How Sundowns are succeeding despite challenges of shared leadership

Mamelodi Sundowns’ first-team coach Steve Komphela has explained how the Tshwane giants are succeeding despite facing challenges of shared leadership, ‘co-coaching’.

Sundowns have a tremendous technical team of four experienced coaches, namely, Komphela, Rulani Mokwena, Manqoba Mngqithi and Michael Loftman, who was recently roped in as a set piece coach.

The quadrant has been around in the game for a long time and are capable of leading their own teams respectively. At their previous respective clubs in the PSL, they were head coaches.

HOW SUNDOWNS IS SUCCEEDING UNDER CO-COACHING

Komphela states that it’s not easy working as a group. However maturity helps them to be successful.

“It’s very cohesive, it’s not easy to have an environment on shared leadership. It needs a lot of maturity, you can see the eight of us were sitting on the bench,” said Komphela.

“Already there you feel the brains at work. Sometimes a confrontation that is more like simmering, even in their silence you feel that there is something about to clash here.

“It’s normal for coaches because brains is brains. Where there is brains working, there is going to be a difference in opinion but it needs maturity to match these differences so that as it comes out, it comes out solid.

WHAT SUNDOWNS COACHES AGREED ON AFTER APPOINTMENT

Komphela further revealed that as coaches they agreed not to fail the team, but take it to the level to show that black people can work together peacefully and become successful at their work.

For sure, the coaches stood to their word. In their first season together they completed a treble in the PSL. They won the MTN8, DStv Premiership and the Nedbank Cup.

“In my first year at Sundowns, one thing we agreed to was we cannot fail Sundowns because of the opportunity given to us, worse you’re black people,” he added.

“The meat that has been sold about black people not working together, we needed to find that and kick it out of the window.

“Whatever circumstances we needed to work and make it work because we were an example to society and world that black people can work together,” he added.

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