There are all different kinds of leaders. There are more outspoken ones and then there are the more quieter one-on-one leaders.
One of our best leaders at Hawthorn is Chance Bateman. Changa doesn’t stand up and speak in front of the group as much as other people but his one-on-one leadership is as good as it gets. He can communicate with everyone on the list and his leadership is fantastic.
Then you’ve got other people who stand up and feel more comfortable talking in front of the group.
Every club has leadership groups these days but of course the main man is still the captain. In my time at Hawthorn I’ve had three captains – Shane Crawford, Richie Vandenberg and Sam Mitchell. All three have tremendous leadership qualities.
When I arrived at Hawthorn at the end of 2001, Crawf was one of the highest-profile players in the AFL. He had won the Brownlow Medal two years earlier and was very much the glamour boy of the competition.
But there was no better person to look up to on how to train. His fitness and football were second to none.
Shane copped a bit of flak for some of the media work he did, especially when he on The Footy Show. But that’s Crawf. When he got to the club he knew it was time to switch on and stand up and be a leader. Off the field he was a larrikin just like all the other boys.
There were three years where we were a bit short on for wins but that didn’t drain him. He still trained hard and tried to do the right thing by the boys. He stood up and led us when times were tough.
Vanders had to be a bit stricter because there weren’t that many senior players around to pick up on areas blokes’ could improve on. Vanders was a different captain to Crawf because he had a younger playing group to lead.
Sam Mitchell is a bit of a mix of Crawf and Vanders. His preparation is fantastic as well as his discipline and he has high expectations of the boys, which pushes us all along.
He might not be the first name many people think of but one player I always looked up to as a leader was Tim Clarke. Tim’s professionalism was as good as Crawf’s, if not better. The way he prepared and got himself ready for training and football was exceptional and certainly left an impression on me.
I’ve been in the leadership group for five years and have worked hard to hone my skills in that area.
One thing I had to work on was how I gave feedback to others. Growing up as a country boy you were told one way and that was straight down the line. There was no jumping the truth if you had something to say. These days some people don’t respond well to receiving feedback in front of a group. It’s about finding what feedback mechanism works best for each individual. You have to figure that out pretty fast.
You have to look at the future and keep an eye on who will be the next generation of leaders. Someone who has always had the potential has been Jordan Lewis. Jordan, Jarryd Roughead and Tom Murphy were elevated to the leadership group this year and they are three blokes I’ve always thought had leadership potential. Xavier Ellis is another one – he’s very switched on with his footy and has natural leading ability as well.
The future’s in good hands.
The views in this article are those of the author and not necessarily those of the clubs or the AFL.
