Luke Beveridge: Spreading Recognition

Welcome back to the Great Coaches: Leadership & Life newsletter.

This week we’re posting our latest interview with Australian rules football coach Luke Beveridge, who delves into the topic of leadership and shares the philosophies behind his successful coaching career. It made for a fantastic discussion, as you’ll no doubt agree.

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.

In Good Times And Bad With Luke Beveridge

If you’re looking to work on the skills of self-reflection and accountability, then you’ll want to listen to this week’s interview with Australian rules football coach Luke Beveridge.

As you’ll hear in the podcast, Luke has a number of simple philosophies that he employs in his leadership. When times are good, he spreads recognition and when times are tough, he wears the heat. Ultimately, he makes a point of never throwing his players under the bus, which is exactly the sort of philosophy that allows players and athletes to trust and respect their coach.

Luke also spends a lot of time reviewing the way that he behaves under pressure, expressing during our interview the discomfort that comes with allowing his emotions to be expressed. It’s a delicate balance of drawing out emotions and buying into something bigger than yourself, but it’s something that he does well — the way he conducted himself during a 2016 premiership win earned him the Spirit of Sport award at the Australia Hall of Fame awards.

Finally, I’d like to shine a light on the way that Luke thinks of leadership as a behaviour that can be exhibited regardless of role or title. It’s a great message that we all should be sharing with our teams and communities, and one that can inspire each and every person to exhibit leadership skills and behaviour in their daily life.

Listen Now: Apple | Spotify

This Week’s Guest

Luke Beveridge is an Australian rules football coach. As a player, he played for Melbourne, Footscray and St Kilda in the AFL.

After retiring as a player in 1999, Luke returned to his alma mater St Bedes to coach them in the Victorian Amateur Football Association. After being appointed as the team’s head coach, he led them to win 3 consecutive premierships and brought them from C grade to A grade. Following this, he returned to the AFL as an assistant coach at Collingwood and Hawthorn, assisting both clubs to premiership wins.

Luke has been the head coach of the AFL’s Western Bulldogs since 2014. In 2016 he led the club to win the premiership in a game that earned him the Spirit of Sport award at the Sport Australia Hall of Fame awards.

Luke’s career has also seen him earn the AFL Coaching Association Coach of the Year award on two occasions.

On Evaluating Your Mission

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 time, let’s look at the ‘mission statement’.

If you’re in a position of leadership - particularly in a corporate environment - then you’ll be no stranger to the mission statement. Most successful brands and businesses have one, and it typically pops up in onboarding handbooks, recruitment advertisements, and whenever teams require a bit of realigning towards company goals and expectations.

What you may not be familiar with is the personal mission statement: a guiding declaration that helps to keep you aligned to your goals. For some, their mission statement may be linked to the legacy they wish to leave; others might use it as an opportunity to lay out the skills and traits that they wish to develop and possess.

Regardless of what your mission statement includes, it’s a great tool to be used in daily self-reflection and to guide you when making difficult decisions.

Great Coach Gail Goestenkors spoke on the personal mission statement during our interview with her — watch the video below to hear what she said.

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…

What Great Coaches Share

Here at the Great Coaches podcast, we believe that there’s no algorithm for leadership. That’s why we interview top coaches from across the world of sport, looking for ideas and philosophies to help us better lead our teams, communities, and families.

Over at the Conversation, it seems that Professor Cliff Mallet has been attempting something similar. In this article, he delves into the careers of seventeen Great Coaches, sharing the results of research into the patterns that appear within their careers and behaviour.

A really great read that looks at serial winning environments and factors, based on some very thorough research.

Challenge Yourself with the Macquarie MBA

This newsletter is brought to you by Macquarie University Business School’s MBA program. Designed to empower, challenge and transform, the Macquarie MBA gives you the business skills and knowledge you need to succeed in an evolving global economy.

The program bridges the gap between theory and real-world application, bringing together world-leading professors, executives and industry partners to teach you how business can be used for good.

I have started working with the team at Macquarie on some projects and can attest to the quality of the people and material. To find out more, search for Macquarie University Business School’s MBA.

Find out more: https://www.mq.edu.au/macquarie-business-school/