Anna Stembridge: Clarity Is Kindness

Welcome to the Great Coaches: Leadership & Life newsletter.

Every month, we publish two new podcast episodes featuring an interview with a Great Coach from across the world of sports. Our interviews delve deep into the careers and leadership of our guests, seeking new insights to help us all lead our teams, communities and families better.

If you like our content, then you’ll probably want to explore our Great Coaches annual membership. For just $4.50 USD, you can enjoy a year’s unlimited to access to all of our existing and upcoming content, including more than 1,800 leadership insights and our library of leadership lesson episodes. It’s a great resource for leaders, coaches and parents alike. Find out more on our website.

High Support And High Challenge With Anna Stembridge

With years of experience as a player, a coach, an academic and a lecturer, Anna Stembridge has developed a truly in-depth and rounded understanding of leadership and what it means to coach successfully in high-performance, high-pressure environments.

Her background has taught her that coaches are performers in their own right, often lacking in the support they need to survive and thrive in high-performance sports. She has also come to learn that there’s no way to really ‘prepare’ for a head coaching position — although there are ways to equip yourself with the necessary survival skills, such as surrounding yourself with people who will both care for you and call you out.

During our interview, Anna shared the wonderful idea that there is no ‘guarantee’ when it comes to winning a cup or medal, but that what is guaranteed is the journey that a team will go on. That journey, she has realised, is one that must be owned by everyone, and not just the team’s leader.

So, how does one build a team prepared for that journey? Anna explains during our interview how she creates a sense of belonging, celebrating and supporting the differences of each and every team member. She also raises the idea that clarity is kindness, and shares that caring deeply is just as important as having hard conversations when it comes to working with people.

This was a really fantastic interview, with some wonderful insights and perspectives taken from both practical and academic experiences. I hope that you’ll enjoy listening to it as much as we enjoyed recording it.

Listen Now: Apple | Spotify

This Week’s Guest

Anna Stembridge is a former British netball player and coach.

Anna played in the UK Netball Super League for both Team Bath and the Celtic Dragons, and also represented Wales on the international stage. In 2008 she made the transition to coaching, and began working with Team Bath as an Assistant. In 2009 and 2010, she helped the team to Super League titles.

Anna also served as an Assistant for the England national team before becoming their head coach in 2011, leading them to the 2011 World Netball Series and a historic series win against Australia in 2013. After stepping down from the role in 2015, Anna returned to Team Bath and acted as their head coach until 2022. In 2024, she was inducted into the Team Bath Hall of Fame for Sport in recognition of her achievements with the team.

As well as being a Great Coach, Anna also has a PhD from the Cardiff School of Sport & Health Sciences, lectures in Sports Coaching and Sport Psychology, and works in the mentoring and developing of other coaches.

On Unshared Problems

In each issue of the Great Coaches newsletter we share a different short lesson on leadership, inspired by the insights and ideas shared by our podcast guests.

This week, we’re taking a slightly different approach. Rather than a video with a clear insight to act upon, this is a clip from our interview with Doug MacLean who shares an example of disharmony he discovered within groups and organisations.

When Doug was conducting interviews for his book, he found that several of his interviewees were in a difficult situation: while the owners and top-level management of their clubs and organisations were heavily pushing the importance of data-led decisions and management, their trainers, staff and players disagreed with the approach. What’s more, the interviewees felt unable to address their concerns with the people above them (to the point where they didn’t even want to be quoted on the topic).

As a leader, you will make decisions in the interest of your team or organisation that others may disagree with. However, if the people around you don’t feel comfortable sharing their experiences or perspectives with you, then you may be missing out on valuable information regarding the results of decisions you have made. Over time, issues and disharmony can occur without your awareness, leading to unforeseen larger problems.

How freely does conversation occur within your team, organisation, or group? Do the people you lead feel able to come to you with concerns, or are they concerned about repercussions? Are there any issues being neglected or hidden which could build up and form bigger problems over time?

As we move into the start of Q2, now is a great time to examine your situation and lay the groundwork to address and avoid disharmony.

If you’re looking to further develop your own leadership skills and ability, then make sure to head over to our website. For an annual cost of just $4.50 USD, Great Coaches members can access more than 1,800 clips, 30 special lessons, and more great content designed to help them become better, more effective leaders.

In Case You Missed It…

Respect Trumps Harmony

Our previous episode of the Great Coaches Podcast featured an interview with Australian Rules Football coach Luke Beveridge, who shared a wonderful book recommendation with us: Respect Trumps Harmony by Rachael Robertson.

Summarised as “why being liked is overrated and constructive conflict gets results”, this book explores the difficulty of navigating disagreements and different perspectives in team environments and looks at the importance of a foundation of respect when building and developing high-performing team cultures.

A very interesting read, this is a book for anyone who has ever felt like knocking their team members’ heads together.

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