My time at Melbourne Football Club – Case Study
I’d previously worked with Cameron Schwab when he was CEO of Fremantle Football Club. I coached him with a major decision he was making and also worked with other management staff and established players such as Paul Hasebly, Byron Schammer and Brett Peake.
In January of 2010, having been CEO at Melbourne FC for a year, Cameron and I agreed on the initial brief to work closely with senior management, offering an executive coaching service to support them in their ongoing performance, learning, well being and development. The vision was to extend the service to the football coaching staff and players, adding to the culture of being a ‘learning organisation’.
I mostly worked one on one with staff members, and did some group work with players as well. I also co-designed and launched three new club initiatives:
- “Emerging Leaders Program” with the General Manager of Strategy
- “Living & Training High Performance” – a player driven open forum – with the General Manager of Player Development & Strategy
- Improving Goal Kicking Conversion Rates – influencing this critical aspect through skill execution, training design, coach & player ownership, and cultural factors
The scope of the coaching covered issues in the domains of work and personal life, and combinations of both. Broader areas included:
- career development & planning
- program design, implementation & prioritisation
- job performance and purpose
- leadership & change management
- work life balance
- family, relationships & life choices
- situational coping
- wellness & stress
The feedback was outstandingly positive. People continually reported looking forward to their coaching sessions and walking away feeling lighter, more energised, and resourced. In simple terms they said they’re better at work and happier and healthier in themselves. Other staff have also reported positive changes they’ve noticed in my ‘coachees’.
In coaching, the responsibility for outcomes and results always lies with the coachee, with the coach’s duty to co-create and provide an optimal learning environment to support the coachee in their aspirations. Nevertheless, at Melbourne:
- 90% of the people I’ve worked with have reported feeling satisfied to extremely satisfied with the outcomes they used coaching to help them with.
- 100% have reported satisfaction with my coaching service.
Among many learnings from my time at Melbourne, two simple things have stood out:
- Its always amazing how people can view the same events or facts and interpret them in such individually different ways.
- No matter who it is, what their background, skills, position, privilege, power or experience, strengths and capability, there’s always a person underneath it all who, at the right time, can use some support in relation to their current reality and future aspirations.
I always enjoyed my time working with the people at Melbourne Football Club and its been interesting to watch the organisation build and grow from almost rock bottom to a point where they have a sound framework for realising their vision.
To discuss this program, or for more information on how I can help, please don’t hesitate to contact me via [email protected] or alternatively through the form just here.
I look forward to seeing what’s possible for you.
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