How My High School Diving Coach Experience Taught Me the Real Challenges of Leadership

My first leadership job was unconventional.

I was 17 years old.

It was my senior year of high school and my diving coach moved away.

Our team of 5 was left without a coach.

So the school asked me to coach.

They offered me a couple hundred dollars so I said yes.

I knew nothing about coaching.

Yet, over the last few years I was the captain of our team and seen as a leader.

I was competing in both school and Club.

I was winning meets. But it didn’t mean I was good at coaching.

Picture this 👇

I’d do my dive…try to critique myself (somehow).

Jump out Stand on the edge of the pool And coach the rest of the team on their dives.

It was easy to correct big errors (like back flops 🙈).

But the minor things that cost a point or two…

I felt like I was nitpicking.

These things were important to correct,

But I wanted my team to like me.

It was my first glimpse into the challenges of wanting to be liked and respected in a leadership role.

---

We ended up having a great season.

Our team won our district.

And I placed 4th at our CCS Finals.

Reliving this got me thinking about how as leaders we kinda get thrown into situations.

Sometimes it’s without warning And often it’s without any formal training.

What was your first leadership role? What challenges do you remember?