Observation Over Assumption: Listening as a Leadership Skill

As coaches, how often do we actually listen?

Not just to what players say — but to how they show up. How they respond to training changes, to new staff, to subtle shifts in routine. How often do we pause long enough to observe?

In reality, our schedules are packed, distractions are constant, and the pressure to track data and prove efficiency is everywhere — in sport and beyond. This pressure becomes even more intense at the elite level, where nearly everything is tied to results and outcomes. But we’re now seeing that same mindset trickle down into player development pathways too, where the focus shifts too early toward performance metrics instead of long-term growth. In this obsession with monitoring and measurement, we’re losing touch with something fundamental: the power of paying attention — to people, to context, to what’s actually happening in the environment.

It’s easy to get caught in this, I have, many times in the past — especially when I was working as a Sport Scientist and one of my main responsibilities was to measure and monitor load. With an iPad in my hands, I often struggled to find the balance between tracking the data and actually observing what was happening in front of me. How were the players moving through the drill? How hard were they really working? Were they breathing too fast? What were they saying — or not saying — during those rest periods between sets?

Bias and the cost of assumptions

In our first blog, we talked about bias — and how it shapes our decisions, often without us realizing.

We see this in leadership all the time: decision-makers entering environments with pre-set ideas of what’s needed, making changes before understanding the system. But if you're not spending time with the people on the ground — the coaches, players, performance staff — then you're building on assumptions, not insight.

You’ll be surprised how small details in the environment can significantly impact how players and staff feel, and how they can be more seen, valued, and respected. Creating simple feedback loops, like quick surveys or informal check-ins, can help capture this. But that feedback shouldn’t be  limited just to those on the ground. It needs to be shared upward — with decision-makers, leaders, and board members — so they can see what’s really happening in the day-to-day. From there, making even small, visible changes based on that input sends a clear message: you’re being heard,  your experience matters. 

Listening is the first step. Then it's about acting on what we hear.

Without real listening, we risk focussing on problems that don’t exist — and ignoring the ones that do.

Listen, then build bridges

That’s why, as I work on our coaching academy pilot , co-designing with Kelly Lindsey, we’re flipping the model.

Instead of designing a curriculum from theory, we’re listening first — to players (active and retired), to coaches in lower-tier clubs, to performance staff in under-resourced systems. We're creating an advisory group of voices from across the ecosystem to guide us.

Because if we’re serious about helping athletes and players thrive, we need to ask them what that looks like.

We’re also learning from environments that are doing things well — not to copy, but to blend, adapt, and co-create. The goal is to build something grounded in real needs, not assumptions. That’s the work: not just designing programs, but building an ecosystem that respects lived experience.

If there is one thing to remember…

The take out I keep coming back to in my work and as I write this blog, is this:
Don’t assume — be curious.
Don’t prescribe — ask first.

High performance doesn’t come from control — it comes from understanding.
And understanding begins with the people already living the reality.

But understanding shouldn’t be the end of the line.
It’s the starting point. The jumping-off place for better conversations, better systems, better action. Because listening without action doesn’t build trust. And understanding without flexibility doesn’t create change.

Whether we’re coaches, players, staff, or decision-makers — we have to be willing to adapt.
Not just to what the data says, but to what the people are saying.