Leadership: A Skill that can be Taught
January 30, 2013
By Jed Blanton
MSU Institute for the Study of Youth Sports
At the MHSAA and the ISYS, in the milieu of work we conduct centered on understanding and developing leadership in young athletes, there is one definition that seems to govern our approach and serve as a foundation for the research questions and training clinics that follow it.
Penned by Peter Northouse, that definition states “leadership is a process, whereby an individual influences a group of individuals to achieve a common goal.”
Choosing to frame ‘leadership’ as a process, rather than as some personality characteristic destined only for those naturally-born leaders, allows the concept of leadership to be utilized and taught as a skill, or set of skills. If a coach can agree with the philosophy that leadership can be learned, we can begin to design a series of strategies to enhance leadership in our young athletes.
First, I’m going to discuss what most coaches already know about teaching skills. Teaching skills is essentially an effort of behavior modification. A coach sometimes is able to choose athletes who already possess a certain level of competency within the skills necessary for their sport; sometimes coaches must work with whoever shows up on the first day of practice.
In either case, coaches tend to conduct a subconscious assessment of skills that must be learned (that they must teach), whether complex strategies or mere fundamentals. When teaching athletic skills to young people, coaches must break down the multitude of steps involved.
Think about a lay-up in basketball or the high jump in track & field. Either skill itself is actually a combination of several skills, and the ability to pay attention to very specific cues in the environment. Coaches teach the approach, the proper hand/arm placement, the essential cues to focus on, and the follow-through. Coaches can devote segments or entire practices to particular skills – breaking down all the steps, creating drills to practice the steps, and offering the full practice of the skill in a competition-like environment.
During this episode of developing a skill in our athletes, to get them to perform in a very specific way, our interactions often mirror what behavioral psychology has known for decades: People respond to reinforcements and punishments. Coaches positively reinforce their athletes with compliments, clapping hands, and congratulations. Our words and actions shape how the individual learning the skill makes adjustments to receive more praise.
These shifts of their body and miniscule changes in their actions to get to the desired behavior of their instructor are “learning.” Similarly, coaches often threaten punishment of extra sprints or difficult drills to give athletes a clue as to what behaviors they should avoid. Often, something as simple as a disapproving glance can be reinforcing enough to change whatever behavior the athlete shouldn’t be practicing. The simple “good job” or the threat of sprints essentially shapes how our athletes behave athletically.
This same approach can work toward leadership development.
What would it look like for a coach to reinforce and punish athletes toward leadership development in the same vein they develop athletic skills? If coaches could determine what three or four behaviors they’d like their athlete leaders to showcase, and then positively reinforce those skills with compliments and thanks, and potentially punish athletes with disapproving glances or even lectures after practice, leadership can be learned like any other athletic skill.
Phil Jackson, the multiple championship-winning NBA coach, has been quoted saying he would try to give two compliments for every criticism with his professional teams. The Positive Coaching Alliance – a national nonprofit organization that strives to educate coaches on ways to enhance the youth sport experience – suggests a ratio of five positive comments to every negative criticism. Research has consistently shown that people respond better and more rapidly to positive reinforcement than to punishment.
All too often, coaches wait for leaders to emerge, rather than teach the leadership they desire. Imagine if coaches waited for players to figure out the offensive plays and strategies instead of teaching players where to move, how to move, and why they are moving there. Adopting a similar approach with your athlete has the potential to expedite the behaviors you’d most ideally want them to possess. Using tactics of positive reinforcement can help these young players to become excellent leaders in a shorter period of time than merely hoping someone steps up.
I’ll leave you with a simple list of suggestions of how coaches can teach leadership, just like they teach any other necessary athletic skill.
- Develop goals with your athletes regarding leadership. What kinds of things do your athletes value or feel would help the team? How can they practice leading their teammates in that way?
- Develop your own goals toward teaching leadership. What would it look like if a coach made it a goal to compliment three players on specific leadership behaviors each practice? Think about the ultimate team captain for your team, and develop strategies to teach your players how to be that captain.
- Break down leadership skills into smaller and easier to practice chunks, just like an athletic skill. Then create an environment where the athletes can practice these skills. By organizing your team into smaller groups, or even partners, you can assign leadership roles within each group. Asking certain players to lead various parts of practice (stretches, lay-ups, circuit training), you are giving them a sense of ownership over their athletic experiences and responsibility over their teammates.
