Episode 2: Organizations Need Player-Coach Leaders

The following is a written supplement to The Leading Lights Audiocast, Episode 2: Organizations Want Need Player-Coaches

“This leader needs to be a player-coach.” More and more frequently we are being directed to find precisely this by executive leaders of companies across industries who are adding to their leadership teams. The ask of incoming leaders joining many cultures today is that they not only can be, but are willing to be, player-coaches. 

It was important to possess this skill prior to our current pandemic status. We can only expect that going forward companies are going to be even more agile and lean. After a crisis, as a leader, you best be a player-coach; if you cannot do this, you’re at risk.  Why would companies hire two or three people, when they can get it with one person playing dual roles? 

Let’s clarify. When organizations ask us to identify a player-coach at the mid-to-upper level leadership spot on their organization charts, they are not asking for someone to do individual contributor work. In this instance, a player-coach doesn’t mean you are a data entry analyst and a customer service director, or that you’re a sales rep and a manager. These individuals are leaders. The difference here is that they have the capability and willingness to jump in and understand the details and lead by example when necessary.  

It’s also important to call out that a player-coach requires someone to be capable of doing so, but also being okay with it - those are two very different things. So, humility is a big part of this ask, too. 

Companies’ leadership teams are not looking to add a leader who only sits in the ivory tower and delegates. They just aren’t. They want a leader who can be a dreamer/doer, a strategist/executer, a player/coach. 

This is critically important at the succession plan leadership level - where senior managers, directors, vice presidents sit - if you cannot do those two things - from what we see and what’s being constantly asked of us - it’s apparent that you will stunt your career growth.

What we often see is so many people consider their career path destination as a success when they can earn the role where they are no longer being a player-coach and simply being a coach. AKA the top of the ladder. Where this magical coach role sits and you don’t have to do detail or execution - just strictly strategic visionary work. For most of us, I don’t buy it! 

This top, dream role exists - sure. But for the few who are lucky enough to get there, they didn’t get there without demonstrating they can be a player-coach. They’re in that position because they’ve been recognized as someone who leads by example. So their fellow Vice Presidents and direct reports of theirs in the past have seen and experienced them being a player-coach. For example, they led with a title-less culture, they jumped into details on weekends when they needed to. They likely have received consistent feedback throughout their career that they had no problem jumping in talking about the future of organization at the boardroom table and walking the manufacturing floor and guiding their teams to deliver work. These people earn the 1% top gigs.

A player-coach/dreamer-doer leader is a great communicator. They are someone who can focus on big-picture strategy and stay in touch with the day-to-day function’s rhythm. They build collaborative cultures and are exceptionally talented at time management. 

Leaders who do this well are more acutely aware of pain points and potential stumbling blocks of their organization’s current product and/or service offerings. Without that contact with day-to-day details and potentially direct interaction with customers, the player-coach leader may be in the dark on seeing crucial – but subtle – shifts in the market. 

The best leaders do whatever it takes to make it happen. They have to. They recognized you cannot just come up with the ideas. There are enough idea people out there. Organizations aren’t looking for someone to just be the idea guy or gal. The real value is building strategy at a high level, yes - but also making something happen on behalf of the organization. You have to deliver. You have to execute. That requires the best leaders to work through the details and put on the player sometimes. 


 

Cultura Solutions is a strategic search firm in Minneapolis that partners with executives to help bridge high-impact leadership talent gaps. Our principals employ an extremely disciplined and transparent search process with a targeted sourcing model, and outreach focused on genuine human-to-human interaction, allowing us to turn non-active prospects into interested candidates. Visit www.cultura-solutions.com for more information.