In honour of University of New Brunswick (UNB) men’s hockey coach Gardiner MacDougall recently winning his 9th U Sports National Championship while simultaneously achieving an undefeated season, I wanted to share some advice that Gardiner gave to me in 2010 and how it impacts leadership. 

Before I go any further, just take a minute to let this sink in: 

• An undefeated, national championship season
• Total win-loss record: 43-0
• First undefeated season in U Sports men’s hockey since 2002
• Won the Atlantic Canadian (AUS) Championship 9-1 
• Won the National Championship (U Sports Cup) 4-0
• Incredible! 

Great Advice

I attended UNB from 2010 – 2015 while earning a Bachelor of Recreation and Sports Studies and a Bachelor of Education. In 2010, as a 17-year old first year student, I had the privilege of taking a hockey course from the legend himself, coach MacDougall. During one of his lectures, coach MacDougall emphasized the importance of feedback with this quote which has stuck with me ever since: “Feedback is the breakfast of champions”. With this saying coach underscored the importance of seeking and actioning feedback from multiple stakeholders. He went on to say that he maintains open dialogue and formal feedback sessions with his players, coaches, and the athletics director while seeking selected feedback from fans. 

I believe his philosophy on feedback is one of many habits that has helped coach MacDougall to develop an elite winning culture at UNB. 

Feedback and Organizational Culture

In my doctoral research at the University of Toronto, feedback has emerged from the academic literature as one of the major recommendations for organizations who want to improve their culture. 

Whether you lead a family, team, school, company, or circus, feedback should be part of your leadership. 

Ways to seek feedback

Let’s go back to coach MacDougall’s example to see who and how to receive valuable feedback in your context. Throughout a season, coach seeks feedback from the following stakeholders, players, coaches, fans, and the athletics director. Below I’ve added ideas & resources to help you seek feedback, feel free to modify and use them for your organization:

1. Players – Feedback from those you serve 

• Feedback forms
  • International Student Feedback Form. In my role as Director of International Students at Fredericton Christian Academy (FCA) I use this feedback form at the end of each semester with my international students. I set aside time during our final international student meeting of the semester for students to complete it, then I read their responses, and follow up with students as needed. 
• 1-1 meetings
  • Questions to ask:
    • What highs have you experienced recently? 
    • What lows have you experienced recently?
    • How are you progressing toward your goals?
    • How can I help you to have a better experience?

2. Coaches – Feedback from members of your team

• 1-1 meetings
  • Questions to ask:
    • Have you experienced any rewarding moments in your role recently?  
    • What can I do to be a better team member this week? 
    • What can I do to support you in your role this week?
    • What is one “win” that I can help you get this month? 
• Encouragement
  • ICS Staff Encouragements Form. I created this feedback form in the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic while teaching at ICS Hong Kong to boost staff morale and strengthen school culture. My colleagues enjoyed encouraging each other so much that I continued the initiative each semester thereafter. 

3. Fans – Feedback from participants 

• Event review surveys
  • Event Review Form. After an event, this form can help you to gather feedback from participants and team members in order to gauge the effectiveness of an event and look for ways to improve future iterations. It was adapted from a similar form created by Robert Charach, the Head of School at Linden Christian School.  

4. Athletics Director – Feedback from supervisors

• Year end meetings
  • Meeting procedure:
    • Employee synthesizes their role from the past quarter or year; including highlights, things they’ve learned, and progress toward current goals. 
    • Employee provides feedback about their role and how the supervisor can contribute to the employee being more effective next year. 
    • Supervisor provides feedback in the form of a performance review and co-constructs specific performance targets with the employee for the coming quarter or year.

Final Thoughts

It should be noted that feedback isn’t all Lucky Charms and marshmallows. Because feedback involves perception, opinion, and human emotions it can be difficult to hear and can even hurt. The truth is, that’s OK. Feedback may require some sifting through, but is nevertheless valuable and allows stakeholders to be heard which is essential to effective leadership. 

So, what do champions eat for breakfast? They eat Feedback. 

Thank you for taking the time to read this article. Visit my Connect Page to get in touch. 

Peace & Blessings, 

– Josiah

References

CBC (2024). UNB men’s hockey team blanks UQTR to complete perfect season, repeat as University Cup Champion.

Go Reds Go (2024). Bio: Gardiner MacDougall.

University of New Brunswick (2024). UNB men’s hockey team finishes undefeated season before sellout crowd. 

U Sports (2024). UNB defeats UQTR 4-0 to take the 2024 U Cup.