Practicing Empathy

By: Dan Gould and Cliff Mallett

Originally Published in: Sport Coaches' Handbook

The coaching process has been increasingly recognized as a complex social and cognitive system. In this context, the quality of the coach-athlete relationship has been proposed as a critical success factor for effective coaching, and that relationship can be understood in terms of the 3+1Cs model.

Closeness refers to affective ties between athlete and coach, such as mutual trust, respect, appreciation, and liking.
Commitment of explicit dedication to the common goal
Complementarity collaboration and mutual responses, such as ready support and overall friendliness
Co-orientation interdependence, or the degree to which coaches and athletes seem to have a shared understanding

As these elements suggest, the quality of the coach-athlete relationship is determined in considerable part by the coach's ability to recognize and empathize with the emotions, feelings, needs, and desires of others (typically athletes, but also other stakeholders). This empathy enables the coach to understand and cater to athletes by providing athlete centered coaching. It is not, however, enough by itself. The quality of the coach-athlete relationship also depends on the ability of the coach and athlete to coordinate objectives and efforts. Thus empathy provides only the starting point for the coach and the athlete to create a shared understanding as the basis for their work together.

Based on this perspective of optimal empathy as shared understanding, coaches should engage in the following practices.

Seek formal and informal opportunities to speak with athletes individually, both about sport and about other topics.
Develop a culture in which everyone's opinions are shared through consistent opportunities for athletes' voices to be heard and valued nonjudgmentally
Review and evaluate communication strategies to ensure that coaching messages are received in the manner intended
Promote opportunities for social interaction between athletes and coaches
Attend to both verbal and nonverbal cues