🏆 Flock Shooting Isn't Leadership

August 21, 2025

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🔗 LINKS FOR LEADERS

🎥 Video: What makes MESSI a true leader? [LINK]

🎙️Podcast: Coach K: Get on the right bus. [LINK]

🆇 ICYMI: Accept the struggle of team sports [LINK]

📩 The Winner Effect: Winning changes the brain, and hw you can use it to build confidence in your team.

🏆 The Winner Effect

Why winning changes the brain, and how you can use it to build confidence in your team.

gregberge.beehiiv.com/p/the-winner-effect

💭 ONE THOUGHT
Flock Shooting Isn’t Leadership

When I was a young coach, I made a mistake I’ve seen hundreds of other coaches and leaders make since:

A player showed up late.

Instead of talking to him one-on-one, I barked at the whole team.

“We have to be on time! This can’t happen!”

But it wasn’t a team issue. It was one player. And I knew it.

I was “flock shooting.” Firing at the group, hoping the guilty party got the message. It felt like leadership in the moment. But it wasn’t.

Flock shooting is lazy leadership.

It avoids a hard conversation.
It creates confusion.
It erodes trust.

Here’s what happens when you call out the whole team for one person’s mistake:

  • The innocent ones feel frustrated and disrespected.

  • The guilty one may not even realize you’re talking to them.

  • And next time? No one feels safe or seen.

You think you’re solving a problem.

You’re actually creating a bigger one.

Here’s the better play:

  1. Address the right person, directly and privately: It builds clarity, trust, and accountability.

  2. When the team needs a reminder, give one, but make sure it’s not personal. Save group messages for group issues.

  3. Lead with courage. Don’t avoid difficult conversations. Real leaders are truth tellers and know the importance of dealing with issues when they arise.

Leadership isn’t about avoiding discomfort; it’s about choosing the hard right over the easy wrong.

A Quick Checklist for Coaches:

Before you address the team, ask:

  1. Is this a team issue or a player issue?

  2. Am I avoiding a 1-on-1 conversation?

  3. Will this build trust or break it?

Closing Thought:

Flock shooting is tempting.

It’s fast, loud, and feels like action.

However, authentic leadership aims with intention and speaks to the right people in the right way.

Good Luck!
Greg

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📜 GREAT QUOTES

”You have to be able to bounce back and deal with disappointment, failure and weaknesses, and a lot of that happens behind the scenes for teams that are very successful.”

Maya Moore

"Everyone needs a coach. It doesn't matter whether you're a basketball player, a tennis player, a gymnast, or a bridge player."

Bill Gates

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Contact Me: Greg Berge, [email protected]

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