The Professional Swim Coach Course Book: How to Develop a Successful Team Culture
The following is the second in a two-part series highlighting the impactful coursework offered in The Professional Swim Coach, a manual from The World Swimming Coaches Association. This content addresses the all-important, and often-illusive, component in developing a high-level program: culture. The material in this chapter examines the philosophy behind creating a life-changing and team-transforming culture, as well the challenges. It methodically and systematically examines a character culture and a success culture, bridging the two, as well as examining the sub-cultures of training, competition, and leadership.
Developing a successful culture requires patience and organization, Think of it this way:
“The moving pieces, or ingredients, of culture are not dissimilar to a Rubik’s Cube. Culture building can feel this way, with the colors representing subcultures of attitude, effort, parents, travel, etc., and each cube represents an action or intention that either fits or doesn’t. How do you get everything (everyone) to line up? Some can do it quickly (and are adept at culture building), many struggle, and some can’t get the colors aligned no matter how much they try. And imagine every time you get close to completion, someone shifts the cubes. So it is with culture, it is daunting to begin with, and presents itself with daily challenges and disruptions.”
To help facilitate culture building, which includes working on subcultures, the Professional Swim Coach guides its readers through the process. It offers helpful comparisons to promote understanding and, through the use of bullet points, reviews specific areas on a one-by-one basis. By tackling this topic in small pieces, the greater good can be achieved.
How to Build Culture?
When beginning the process of culture creation, you should always begin with the macro, with the intention of:
● cementing a common vision – a like-minded sense of “we”
● aligning all parties (staff, parents, athletes)
● developing a sense of pride in identity
● creating direction, flow, and harmony in the program
● enhancing performance, if not maximizing it
● maximizing the experience
● enjoying mutual respect and athlete safety
● having integrity in all areas – athletes, staff, and parents, etc.
In sum, cultural pursuit is complicated and can be challenging, but it becomes the very core of all things athletic and personal in terms of growth and development. The professional coach should objectively understand the team’s culture (strengths and weaknesses), create a vision for the direction of the program, get buy-in from constituents, sell it, and develop a strategic plan of implementation, management, and accountability. We, as coaches, have an obligation to our organization and each member to provide the greatest environment possible, and culture IS your environment.
Developing Team Culture (Full Chapter)
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“I have just completed my third reading. Excellent! This should be a must have in every coach’s library. You have excelled in building the most comprehensive manual for the profession of coaching at all levels. Every trainer and coach, in every field of endeavor, will greatly benefit from the opportunity to study this mastery of competency in the sporting world. You are to be applauded for this work.”
Bill Sweetenham, AM, Churchill Fellow, Five-Time Olympic Head Coach
