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| (Credit: George Risko) |
Lacrosse and leadership, I love and have a passion for both; so, Wonder Twins powers, activate!
Those who know me are well aware of my love of sports—all sports. I have my favorite teams in football, basketball, and my favorite fighters in MMA. You name it, I am a fan.
What not too many people know about me is that I am also a huge fan of lacrosse. Rest assured, I am a huge lacrosse nerd. But of the three major lacrosse leagues, the Premier Lacrosse League (PLL) is the one league in which I do not really have a favorite team.
I follow players and coaches—one coach in particular. (Although one team I have a soft spot for are the Redwoods. Their emblem is a bear and trees, Come on, folks; how could we not?) But the focus in this piece will be on the two-time Premier Lacrosse League (PLL) champs the Whipsnakes (Whips) who gave me my biggest leadership takeaway this season.
Whipsnakes Coach Jim Stagnitta, my one coach in particular, is himself a student and facilitator of leadership as well as being one heck of a lacrosse coach. Watching his team play and seeing their synergy, in which the sum is greater than the parts—but make no mistake the parts—is awesome.
One situation that stands out to me took place during a game the Whipsnakes were losing. Coach Stagnitta talked to them about sprinting. He knew the team was tired after two days of back-to-back games in 100+ degree weather. The team was not sprinting, and Stagnitta wasn’t having it. Peeking in that huddle, the coach did not talk down to the team. At that moment it did not feel like it was about losing; it was that the team was not upholding their culture, not playing Whip’s ball. The team responded, especially the team leaders, and came back to win the game. The Whipsnakes played team ball and found a way to win. As a matter of fact, they won every game this season. Congrats to the back-to-back champs!
I would like to take a deeper dive into Coach Stagnitta and the culture he creates. Coach Stagnitta is one of the best in lacrosse. He has been successful at every level of lacrosse and is well respected by his peers and players. He is also a leadership consultant, and in my estimation, a very solid person. He has an interesting perspective on trust and valuing people and how we view trust.
In a 2018 LinkedIn article “Trust is a Two-way Street,” which includes a video, Coach Stagnitta states there are three important traits a leader needs: to have empathy, be humble and be curious. He discusses how the latter impacts communications, which is always a challenge. Some of us may find some value in his discussion on empathy. As many of us recall from L-280, empathy is usually listed as something we would like to work on.
Looking at the Whip’s team culture and influences a little closer, I challenge you to read Josh Schafer’s article “Whipsnakes Ball: Why the defending champs were destined to repeat amid a pandemic.” It features the belief that when building a culture, it is people over everything that is key. The link to the article includes a video from coach Stagnitta which offers a great look into how to create and drive culture.
Wildland Fire Leadership Challenge – Digging a Little Deeper
Leaders are readers. Coach Stagnitta follows, retired Army LTC J.C. Glick. Listed are two titles co-authored by Glick:
Those who know me are well aware of my love of sports—all sports. I have my favorite teams in football, basketball, and my favorite fighters in MMA. You name it, I am a fan.
What not too many people know about me is that I am also a huge fan of lacrosse. Rest assured, I am a huge lacrosse nerd. But of the three major lacrosse leagues, the Premier Lacrosse League (PLL) is the one league in which I do not really have a favorite team.
I follow players and coaches—one coach in particular. (Although one team I have a soft spot for are the Redwoods. Their emblem is a bear and trees, Come on, folks; how could we not?) But the focus in this piece will be on the two-time Premier Lacrosse League (PLL) champs the Whipsnakes (Whips) who gave me my biggest leadership takeaway this season.
Whipsnakes Coach Jim Stagnitta, my one coach in particular, is himself a student and facilitator of leadership as well as being one heck of a lacrosse coach. Watching his team play and seeing their synergy, in which the sum is greater than the parts—but make no mistake the parts—is awesome.
One situation that stands out to me took place during a game the Whipsnakes were losing. Coach Stagnitta talked to them about sprinting. He knew the team was tired after two days of back-to-back games in 100+ degree weather. The team was not sprinting, and Stagnitta wasn’t having it. Peeking in that huddle, the coach did not talk down to the team. At that moment it did not feel like it was about losing; it was that the team was not upholding their culture, not playing Whip’s ball. The team responded, especially the team leaders, and came back to win the game. The Whipsnakes played team ball and found a way to win. As a matter of fact, they won every game this season. Congrats to the back-to-back champs!
I would like to take a deeper dive into Coach Stagnitta and the culture he creates. Coach Stagnitta is one of the best in lacrosse. He has been successful at every level of lacrosse and is well respected by his peers and players. He is also a leadership consultant, and in my estimation, a very solid person. He has an interesting perspective on trust and valuing people and how we view trust.
In a 2018 LinkedIn article “Trust is a Two-way Street,” which includes a video, Coach Stagnitta states there are three important traits a leader needs: to have empathy, be humble and be curious. He discusses how the latter impacts communications, which is always a challenge. Some of us may find some value in his discussion on empathy. As many of us recall from L-280, empathy is usually listed as something we would like to work on.
Looking at the Whip’s team culture and influences a little closer, I challenge you to read Josh Schafer’s article “Whipsnakes Ball: Why the defending champs were destined to repeat amid a pandemic.” It features the belief that when building a culture, it is people over everything that is key. The link to the article includes a video from coach Stagnitta which offers a great look into how to create and drive culture.
Wildland Fire Leadership Challenge – Digging a Little Deeper
Leaders are readers. Coach Stagnitta follows, retired Army LTC J.C. Glick. Listed are two titles co-authored by Glick:
- A Light in the Darkness: Leadership for the Unknown by J.C. Glick and Sarah Ngu
- Meditations of an Army Ranger: A Warrior Philosophy for Everyone by J.C. Glick and Dr. Alice Atalanta, Ph.D.
George Risko is the Fire Training Officer for the Florida Forest Service and a member of the NWCG Leadership Subcommittee. All expressions are that of the author.
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