Room 6 of the Sports School, at the ‘Giulio Onesti’ Olympic Preparation Center of CONI in Rome, hosted the seminar entitled “Leadership models for the management of athletes and collaborators”.
The event, organized by the Institute of Sports Medicine and Science of CONI and aimed at technical directors, technical and healthcare staff, was opened by a greeting from Carlo Mornati, general secretary of CONI, head of the Sports Office and head of mission in Paris 2024 : “We strongly wanted this meeting in the lead-up to the Olympic Games. The relationship with high-level athletes presents different needs than those of ten, twenty or thirty years ago. Sport is schematic, the concepts are the same, but the way they arrive makes the difference.”
During the meeting, the theme of the SFERA Model and the various facets of leadership were discussed. The first speaker to speak was Giuseppe Vercelli, psychologist, psychotherapist, consultant of the Institute of Sports Medicine and Science of CONI and head of the Juventus FC Psychology Area: “To work on leadership we must first of all work on ourselves. Applying these principles on an individual athlete is very different than working with a team. Intelligent people prefer to be recognized rather than led. How do we make athletes and collaborators feel recognized? With the fundamental ability to give specific feedback. Feelings of fun, joy, passion, motivation and enthusiasm are important; the ability to train the desire to face the challenge that presents itself”.
“Igniting the strengths is fundamental especially in egocentric players – explained Alessandro Campagna, technical commissioner of the men’s national water polo team -. It shouldn’t be pointed out to some that they are playing badly. Trust is brought in other ways. As a national team coach I try to have as much information as possible, but the work of my staff is crucial. The time in which things go well does not last long: you have to be careful of the unexpected that can generate a profound change, you cannot take anything for granted. I achieved the best performances of my career by overcoming fear and sudden problems: this is also how group cohesion is achieved. In an event like the Olympic Games in water polo you can lose the first two matches and win the gold medal: you shouldn’t be too negative in case of defeat nor too euphoric in case of victory. It takes balance. The leadership style changes: you need to have the courage to communicate well, to keep up to date. The player wants to win and must understand that you are in line with the evolution of the game. We need to empathize, enter into people’s hearts, know their weaknesses and uncertainties. Being like fathers, sometimes. After Covid, things changed further. Our job is to take the best of our athletes and lead them to the achievement of excellence. I bring you a sentence that I read at Wimbledon: if you are lucky enough to know disaster and triumph, treat them the same way because they are two impostors. The medals we won were not won with the strongest team, but with the team that gave 100% of their possibilities.”
