This piece was a result of a collaboration with Drew Carlson, who writes about human performance and leadership. You can follow along with his newsletter, or learn more about his work. He is also on Twitter, @drewcarlsonhp.
Intro
Leaders are people who are put in a position to make decisions and are deemed by some party (the organization) to have expert knowledge in some discipline. It is often perceived that these leaders became experts through years of experience, and many, many, trial and error periods, that they have learned from. And now as a result of their journey, they are better leaders because of it.
What these leaders have developed over time, is known as Craft Knowledge. As defined by Carolina Guzman in her piece titled Developing Craft Knowledge in Teaching at University: how do beginning teachers learn to teach?, she explains craft knowledge as the “accumulated wisdom gained through teachers’ experience and understanding and through their research on teaching practice and the meanings attached to the numerous dilemmas inherent in education.” (Guzman, 2009). Said another way:
Craft Knowledge = Concepts Learned + Iterated Practice
3 Ways to Develop Craft Knowledge
1 to 1 Coaching
Cody Royle, previous Head Coach of AFL Canada, and current author of Where Others Won’t, and The Tough Stuff, talks heavily about the concept of how leaders obtain craft knowledge, and how the system is not set up efficiently. Cody explains the status quo is a long learning curve to reach the level of craft knowledge needed to become a leader. “Doing your time” and “paying your dues” come to mind.
However, those aspiring to lead teams or organizations, don’t want to wait 20-plus years to be given their chance. And rightfully so.
So, how do these leaders expedite their process to the top?
One way is to be coached by someone who has already been there. Which lucky for the readers is available.
Cody has changed his mission to coach coaches. And anyone who takes pride in their leadership, and wants to be the best leader they can, should contact Cody (and of course, follow on Twitter. One of the best follows I have).
Sharing to Compound
Josh Mallory (@JMallory9) and Connor Cadaret (@Caddy1414) are two great hockey-minds, coaches, and people, who openly share ideas and concepts via Twitter. Both are relatively young in the leadership world, but both hold prominent roles in hockey for their age. And to me, the way they expedited their leadership curve was through sharing. Peep this interaction between the two below.
From here, we can see that both are improving their “craft knowledge”, and helping accelerate their leadership, without having to be in a position to lead. Josh provides an analysis that he believes to be true (and for what it’s worth, I agree). Connor provides input, in asking how he would address this, if in the leadership position. Said another way, what is Josh’s craft knowledge given the situation that happened. The back and forth between the two, with detailed explanations, and further questions, makes both people better. They are both better equipped to be leaders, all while sending a few tweets. And when put in the situation to lead, they will have already experienced this situation and developed the craft knowledge needed.
When we share ideas with others, we are able to test our ideas against the beliefs of those around us and begin to find strengths and weaknesses in our concepts. And the ability to test our theories before implementing them into practice, allows us to find the inconsistencies in them so that when it comes time to put them into practice, they are the best version of those ideas.
Improv and Low Stakes Environments
The 3rd way to develop craft knowledge is through improv. Improv is just simply trying by doing in low-stakes environments.
Army generals play war games before real lives could be lost. Doctors sew up grapes before they stitch up a real human post-surgery. And coaches can be exposed to how they would handle situations before the real thing presents itself.
It is a way to prepare and should be seen as a form of “coach training.”
It’s how we get better.
For example, let’s say you need to work on the clarity and simplicity of your message between periods. You typically ramble on about all the things that are going wrong instead of getting to relevant information your players need to make adjustments. How can you address this weakness? You can ignore it and hope it gets better, or you can play an improv game and take intentional strides to ensure it gets better.
The game is called “half-life your message.” I first learned about it from Coach Brett Bartholomew. He uses this activity at his coaching workshops to help coaches become better communicators.
I have adapted this exercise to fit our example. Here’s how it would work:
Watch a period of a hockey game that your team played during the season.
Write game notes and make your observations as you normally would. When the period ends, do your intermission team talk as you would and time it. Let’s say your talk is 4 minutes.
Start a timer for 2 minutes. Give the same message in half the time.
When 2 minutes is up, restart the activity. This time you have 1 minute.
Then 30 seconds. Then 15 seconds.
It’s not easy. It’s painfully uncomfortable. But if we are telling our players to “get uncomfortable” then we should model that.
What’s the message? Say it in half the time. Your bathroom mirror and your cell phone won’t judge you that hard. This is low stakes practice.
Conclusion
So whether it be through mentorship, or simply through sharing of information, testing ideas, or improv, there are ways for leaders to further develop their craft knowledge, without years of experience. And through this development, they will accelerate their journey... Gettin’ Over the Hump.
Reference: Guzman, C. (2009). Developing Craft Knowledge in Teaching at University: how do beginning teachers learn to teach. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/270025955_Developing_Craft_Knowledge_in_Teaching_at_University_How_Do_Beginning_Teachers_Learn_to_Teach
Think you know someone who wants to Get Over the Hump?
Want to join the climb?