Traditions of Excellence: Five Pillars of Athletics Leadership Q&A

How's it going Lehigh Fam!? We hope you have enjoyed our first two entries in the "Telling Our Story" series! This week we want to continue to explore the "Five Pillars of Athletics Leadership" in the form of a Q&A session. These five values are a framework that define effective leadership at Lehigh: Competitiveness, Toughness, Self- Awareness, Integrity and Team- First. We asked Men's and Women's soccer coaches and captains a few questions to compare their views on leadership (Men vs. Women and Coaches vs. Captains). I, Madeline Walsh, know Jordan Goodwin and Ashley Blanks very well as a member of the Women's Soccer team. They are two very different individuals who are both effective leaders. It is cool to see how teammates with such different styles can work so well together in serving their team. We also had the opportunity to talk to Danny Gonzalez, a sophomore team captain for our Men's Soccer program. He is in a unique role where he is learning about himself as a leader in our Leadership Academy while simultaneously needing to execute as a team captain. These team captains and their coaches have some very interesting perspectives on leadership. As always, we hope you enjoy!

Much love,

Wags and Walsh
(Cassie Waggy and Madeline Walsh)

Women's Soccer

Question	Answer	Answer	Answer
Who?	Eric Lambinus (Head Coach)	Jordan Goodwin, '15 (Captain)	Ashley Blanks, '15 (Captain)
Which of the 5 pillars is the most important/greatest priority for your team right now in your season?	Team-First	Competitiveness	Integrity
Why?	"There are 27 players on the team total, but only 11 are on field at a time. That means there is always a time where someone's role might not be what they want. A team-first mentality means every player may not necessarily agree with their role, but they understand and embrace it."	"Competitiveness is our top priority pillar because although we can compete with any team in our conference, we are missing that little extra grit to put games away. Competitive teams find ways to win games, and that is what we need right now."	"Integrity is doing the right thing and leading the right way, it means no shortcuts. It's impossible to respect a leader if they are not doing things the right way all the time or better yet a leader cannot expect everyone to do things the right way if they are not doing it themselves."
Do you and your captains/coaches have strengths in the same pillars or different pillars? How does this play into the coach/captain/team relationship and dynamic?	"This year we feel as though we have a senior who represents each of the 5 Pillars. This diversity in leadership strength compliments the coaching staff's idea of "team-first" because having different representation allows others on the team to relate to at least one leader; which further betters the team dynamic."	"Our coaches really focused on allying with Ashley and myself coming into the season, which has changed the culture of this team. It also allowed lead us all to have the same belief in one of the most important pillars for our team, competitiveness. The result of this compatibility between the coaches and the players is evident by the energy seen both on and off the field. The coaches have done a great job of trusting Ashley and I to voice what the team needs, and adjusting to it in order for us to optimize our success."	"I think it's necessary for coaches and leaders to implement all five in some way all the time, and it's important for players and coaches to be on the same page as to what each pillar means specifically for the team."
What would be your biggest piece of advice for a rising team leader who wants to make a positive impact?	"Build a relationship with the coaching staff. If the leaders of the team and the coaching staff are not on the same page, nothing will ever work. Buying into what coaches are trying to do and having honest communication with them is critical."	"Always remember that you are a part of something bigger than yourself. Take time to get to know your teammates on a deeper level, because you need to have each of them fully trust you for the system to work. Above all, don't lose sight of the fact that you have been put in this leadership role for a reason."	"My biggest piece of advice for a rising team leader is to stay true to yourself and find your own leadership style and improve on that. You do not have to do everything or be everything on your own find a way to work together with your other leaders."

Men's Soccer

Question	Answer	Answer
Who?	Dean Koski (Head Coach)	Danny Gonzalez, '17 (Captain)
Which of the 5 pillars is the most important/greatest priority for your team right now in your season?	Team-First	Team- First
Why?	"We can't succeed on either side on the field if we aren't about sharing. We don't need any one guy to do it on their own, and can't ask one guy to do it on their own. We need to share the ball, we need to play together and we need to use our collective strengths to be effective in the attack and effective defensively. The more the guys can embrace that, the more effective we're going to be."	"At the end of day it's all about the team and if the team isn't the first priority then you aren't going to win any games."
Do you and your captains/coaches have strengths in the same pillars or different pillars? How does this play into the coach/captain/team relationship and dynamic?	"I think there are overlaps where we all have the same and then there are some where we aren't in all of them. I think that having that balance of sharing different pillars and some being the same is healthy. I don't see it as a bad thing, you don't want to have 20 guys who play the same way or have the same personalities. It's like a puzzle, you have to put the different pieces together. With leadership, you need different styles and different focuses. I think we have a good distribution of that between our coaches and our leaders.	"I don't think all the captains and coaches have the same pillars by any means, because if they did that would not be good for a team. I think it is best if everyone has different attributes from leaders and coaches because then you get a more well-rounded perspective on things."
What would be your biggest piece of advice for a rising team leader who wants to make a positive impact?	"Serve others first. And that's hard, but always put the best interests of others first. Serve this program and serve the team and be there if they need you. Matt Shreiner is an example of someone who was more interested in the team than himself. He's a good team guy, whether he played or didn't play, started or didn't start, he was always consistent with his character and who he wanted to be and the support of his teammates. It will be difficult now that he is hurt cannot finish his career but I think he can manage that because serving others is more important to him."	"I'm trying to learn that too. I am a rising team leader as well as a captain, and I am still learning a lot. It has been a process for me. I would say just don't be afraid to make an impact. Even if you are a freshman or a sophomore, know that there is a certain order on the team, but there are ways to lead in a positive way."

Lehigh University Athletics

Traditions of Excellence: Five Pillars of Athletics Leadership Q&A

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