SOME COACHES FOCUS on the players, worrying about them, working to develop them, admonishing them, praising them, and working to get them “on side”.  All of that is important, but should never be the leader’s primary focus.

The primary is the objective, not the means.

The coach needs first and foremost to be driven by the objective.  That guides everything.  Structures, process, strategies, tactics, and more are all informed by how they add value to the achievement of the objective.  Players are tools.  You need the right ones in the right places doing the right things, and that means they need to be worried about, developed, admonished, and praised.  Just not as a primary.  The moment the players become the coach’s primary focus, the objective, and the means employed to reach it, become blurry.  Worst case, they fade from view altogether.