Moving from for to with

I relish the opportunity to meet people and talk about performance environments in sport.
Today was one of those days for me. I met remarkable people and had an opportunity to share experiences as a performance observer and analyst.
I have been able to have more of these conversations in recent years. I am struck constantly by the skill sets and understanding performance analysts have.
Some things do not change.
One recurring theme for me over the last thirty-five years has been the timing of the move from analysis for the coach to analysis with the coach.
Today’s conversation underlined for me the enormous opportunities for analysts to lead conversations with players with the blessing of the coach.
All of the analysts I have met are acutely sensitive to their role as a follower of a coach as leader. I am keen to encourage the discussions of how analysts become leaders at important moments within performance environments.
I see this as an intermediate step to empowering players to lead discussions about performance. The best organisations have made this change some time ago.
I am writing this brief post to celebrate the possibilities of with.
The move to ‘with’ is imbued with humility, I believe.
John Dickson‘s in his book Humiltas suggests that “the most influential and inspiring people are often marked by humility”. He defines humility as “the noble choice to forgo your status, deploy your resources or use your influence for the good of others before yourself”.
I am hopeful that the open online course #UCSIA15 will provide opportunities to share how this humble  ‘withness’ occurs in a variety of contexts.

Photo Credit

You Turn (gfpeck, CC BY-ND 2.0)