The Circle of Safety

Posted: 2/27/2019; Last Edited: 2/27/2019

By Coach Ryan

Mind Blowing Quote: “The best way to find out if you can trust somebody is to trust them.” - Ernest Hemingway

Last week, I gave a book review on Simon Sinek’s, Leaders Eat Last. In this week's blog I would like to explore one of his topics further. In the book, Simon explains a concept called the “circle of safety”. As he describes it, the circle of safety is a culture of trust in which everyone is watching for one another’s back. He pairs a parable with the idea which explains it perfectly.

A lion used to prowl about a field in which Four Oxen used to dwell. Many a time he tried to attack them; but whenever he came near they turned their tails to one another, so that whichever way he approached them he was met by the horns of one of them. At last, however, they fell a-quarrelling among themselves, and each went off to pasture alone in a separate corner of the field. Then the Lion attacked them one by one and soon made an end of all four.

-Aesop, sixth century B.C.

There are many different factors in maintaining a circle of safety which I believe the head coach can control. I have listed those below along with some questions that will get you thinking about how you currently handle these factors within your team.

Dangers

Dangers to the team are the things trying to frustrate their lives or reduce their opportunity of success. These forces are a constant and are not going away.

Have you asked your team what they feel are dangers or demands to them?
Have you assessed how you can protect your team from each of those dangers?
Are the dangers external or internal?

The Team “Why”

Only when everyone understands the team’s mission can you begin to achieve success. For more on finding your "why", read Simon Sinek's, Start With Why.

Have you sat down with your team and determined the team’s “why” or shared the reasoning behind the team’s “why”?
Can each member of the team accurately say what the team’s “why” is?
Does the team’s “why” align with each member’s “why” in some fashion?
Is this "why" SMART?

Individual Roles

Every person on the team should have a clear and defined role within it. Depending on skills and year in school everyone will bring a unique attribute to the team.

Does everyone know their role on the team?
Does everyone feel like they are valued?
Have SMART goals been set for each person?

Accountability

If everyone held themselves accountable, we would all be millionaires and coaches would not exist. Young student-athletes need help staying focused on team objectives.

How do you hold people accountable?
Is the team receptive to how you hold them accountable?
Do people hold themselves and each other accountable?
Do you hold yourself accountable for the success and failure of the team?

Feedback

Telling someone whether they are right or wrong is one thing; being able to provide the proper assessment and guidance is another skill within itself.

Do you have a certain style of providing feedback to your team and the individuals?
Do your student-athletes find your feedback style positive or negative?
Does your feedback provide clear guidance for the individual to achieve success?
Do you provide each member with a Performance Improvement Plan when they are struggling?
Do you request feedback on yourself as a coach from the team?
Have you discussed some of your personal past successes and failures with the team?

Listen

Humans are social beings. In turn, we love to talk but sometimes we fail to listen. Coaches must listen to their team with genuine curiosity to feel the heartbeat of the team.

Do you meet with each member of the team to listen to their concerns and voice your feedback?
Do you actually listen to your team’s concerns or do you only hear them and give an empty response?
Do you address the team’s concerns and act upon them?
Do you ask your team questions and show genuine curiosity toward everyone’s personal story?
Do you randomly ask your student-athletes how they are feeling or how their day is going?

Empower

To empower your student-athletes, is to give them control and ownership of their decisions. People who feel this level of ownership will begin to hold themselves accountable.

Do you allow others to make decisions or must all decisions go through you?
Do you find opportunities to give the team and/or individuals control?
Do you punish failure or allow people to learn from mistakes?

Encouragement

When you encourage others, two things happen: 1) They begin to see themselves in a positive light; 2) They begin to encourage their teammates.

Do you give praise when it is earned?
Do you only address people when they are doing things poorly?
Do you give praise publicly?

Resource Provision and Awareness

On any campus there are free resources available to every student. Most resources are never taken advantage of because they are not well advertised or because students simply ignore them out of ignorance. But if student took advantage of only some of them they would find a myriad of tools to help them succeed in college.

Do you supply your team with all the resources available to them at your university?
Is each member of the team aware of their resources?
Do you tell your team that you and the other coaches serve as resources for them?

Leadership Shield

Coaches are the first line of defense for any team. Whether we like it or not, success and failure is attributed to the head coach. How we handle that success or failure sends a direct message to our team.

Do you give your team all the credit when they are successful?
Do you take all the blame when they make a mistake?
Do you serve your team?
Are you comfortable with sacrificing for each member of the team, only to see them gain?

Recruiting

Many coaches admit that they spend a large majority of their time recruiting the next generation of their team. It is easy to fall prey to highly talented recruits. Unfortunately, the reality is that high level skill does not allows equal high level character.

Do you recruit only those who share the same values as your team?
Do you recruit student-athletes who you can trust?
Do you recruit based on skill or character?

Dismissals

Most cheer teams have student-athletes tryout before every year on the team. This makes “tryout season” a very stressful time. On top of this stress many fear the chance of being cut throughout the season.

Are these fears necessary and is their a better approach to yearly tryouts and individual dismissals?
Do you cut people when they aren’t performing well?
Does the team fear tryouts every year?
Is the team aware of your specific rules/policies and team standards?
When someone isn't performing well does every coach seek to help that individual?
Do you take responsibility for your team’s lack of skill and success?

Conclusion

All of these factors determine the level of trust within the team. A high level of trust within the team will help maintain the circle of safety. Simon Sinek explains, ”Only when we feel we are in a circle of safety will we pull together as a unified team, better able to survive and thrive regardless of the conditions outside.”