REQUISITOS ESENCIALES DE LA TERCERIZACIÓN:

In addition to challenging group standards and fostering togetherness and respect, as mentioned above, the coaches also described how they shaped group identity and influence by developing and harnessing mentally tough leaders; as one coach stated:

“they are educators [of MT], if you like – they’re developing people [i.e., other players]” (C-1). It was clear that these leaders were perceived to directly increase MT levels within squads; as one coach stated, “That team was very mentally tough by the fourth year. And most of the leadership of that team was done by the players” (C-2). In this specific case, a crucial step in growing this leadership within the whole team was through early leaders acting as role models, setting examples and then normalising the mentally tough behaviours among the team, as shown below:

[Player X, a mentally tough leader] is a role model for them. You know when you have enough people with the same set of behaviours, and again when you go back to what you characterise as mental toughness; when you have enough players exhibiting those behaviours, you get a tipping point in the team. And that becomes the normal part, the normal way you behave in that team. (C-2)

So important was this idea of player-led MT standards that the coaches often went on to talk of how they developed and utilised these leaders operationally: “The mechanics are: you talk to the leaders, they agree, they buy in, ‘This is the [strategy]’. You then deliver [the strategy] to the whole group in the room and then they [the leaders] endorse it to the group in the room” (C-4). This proactive management approach was felt to provide a sense of increased responsibility for the player leaders, thus shaping their own identity and influence within the whole squad. Other steps in harnessing player leadership included establishing a more formal bond between players: “You buddy up a junior player in the team with the senior players of the team so there’s an [MT] example set and passed on” (C-1). Finally, and to maximise the impact of player leadership on group identity, the coaches believed that regular group

leaders’ meetings were a “key thing for any team” (C-5). By holding player leadership meetings, the coaches reinforced how they developed individual leadership skills along with demonstrating their awareness of the sociological impact through team interactions such as role models in order to elicit MT. These meetings also provided opportunity to further develop the individual leadership skills, as one coach stated:

You start identifying them [potential leaders] when they come in, and you start listening to them, you start watching them and then you give them a little taste. You bring them to the odd meeting when it’s right. A bigger meeting, 8 people instead of 5 discussing…the plan for the week [training plan]…and then suddenly they get it like, “oh this is what happens”. (C-4)

Within these player meetings the coaches understood that each player was different and “you are dealing with a team of individuals, so mental toughness is like muscular strength in the sense that some guys are stronger than others” (C-4). Interestingly, the coaches also recognised that MT could be as much inhibited as elicited by player interactions. As such, careful management of these leaders within the social milieu was clearly important, as shown in the following quotation:

Sometimes, as a coach, you have to watch to make sure you are not holding [players] back. Because maybe the mental toughness that is there can be led from them. If you are too soft on the fellows around you, and if you’re too soft on the rest of the group, then you can be holding them back by being too soft. Sometimes you need to let the fellow that’s brutally honest say the things that

need to be said … and then sometimes you have to rein in that player and say “Well, maybe [your teammate] knows where they stand but maybe for that one step forward you’re taking, he steps back now because either he’s afraid of you or second guessing himself by trying to play your game rather than his own game”. (C-3)

The quotation above shows the subtle understanding of, and management by, the coach in optimising MT within the group. Fundamentally, however, the positive influence of mentally tough leaders was recognised as something that should be harnessed by coaches. Indeed, these leaders provided direction to other players in how to maintain requisite standards to perform when under pressure, as one coach described:

Before the game … [player leaders] would remind guys, “If we make a mistake, don’t go quiet”. Going quiet was the worst thing to happen because then everyone had bought into the error. It was over, it was gone and then the [our] defence would unravel spectacularly. (C-4)

In addition, the coaches spoke of how to develop and harness mentally tough leaders on the pitch as well as off it. By using such leaders in the game itself, the coach could enhance team performances by getting mentally tough players to support less mentally tough players in their decision making, role clarity and confidence, as shown in the two quotations below:

I would have used [Player X, a wing forward], for example, at [Team X]. “[Player X], look, you’re going to be on [Player Y, a prop forward], so be on him. Like, if we get a good scrum, keep pumping him, keep on him.” Because again, you’re not on the pitch [as the coach] but there’s a way to keep mental toughness for a guy [on the pitch by harnessing the influence of others]. I know I don’t have to worry about [Player X] but [Player Y] … he questions himself a lot … or distracts him[self], and then he’s running to the next ruck thinking “Did I have that shoulder too low? Was my arse too high? Was I in the 120 [physical scrum position]? Was I …?” (C-5)

I would say to [Player X]: “You know that five-man line-out defense – lead that line today, lead that line-up”. And you know that is taken care of, you know [Player X] will organise other people around him. He’s got a good voice, he’s got good brains. He’ll shut that down, you know. I then only have to deliver two things or even maybe one thing … to [Player Y] or [Player Z] or [Player W] or you know. I do think that [helps to get mentally tough performances out of the team] – that de-cluttering [for certain individuals], that clarity of thought, and the role definition but also that strategy. (C-5)

The above two quotations demonstrate the direct impact that player leaders can have on the performance of others and subsequently on that of the team as a whole. They also show the awareness and skill of the coaches in developing and harnessing these leaders to continually shape group identity and influence.