- Positively reinforce the desired behaviors. How would it make a player feel if their coach pulled them aside and thanked them for their specific leadership behavior after a practice or game? A “job well done” or an approving thank you can go a long way in making a young athlete feel they are developing into the leader you desire them to be.
Blanton is a doctoral candidate at Michigan State University in the department of Kinesiology, specializing in the PsychoSocial Aspects of Sport and Physical Activity, and a research assistant for MSU's Institute for the Study of Youth Sports. He has served as a facilitator at MHSAA Captains Clinics the last three years and currently is assisting the association with its student leadership programs.
Century of School Sports: Together, We are the MHSAA
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
July 9, 2025
A primary mission of the MHSAA’s 100-year anniversary has been to connect today’s athletes, administrators, coaches, game officials and spectators with their roles in the ever-growing story of school sports in Michigan.
Indeed, together, we are the MHSAA.
Over the last 10 months and with today’s 44th and final installment, our “Century of School Sports” series also has sought to tell a deeper and more detailed story of how the MHSAA has arrived at this moment. As our work becomes new with the start of every school year, and with every family experiencing educational athletics for the first time, it’s a story that must always be updated, expanded and retold.
But at the heart of most organizations is a fundamental statement. So to close this celebration, we below break down what is literally the “About” of the MHSAA – as we prepare to build on these values in adding to our story again and again during the century to come.
The MHSAA is a private, not-for-profit corporation …
Although the MHSAA has built a thriving relationship with the Michigan Department of Education over the last many decades – and, in fact, the state superintendent or designee has a non-voting position on the Representative Council – the MHSAA also has maintained its autonomy since its start and even before, as a legislative takeover attempt of the former Michigan Interscholastic Athletic Association led to the MHSAA’s formation in December 1924.
The MHSAA was first incorporated in 1972 and is classified as a 501(c)(3) organization. In the most basic terms, as a non-profit corporation the MHSAA must reinvest all revenue it receives back into its mission of administering school sports. Put another way, whatever money the MHSAA makes must be spent to conduct its tournament events and the several other educational, leadership, etc., programs the MHSAA provides for students, coaches, officials and others who contribute to educational athletics.
… of voluntary membership …
Through their boards of education, member schools voluntarily join the MHSAA each and every year, vowing by formal school board resolution to abide by and enforce the MHSAA’s rules for educational athletics. Membership is optional; schools may conduct a complete program of interscholastic athletics and may participate against MHSAA member schools in regular-season competition without joining the MHSAA. But the great majority of high schools in Michigan approve that membership annually.
… by more than 1,500 public and private senior high schools and junior high/middle schools …
Over the last several years, the MHSAA has counted about 750 high schools and 800 junior high or middle schools, or elementary schools with 6th-grader participation, among its membership. For 2024-25, those totals were 754 high schools, 777 junior high/middle schools and 63 elementary schools with participating sixth graders.
… which exists to develop common rules for athletic eligibility and competition.
This drove the original formation of school sports associations across the nation going back to the late 1800s, including the Michigan State Teachers Association’s first inroad into athletic administration in 1895. The MHSAA Handbook, updated annually with rules and other changes voted upon by the Representative Council, is the rulebook for all MHSAA member schools – public and nonpublic – with rules for general topics like student eligibility but also specific to each sport to regulate scheduling and other intricacies.
No government funds or tax dollars support the MHSAA …
In maintaining that independence noted above, the MHSAA receives no funding from local, state or federal governments. The MHSAA’s income is derived primarily from ticket sales at postseason events, with smaller portions from sponsors and advertising, officials and coaches education registration fees – and again, with all money brought in by the MHSAA going back into those tournament events and programs to support students, athletic directors, coaches and officials.
… which was the first such association nationally to not accept membership dues or tournament entry fees from schools.
These have long been points of pride for the MHSAA; membership remains and has been completely free since the mid-1940s, after the end of World War II, and member schools may enter MHSAA Tournaments for free.
Member schools which enforce these rules are permitted to participate in MHSAA tournaments …
In adopting and upholding MHSAA rules as their own, school districts agree to promote a standard of competitive equity necessary to keep MHSAA Tournament events fair for all involved.
… which attract more than 1.4 million spectators each year.
Over the last 35 years, attendance at MHSAA Tournament events has reached at least 1.1 million spectators annually (not counting the COVID-affected 2019-20 and 2020-21 school years), with a high of 1.68 million during the 2005-06 school year. Attendance during the 2022-23 and 2023-24 school years began climbing again toward 1.5 million spectators, those last two years’ ticket totals ranking among the highest over the last 15.
