Cody Royle, is the former Head Coach of the AFL Canadian team and has spent the last few years coaching Head Coaches around the Globe. I really enjoyed Cody’s previous book The Tough Stuff, so when I heard about the release of Second Set of Eyes, I contacted Cody to ask if I could review his latest book. He kindly sent me a PDF version of the book, and I loved it so much, I bought myself a hard copy.
Second Set Of Eyes is a book about the current landscape elite coaches find themselves in today as Cody writes:
“Modern coaching has changed. The hero’s of yesteryear and old models of success are outdated. They don’t match with the organisations of today. Winning in the current landscape is not about your individual brilliance, its derived from your ability to elicit collective greatness from within every person in your organisations.”
It is my own opinion that the high performance coaching system across all sports is broken. I don’t believe there has ever been any real intention in building a coaching system, and the situation we find ourselves in today is a result of letting coaching just happen…as we now back peddle and frantically try and fix its major flaws. This lack of intentionality has resulted in abusive coaching, an incorrect image of what a successful coach is, and a male dominated arena of high performance coaches and leaders.
Second Set of Eyes delves deep into where Cody believes this unintentionally designed system has lead us. Using examples from the NFL, English Football, NCAA Basketball, International Rugby and Aussie Rules, Cody shares with us stories of high performing coaches who are burned out due to ‘chronic individualism’, having sacrificed too much of their personal life for a job with no boundaries.
“The biggest myth in coaching is that you can do it all yourself.
The most powerful example of this sacrifice came from the story of coach Emma Hayes, current Head Coach to Chelsea women’s football team and the newly appointed Head Coach of the US Women’s National Team:
“During the 2018 season, Hayes became pregnant with twins. Still coaching during her third trimester, one of the twins became unwell and died inside of her. Her first son, Harry, was born safely, but her second son, Albie, was not. Eight weeks later, Hayes returned to coaching. She says she was torn between doing the right thing for her newborn son and the right thing for the club, but ultimately chose to go back to work. There is no guidebook for returning as a coach-mom, but coming back so quickly is a decision she now deeply regrets.”
Cody argues: “the most successful, respected and tenured head coach in women’s soccer should not have to abstain from taking maternity leave or bereavement leave for fear that she’ll be replaced.”
Cody’s messaging throughout the book echos the messaging we are trying to get across through the Female Coaching Network, that is, the coaching system needs to change for the betterment of coaches and athletes.
“Coaching has the opportunity to solve the chronic nature of its individualism and instead be a generous institution that foster the human development of the people who dedicate their lives to their profession.”
Second Set of Eyes is filled with examples as to how coaches can look after themselves better, work with mentors, and perform better under pressure. It reads like a coaching book of fame with names such as Pep Guardiola, Peta Searle, Mike Krzyzewski, Casey Stoney, Eddie Jones, Ernie Merrick and Steve Hansen, to name just a few!
One example I partuclarly enjoyed reading about was that of of coach Crystal Kaua, a New Zealand Rugby Union coach whose goals in life are “to be an epic mom, wife, epic me, epic coach” and is “willing to play the long game to achieve her goal.” Crystal has been criticised with having a different Head Coaching life, as she says “It should be normal for a coach to go out to dinner with their family in the middle of the season and not feel guilty about it.”
I cannot recommend this book highly enough, and in particular would recommend it to those in charge of designing high performance coaching systems. By designing a human centric system, and not one that treats coaches (and athletes) like robots, we can create an intentionally safe, efficient and effective system for all to thrive.
Bravo to Cody, fantastic book!
