Written by In an organization or team, a weak culture is an inspiration killer and demotivates, nobody is likely to stand up and be noticed, or do anything noteworthy, unless they feel safe to do so. In a corporate environment that would result in an extremely stagnant operation that is full of drones toiling away for an archaic, closed-mindset management. Fear becomes the only driving factor and this condition soon becomes entrenched.
The sports world is no different, in a toxic environment there is no trust and no sense of adventure just an abundance of heavy, specific rules and processes that wear down the individual and suck the joy out of the whole thing.
It is this environment also that promotes the dichotomous bullying and favoritism situation.
So the “A B C” of a toxic culture is:
Absolute Authority
Bullying mentality
Closed-mindset leadership
…how many stories of misbehavior and wrongdoing in sport have we read about that easily feature these characteristics in their leadership or coaching style?
The difference between the creation of a star athlete and a bullied quitter is the environment that they find themselves in during their formative years. The creation of a super ego – a player desperate to be noticed and revered; a star that is talented because he or she followed all the rules but who is uncomfortable with his fame and unskilled at empowering others is all-to-easily done. Sadly, it is a continuing saga, the bullied and controlled athlete will evolve to become the future bullying coach, how can they become otherwise?
British athletes have won 18 Olympic medals since judo was included to the 1964 Games, now, with the Tokyo Games mere months away, British Judo is completing an investigation into allegations of bullying that have been raised. Last year, UK Sport chair Katherine Grainger pledged to “identify, confront and eradicate” bullying and abuse in the elite system.
Right after the forced apology from the Japanese Wrestling Federation to four-time Olympic champion Kaori Icho over 2018 bullying claims, the country’s premier karate organization has, this month, had its own bullying scandal as Ayumi Uekusa, a world champion in 2016, has accused her instructor of damaging her self-esteem and leaving her unable to train because of stress.
She recorded on her blog in March 26, “Meeting my instructor became so tough, bursting into floods of tears on my way to the dojo became part of my daily life,”…“Training was such a stifling environment that I suffered mental stress, and there were times when I couldn’t go to training and just stayed at home.”
A good culture allows team members to have input, to collaborate, share knowledge, communicate and most importantly to be available to, and invested in supporting one another. Where there is support, there is that feeling of safety to have the confidence to ask questions, to speak out, and to take on new challenges. This confidence benefits the individual’s personal growth, as well as the team.
When a culture is shattered, it becomes incapable of producing anything healthy, only the very strong-minded will be able to avoid being adversely affected.
British Judo conducting investigation into allegations of bullying – BBC Sport
Japanese karate official quits over bullying claim | Free Malaysia Today (FMT)