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View Full Version : Bulldogs Leadership Group - a new concept



bornadog
20-03-2013, 10:40 PM
Leader of the pack (http://www.westernbulldogs.com.au/news/2013-03-20/leader-of-the-pack)

The Western Bulldogs are the only AFL club without an official leadership group but captain Matthew Boyd believes the Dogs in fact boast the league's biggest leadership team.

Boyd, the only leader nominated by the Bulldogs, revealed that the new system, which involves more discussion in small groups, ensures every player has his say in the club's direction.

The third-year skipper and coach Brendan McCartney hope the program will fast-track the development of leadership, and onfield performance, particularly among the Dogs' abundance of youngsters.

It has already achieved strong results, Boyd said, with some of the Dogs' typically more reserved characters making valuable contributions.

Neither Boyd nor the Bulldogs have yet placed a timeframe on his reign as captain, but he said the leadership program would also help to identify the club's next skipper.

McCartney said the Bulldogs had been contemplating changing their leadership model for some time", revealing that the off-field incident late last season involving young midfielder Tom Liberatore, who received a club-imposed four-match suspension, was a factor.

"You don't want bad things to happen in your club, but sometimes they give you a starting point to go forward and get better," McCartney told AFL.com.au.

"It wasn't just that, it was a recognition that our age demographic has changed a lot and we had some great, experienced people and this big bank of young people.

"In the end, whatever process you have, if it leads to good decisions and your club getting better and people feeling they can make a difference, then it's got to be a good thing."

Last year the Bulldogs' leadership group comprised five of the club's more experienced players: Boyd, Daniel Cross, Daniel Giansiracusa, Robert Murphy and Dale Morris, none of whom was younger than 29.

McCartney said the impetus for change was initially driven by the players, and guided by the coaches, football manager James Fantasia and, in particular, strategic football operations manager Ben Graham, before receiving the support of CEO Simon Garlick and the club board.

"I'd like to think we've got the biggest leadership group in the AFL, not the smallest," Boyd told AFL.com.au.

"The program is a bit different – we haven’t heard of any other sporting organisation doing it.

"We just wanted to engage everyone and demonstrate that you don’t have to be in a leadership group to lead. It's about generating discussion and teaching leadership.

"It will only get better over time. It'll help us develop leadership quicker and hopefully get to where we want to go a bit quicker too.

"It's been working really well, and it's been fantastic for our young and middle-tier players to step up and take some ownership of the group."

Boyd said working in smaller groups tended to make younger players more comfortable to share their views. Over time, he said, the program would expand to incorporate larger group discussions.

"All young players need a certain amount of coaxing to get them out of their shells, especially coming into an environment where there are a lot of experienced people around, which can be rather intimidating," he said.

"But the program encourages them to voice their opinions, and they're starting to find their feet.

"It has reinforced amongst the group the guys who have been identified from an early age as having leadership qualities, and it has also given a forum for other quieter guys to have their say."

As a consequence, Boyd's workload has increased slightly, "but not in a bad way", he insists.

"I've got a lot of good people around me who are helping out too," he said.

"I've just been really enthusiastic to help implement the program and embrace it as much as I can because I believe it can have great results."

The Bulldogs Bite
20-03-2013, 11:40 PM
I actually don't mind the philosophy for where we are at. It encourages our young list to take ownership and responsibility.

In a few years time when we are hopefully challenging, though, I'd like to see us revert back to the tried and true way.

Bulldog Revolution
21-03-2013, 08:12 AM
The generational gap is a real issue for the list - if a senior players need the title leader to actually lead, then in my eyes something is wrong

Guys like Morris, Murphy etc will lead without having a title because its about who they are, and what the contribute to the footy club

LostDoggy
21-03-2013, 11:01 AM
The generational gap is a real issue for the list - if a senior players need the title leader to actually lead, then in my eyes something is wrong

Guys like Morris, Murphy etc will lead without having a title because its about who they are, and what the contribute to the footy club

I guess in any organisation though, when somebody is given a role that explicitly states a particular responsibility is theirs, then others will allocate their efforts elsewhere. “I don't need to worry about being a leader, because I'm not in the leadership group. Those guys will take care of that stuff, I can focus my efforts on something else.”

On a slight aside, after some thought, I'm against the idea of an integrity officer in each club (related to the ASADA stuff) for the same reason; integrity is something that is the responsibility of every staff member in the organisation. As soon as you stick it on one guy's desk, you're only inviting a lesser focus on it from everybody else.

I think this lack-of-leadership-group idea is a good one, and I'm glad the Dogs are giving it a try. Highlighting Libba as a factor shows that there was obviously a problem with the leadership group being “out of touch” (for lack of a better phrase) with the younger players.

F'scary
21-03-2013, 03:04 PM
Good move. It restores meaning to the word "Captain."

And remember, a camel is a horse that was designed by a leadership group.

AndrewP6
21-03-2013, 09:05 PM
I think this lack-of-leadership-group idea is a good one, and I'm glad the Dogs are giving it a try. Highlighting Libba as a factor shows that there was obviously a problem with the leadership group being “out of touch” (for lack of a better phrase) with the younger players.

Really? I think it's a bit much to say Libba's mistake was indicative of deeper problems within the club.

jeemak
22-03-2013, 12:37 AM
Really? I think it's a bit much to say Libba's mistake was indicative of deeper problems within the club.

I think the club has stated enough times that there was a clear disconnect between the older players on the list (read, leaders at the time) and the younger ones.

That's a failure of the club, albeit one that's able to be remedied after the realisation of the point.

Whether the Liberatore incident could have been prevented by better or more in tune leadership is a bit of an unknown. The jury's out on whether something like this will happen to Liberatore or another player, young or old, at our club going forwards (all clubs should know it's a least a slim to reasonable chance). Hopefully the appropriate measures have been taken to minimise the chances of it though.