School sports have a massive footprint in Michigan, which has a population just above 10 million residents. Sure, attendance figures likely count the same spectators several times – the same person might buy tickets for several rounds of several sports over the course of a school year – but a one-to-one comparison using athlete totals also is powerful.
Conservatively, Michigan has at least 160,000 high school athletes. Add in parents of those athletes, grandparents, other relatives with significant interest, and that’s a huge block – let’s say at least 5 percent of the state’s population have some current tie to the athletes playing at the local high school. That’s not even covering athletes at MHSAA junior highs and middle schools, coaches and athletic directors at all levels, and more than 8,000 game officials who make those contests possible. And our groups of athletes are rolling over at least every four years, meaning many tens of thousands more have had at least recent direct contact as participants in our programs.
The MHSAA always has provided opportunities to compete and win championships, but more importantly to learn life lessons gleaned from simply taking part in the process.
This work is important; its impact is significant. And just as our predecessors surely felt beginning this endeavor 100 years ago, we remain eager and enthused to play our part.
Previous "Century of School Sports" Spotlights
June 25: All-Time 'Parade of Champions' - Read
June 17: Top Performers Tell Us What High School Sports Mean to Them - Read
June 10: 'The Mitten' Becomes Sought-After Symbol of MHSAA Greatness - Read
June 3: MHSAA's Move to TV, Now Internet, 60 Years Old & Growing - Read
May 27: Upper Peninsula Helps Make Michigan's School Sports Story Unique - Read
May 20: From Nearly A to Z, Schools Repped by 221 Nicknames - Read
May 13: These Record-Setters were Nearly Impossible to Defeat - Read
May 6: 200+ Representatives Fill All-Time Council Roster - Read
April 29: MHSAA Programs Prioritize Health & Safety - Read
April 23: Patches Signify Registered Officials' Role in MHSAA Story - Read
April 16: Student Advisory Council Gives Voice to Athletes - Read
April 9: State's Storytellers Share Spring Memories - Read
April 2: Sharp Leadership Synonymous with MHSAA Success - Read
March 25: Athletic Directors Indispensable to Mission of School Sports - Read
March 18: 2025 Finals Begin Next Half-Century of Girls Hoops Championships - Read
March 11: Boys Basketball's Best 1st to Earn MHSAA Finals Titles - Read
March 5: Everything We Do Begins with Participation - Read
Feb. 25: Slogans & Logos Remain Unforgettable Parts of MHSAA History - Read
Feb. 19: MHSAA Tickets Continue to Provide Fan-Friendly Value - Read
Feb. 11: We Recognize Those Who Make Our Games Go - Read
Feb. 4: WISL Conference Continues to Inspire Aspiring Leaders - Read
Jan. 28: Michigan's National Impact Begins at NFHS' Start - Read
Jan. 21: Awards Celebrate Well-Rounded Educational Experience - Read
Jan. 14: Predecessors Laid Foundation for MHSAA's Formation - Read
Jan. 9: MHSAA Blazes Trail Into Cyberspace - Read
Dec. 31: State's Storytellers Share Winter Memories - Read
Dec. 17: MHSAA Over Time - Read
Dec. 10: On This Day, December 13, We Will Celebrate - Read
Dec. 3: MHSAA Work Guided by Representative Council - Read
Nov. 26: Finals Provide Future Pros Early Ford Field Glory - Read
Nov. 19: Connection at Heart of Coaches Advancement Program - Read
Nov. 12: Good Sports are Winners Then, Now & Always - Read
Nov. 5: MHSAA's Home Sweet Home - Read
Oct. 29: MHSAA Summits Draw Thousands to Promote Sportsmanship - Read
Oct. 23: Cross Country Finals Among MHSAA's Longest Running - Read
Oct. 15: State's Storytellers Share Fall Memories - Read
Oct. 8: Guided by 4 S's of Educational Athletics - Read
Oct. 1: Michigan Sends 10 to National Hall of Fame - Read
Sept. 25: MHSAA Record Books Filled with 1000s of Achievements - Read
Sept. 18: Why Does the MHSAA Have These Rules? - Read
Sept. 10: Special Medals, Patches to Commemorate Special Year - Read
Sept. 4: Fall to Finish with 50th Football Championships - Read
Aug. 28: Let the Celebration Begin - Read