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- Shaun Wane: Tell Everyone Everything, All The Time
Shaun Wane: Tell Everyone Everything, All The Time
Showing genuine care, making important decisions, and more.
Paul Barnett
September 12, 2024
Welcome to the Great Coaches: Leadership and Life newsletter.
This week we released a fantastic podcast with England rugby coach Shaun Wane, and you can read some behind-the-scenes thoughts on our interview below. You’ll also find a great clip from Lisa Alexander designed to make you think about the best way to approach decision making, a fantastic article on the need for more support for Paralympics coaches, and a book recommendation that I know will appeal to a great number of you.
As always, I would love to hear your thoughts on this week’s episode and the content of this newsletter, so please don’t hesitate to get in touch!
Delivering Feedback With Genuine Care
This week’s podcast features an interview with former Rugby League player-turned-coach, Shaun Wane.
Shaun’s coaching career started with his old club in Wigan in 2003, leading the youth academy team to 7 Academy Grand Finals and 6 League Leaders’ Shields. By 2011 he had become the club’s head coach, taking them on to win three Super League Grand Finals, a Challenge Cup, and a World Club Challenge.
In 2020, Shaun took on a new position as the head coach of the England rugby league team, who under his leadership have moved up to third place in the IRL World Rankings.
During our interview Shaun touched on a number of the beliefs and views that have shaped his successful coaching career, including his view that Great Coaches express genuine and honest care for their players - something that he encapsulates in his saying, “tell everybody everything all the time”.
As part of this push for honesty, Shaun also shared why he attempts to deliver comments in a way that aligns with the individual receiving them and why he never assumes that a player has already heard the feedback before.
One other moment that I would like to highlight from the episode is our conversation about the power of connection, and how Shaun brings this to life by ensuring that everyone in his organisation understands the role played by others around them.
This really was a fantastic interview to record, and I hope that you’ll all take something great from it when you give it a listen.
How Leaders Make Decisions
When it comes to making a decision as a leader, it can be difficult to strike the right balance.
Some leaders choose to rely solely on their own feelings and thoughts, highly independent and asking for little-to-no input from the people around them. Other leaders are overly-collaborative, always seeking to make decisions that the people around them will approve of and agree with. While both approaches can have their merits in the right situations, they can also lead to issues and disharmony within organisations.
In this clip from our recent interview with netball’s Lisa Alexander, she discusses what she considers to be the best approach to decision making: allowing those around you to take some ownership and contribute towards the decision making process whilst still retaining the right to have the final say.
If you enjoyed this clip, then you should take a trip over to our website where you’ll find a wealth of insights taken from interviews with over 200 of the sporting world’s greatest coaches.
“Don't assume that players understand. Get everything out there.”
In Case You Missed It…
 | The Paralympics LegacyWhile we won’t be seeing the Summer Paralympics on our screens for another four years, the impact of its success will continue on behind the scenes for athletes and coaches alike. This article from The Conversation shines an important light on the role of Paralympic Coaches and the lack of support that they often face. It’s a very important topic, and one that may especially resonate with those of you involved in a leadership or coaching position related to disabilities. |
Spread It AroundThe Great Coaches newsletter is designed to be shared and discussed with colleagues, friends and family members. If someone has shared this copy with you, then make sure to sign up to our mailing list so that you don’t miss next week’s edition! |  |
In The Words Of Bill Walsh
Considered one of the greatest coaches in the history of the NFL, Bill Walsh’s leadership and legacy continues to be discussed in great detail more than 17 years after his death.
This book, “The Score Takes Care Of Itself”, is the result of a number of interviews that Bill undertook with author Steve Jamison prior to his death in 2007. Described as Bill’s “last lecture in leadership”, the book contains a number of fantastic insights that are just as applicable to corporate leadership as they are to professional sports coaching.
“Life is too short not to celebrate nice moments!”
Elevate Your Leadership
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