Round #00 - The courage to be himself
James Sicily
James Sicily thrives on competition, and when there isn’t enough of it, he will make some up, and some feathers will fly, and they are often his own when he bites off the unchewable.
The line between selfish and selfless in a team sport is mostly thought of as binary, particularly when evaluated from a distance.
There is, in fact, a human nature bias for the binary, to seek and find clarity, and even a sense of comfort if not closure, by reducing the most complex of ideas into two categories.
It is either this or that. Black or white. Good or bad.
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Such judgment is pervasive and trigger-happy in the AFL environment, especially when either the individual or the team is not meeting some form of expectation, fair or otherwise.
And there is nothing that divides opinion like a mercurial talent, whose very character defies categorisation, but it doesn’t stop us trying. And it goes well beyond their skill to play the game, often focusing on the player's idiosyncratic demeanour, mannerisms, or behaviour, those expressions of individuality, all within the construct (and conformity) of the team.
But it is never one or the other. It is vague and nuanced. To think of it as anything else is to avoid the ambiguity and complexity that leadership asks of us, especially as it relates to realising the full potential of the person, and everything they can bring to the group.
Special talent is vital to the success of a team. But vital rarely means straightforward.
These players bring both personality and ability to the team, drawing attention to themselves and, in doing so, helping the team win, but often tread a fine line, with the risk that it could all go terribly wrong at any moment.
Special players should also inspire new possibilities by testing the imagination of coaches and leaders, and may even prompt them to reconsider what the game plan might and can look like, broadening the ‘system’ to make the best use of their uniqueness if it helps us achieve our collective goal (e.g. winning).
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This is the Hawthorn that is building under young coach Sam Mitchell.
His team plays colourful and watchable football for this very reason. ‘Hok-ball’ as it has been dubbed, with the coach creating an environment that allows a mischievous mob of free-spirited and gifted players to broadcast their skills, and perhaps in many ways, appeal to their most selfish instincts.
They have reframed the game and uncovered some otherwise hidden talent in a strategy I would describe as unpredictability built on shared understanding, a conscious interlocking of individuality, not as an indulgence, but as a bolder definition of what success might look like in the modern game.
For all of their exciting and entertaining football, the Hawk teams that have emerged over the last year or so, the ‘me’ can never trump the ‘we’.
The expressions of self only work if the underlying operating system is team-first, which must remain non-negotiable and the glue that binds what appears to be a rich mix of personalities, capabilities, and eccentricities, committed to building an ecosystem of individuals working together to accomplish a clear goal…the next Hawthorn Premiership.
This has been an intentional process, and whilst there is an organic aspect to creating high-performance environments, it is grounded in clarity and alignment, which builds on the one non-negotiable in the Sam Mitchell-coached teams:
Compete. Then compete some more. Never, ever stop competing.
Your competitiveness is your licence for mischief.
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All of this makes their captain, James Sicily, a fascinating leadership case study.
The Hawthorn opening-round win against the Swans bore witness to all James Sicily brings, and it is a very rich offering.
My drawing captures the moment he sealed the game with a late goal, celebrated with the 'naughty boy' vibe he carries onto the football field.
James Sicily thrives on competition, and when there isn’t enough of it, he will make some up, and some feathers will fly, and they are often his own when he bites off the unchewable.
He crosses lines, or invents his own, I am not sure which, but wherever he treads on the ground, something is bound to happen. This makes him so difficult to plan against, even though he is hidden in plain sight, given that you cannot take your eyes off him.
Sicily plays with cool-headed audacity, controlled chaos, and wonderful skill, but unlike any player I have ever seen. You cannot define or pigeonhole him, and without knowing him personally, I reckon that's how he would want it.
He plays with great bravery, and it is heart-in-your-mouth stuff.
But his real courage, only apparent when he stepped up as captain a few years back, is the courage to be himself, embracing his differences in a world that favours and forces conformity.
There is also a deeper message here. James Sicily, as captain, is representative of the Hawthorn mindset under Senior Coach Sam Mitchell. They are an elite sporting club that has dared to be different. They're building differently, coaching differently, playing differently.
And in that difference lies their strength.
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The belief and the confidence to stay true, to make your leadership an expression of who you are, is the very definition of authentic leadership.
For leaders, there is no authenticity without vulnerability, and vulnerability, by definition, asks you to be brave and to face your fears. All of this is fine in theory; they are just words on a page, but so difficult in practice, particularly when all eyes are on you.
Sometimes, in football, as in life and leadership, our greatest strength is found in simply being who we are, but the courage to be so as a leader can never be underestimated.
It was U2's legendary frontman, Bono, who once said:
"The hardest person to be on stage is you."
So it is with leadership.
James Sicily’s captaincy works because it’s an extension of his true self.
At a structural level, the recruitment of free agents Tom Barrass from West Coast and Josh Battle from St Kilda has given Hawthorn's defensive unit greater stability, but perhaps more importantly, it's freed James Sicily to be even more himself.
Now in his third season as captain, Sicily’s leadership will need to evolve as the team must also. Whilst the starting point is to connect with one’s convictions and remain authentic to a set of core beliefs, the best are willing to adapt their leadership style to suit what the club and team need from them.
There is a different kind of football alchemy happening at Hawthorn, and it is the club's leadership that has the courage to create it.
Play on!
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