From Player to Coach: An Interview with 4x Olympic Hockey Gold Medalist Caroline Ouellette
A successful world-class team comes with a lot of challenges, and building one which brings you international success depends heavily on the relationship between those in charge and those doing the work. No matter one's role in the team, everyone is vital for the overall success of the group, and when you work together - you triumph.
Did you think we were talking about business? Because these are the insights of Caroline Ouellette when it comes to succeeding in high-performing team sports. The Canadian 4-time Olympic Gold Medalist in Women’s Ice Hockey has hung up the skates and picked up a whiteboard. She has since then been an assistant coach with the Canadian Women’s National Team, the very team with whom she won 4 Olympic Gold medals and 6 World Championships as a player.
Whether in sports or in business, moving up to management can definitely have its perks, It also comes with some new challenges. We sat down with Caroline - or “Caro” to her teammates - to discuss the transition from player to coach, and she shares her thoughts on:
What you see as a player versus what you see as a coach
How to deal with egos
The best way to build healthy team dynamics and
How to approach conflict
Coaching comes with some unexpected challenges
“Looking back, I believe that as players we are often sheltered from everything that the coaches and staff were dealing with. Sometimes it’s personal problems, or maybe tension between coaches, but as a player, you are not aware of it because it is part of the coaches job to ensure any distractions are left at the door. On the other side, as a coach we are often dealing with young athletes going through important parts of their lives, be it university or starting a career. It’s important to remember that you are dealing with human beings that have ups and downs in life, and it’s sometimes hard to comprehend in the beginning. If they’re happy off the ice they’re generally happy on the ice, so it’s important to know the players and to know what they do outside of hockey."
Coaches don’t just “coach”
“As a player, you don’t realize just how hard the coaches work. There is always something to do, someone to deal with, and lots of preparation. Recruiting is also a huge part of the job, and like in a company you are always looking for new team members, and taking time to build relationships to convince them to join your team. It’s a huge part of where you spend your time as a coach, and it’s basically never-ending. As a player, you just don’t realize how hard everyone around the team works."
How to let go of the player’s role within you
“The role of the coach is not to lead the team, it is to set a path with the players, and together define a vision and a list of objectives and goals. The best is when the players themselves are leading the charge and holding each other accountable. As the coach, you are there to guide everyone and make sure everyone is feeling good, but it’s up to the players within one another to ensure every one of them is going in the right direction."
High performance can also mean high-ego
“Egos is the biggest challenge of them all. Everyone wants to feel that they are contributing, and everyone wants to play. I think when people get to the point where they love their teammates so much that they are willing to put their ego aside they then accept any role necessary. It’s important to get people to buy-in, and as coaches, we are a big part of that. It is up to us to establish a loving and caring relationship, and making it clear that each and every role, big or small, is important for overall success."
Inter-conflict between players becomes everyone’s concern.
“If there were to be a conflict between players, I would get everyone in the same room and get everyone talking; giving their reactions, how they feel about the situation, why they are upset. As a coach, you are more there as a mediator, but it is important to get the players to open up to one another and to get back to a peaceful environment. When we don’t address issues like that they then linger, and the become detrimental to a team."
Coaches need coaches too
“In my first year as an assistant coach at the University of Minnesota-Duluth, I was very lucky to have had a mentor like Head coach Shannon Miller. Her first words to me were, “My greatest challenge is to prepare you so that one day you can become your own head coach”. Her mentorship was the greatest thing someone did for me and my coaching career. She trusted me in important roles and situations, and she helped me gain respect from the players. When your players think you’re credible, you build stronger relationships of trust and there is much better teamwork. Shannon saw players as people with a voice; she cared what they had to say, and she cared about mentoring young assistant coaches like myself.”
The coach-player relationship is a collaboration
“I feel that coaching is really more of a collaboration, with players working together with the coach. It’s important for a coach to know that players should have a voice and their opinion matters. Even as a former player and now coaching my former teammates, there is no awkwardness or tension because I have always had a good relationship with them. We are still working together to get to the highest level and compete on the biggest stage. I also feel that I can learn from them as much as they can learn from me, and it is a relationship built on respect going both ways.”
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