The Great Coaches: Adam Voges

Bring Them Along

This week’s episode features an interview with cricket coach Adam Voges.

As an athlete, Adam represented Australia at Test, One-Day and T20 level.

In 2017, he began coaching the Western Australia team and the Perth Scorchers, ultimately going on to lead them to a three-peat of Sheffield Shield titles in 2022, 2023, and 2024. He also guided WA to the One-Day trophy four times (in 2019, 2022, 2023 and 2024) and two BBL wins.

Listening back to the interview, some of the key highlights for me were:

• Adam’s thoughts on the importance of clear communication — including his acknowledgement of Justin Langer’s ability to instantly align a group through clear vision and direction.

• The need for leadership to be built on care and connection — something that he feels is demonstrated in how the best coaches genuinely invest in players as people, not just as performers.

• Why players must be brought on the journey — and the key lesson Adam took from Greg Shipard, that players ultimately determine a coach’s success and therefore need ownership and involvement.

This was a great interview to record, and a brilliant one to take us into the weekend.

Listen Now: Apple | Spotify

Some key questions raised from today’s episode:

• Where am I trying to do too much by myself, rather than trusting and empowering the people around me?

• Do the people I lead feel genuinely as though they are being brought along for the journey, or am I asking them to follow decisions they had no part in shaping?

• When pressure rises, do I become more helpful and clear, or do my emotions make the situation harder for others?

Find all of our past interviews with some of sport’s most successful coaches and leaders on our website.

What It Means To Belong

In this section of our newsletter, we like to bring attention to the topics and areas of leadership and coaching that can pose the biggest challenges and problems, and to share a small lesson or interview clip that can help you to assess your own approach to them.

In this week’s interview with Adam Voges, you’ll hear us discussing the need for team members and athletes to take ownership and involvement in the ‘journey’ you lead them along. This is something that has come up before in our interviews with Great Coaches, and presents a really important lesson for all of us: leaders, coaches, and parents.

As a leader, it’s very easy to get into a headspace that sees you making decisions for the good of the group, team, or family. You’ve thought things through, weighed up the pros and cons, and made an informed decision — and now you expect others to agree with you and follow your guidance. However, for those you lead or coach, this can feel as though their opinions and feelings are being ignored, leading to resentment and resistance.

By listening to the people around you and giving them an opportunity for involvement and ownership of the journey you’re leading them on, you help them to feel as though they actually belong and that they’re valued as people, not just performers.

In the clip below, we revisit a past interview with All Blacks coach Gilbert Enoka who stresses that the greatest motivation is a sense of belonging. How could you implement this in your own leadership in the coming week?

You can find the video here on our Youtube channel, alongside many other lessons, interviews, and insights designed to be shared and used by leaders and teams.

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We combine videos of the Great Coaches that we have interviewed with our experience as corporate and sporting leaders in order to bring insight, energy, and ideas to your teams.

The Magic Of Sports

After last week’s podcast episode with the fantastic George Selleck, there was some interest in his new book, ‘The Magic of Sports’.

As listeners will have heard us discuss in the interview, the book is really a guide for personal growth that will be relevant to athletes, coaches, and leaders alike. It’s a culmination of George’s own experiences and insights, and makes for brilliant reading.

The book is available on Amazon, and if you want to catch up with the interview, you’ll find it wherever you get your podcasts! 

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.

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

Elevated Leadership

If you’re looking to improve your own leadership skills, get in touch with us at elevatedleadership.com.au 

Our team of executive coaches — including The Great Coaches host, Paul Barnett — bring a wealth of experience as international CEOs who have faced the challenge of stepping forward in uncertain moments.