be wrong.
Whereas the CEO, Gale for example, could switch industries and become a ceo of a bank, or manufacturing business etc and expand from being a CEO of a sports business or union.
I am not convinced on her argument now tbh.
Dunno. Ian Campbell was an experienced CEO before coming to Richmond with the AFL's recommendation. Resigned after a year with the admission that he'd struggled with the specialised nature of the AFL industry.
I guess it's up to the employer to state what the job is and not for the applicant to define it according to what they think it is.
It all comes down to who is the best candidate for the job and we want the best so I don't care who we take as assistants as long as they are the best available for AFL
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One of the issues with a lot of management theory is that it doesn't take account of the specialisations in different contexts. How often have you seen some set of consultants come into a workplace, usually from some large smart arse accounting/consulting firm, and make a pile of recommendations which generally fall into 3 categories:
But the point is that a head coach will bring a limited skill set of use when they try and move between sports. Context does matter. Knowledge does matter. This applies to management as well as the actual work at hand.
DS
- The bleedingly obvious that any semi-competent employee of the organisation could have told management if they had bothered to ask or listen.
- The ridiculously stupid which are just embarrassing and expose their lack of knowledge of the context of the organisation and the industry it is part of.
- A couple of actually quite useful suggestions, many of which they have cut and paste from a previous job anyway.
But the point is that a head coach will bring a limited skill set of use when they try and move between sports. Context does matter. Knowledge does matter. This applies to management as well as the actual work at hand.
DS
Like most of your other posts, you’re being contrary just for the sake of being contrary.
So 5% of what Dimma does is actually related to the practical side of Australian Rules Football...? The rest, I assume, you are throwing under the man management umbrella? What a load of tosh. You’re seriously trying to say that since the end of 2016, when our game plan changed, and then changed again mid-2017 due to injuries, 95% of that is down to the assistants that came in that year? And has continued to evolve due to the new assistants that have come in since then?
Only 5% of the best game plan in the last 50 years is due to the one constant that could possibly teach and implement it?
Just 5% of the football strategy is down to Dimma...? Is that what you’re honestly saying?
I wasn’t engaging in discussion either. It was a rhetorical post calling out your nonsense.
It surprises me that a person with your knowledge, experience, expertise, personal relationships and breadth of employment history spends so much time on PRE telling us all about it.
Each to their own I guess. I’ve said my bit. You can have the last word if you so desire.
