"I use sports analogies because I run my businesses like wining sports teams in which skill development and effective coaching makes the team better."
- The Leadership Playbook, page 6
"Hire good people and let them do their jobs? That’s a line handed down from outdated business books more than a generation old. Leaders today need to get involved and coach their teams to success, rather than manage them to mediocrity."- The Leadership Playbook, page 13
Conventional business knowledge would tell us to lead by managing results and working for your people. The coaching perspective shows us to lead by managing the team and working on your people. A proactively involved coach actuates a team member and emphasizes team growth. Financial results will follow the leader who focus on the right individuals and aligns the team towards a common aim.
Managing is not inherently wrong. The essence of management is excellent execution. Coaches must know how to get things done and how to execute plays. Leaders cannot effectively inspire people without implementing their game plan. The problem is not that leaders and businesses practice management skills. The problem is that most companies have leaders in management cultures when leaders today ought to get involved and coach their teams to success.
There is a fundamental difference between coaching and managing. Here are the “Five Essential Principles of Coaching” that Jamail’s details throughout his book:
I think coaches have the moral obligation to deal with bad attitudes and performers. This coaching technique requires special leadership and people skills. Anyone can learn to combat a team’s ineffectiveness, it only takes diligent study and experience in the essential principles of coaching.
"Discuss possible scenarios and scrimmage those scenarios"- The Leadership Playbook, page 48
Practice is the art of failing and getting back up. Practice is of the most effective means to learn and grow. I think it’s the principle that unlocks growth in all areas of life: personal, professional, spiritual, social, financial, etc. How does a baseball player improve his swing? Hit a bucket of balls every day. How can a college student pass an organic chemistry exam? Study the textbook and do practice problems. Practice is baked into the fabric of development and growth.
Jamail encourages leaders to mandate everyone on their team to practice. Practice leads to better results, but is not always emphasized because many teams are too often “in the game”. The greatest athletes practice their game 80-90% of the time and play the rest. Shouldn’t business leaders strive to apply this concept with their team? Here are few concrete, practical ways to practice:
The coaching leader knows that team members improve through targeted practice and training. It’s quite possible that the man with 30 years of experience is less valuable than the man with 5 years of experience and exceptional skills. “Perfect practice makes perfect”. The most valuable teammates are coachable and disciplined to practice the right drills. Mandate your team to practice.
"Everyone deserves a chance and respect, but everybody must earn the ‘game ball’."- The Leadership Playbook, page 61
There are no trophies for participation. Only one team wins the Super Bowl per year. Coaches play their starting goalie during a big soccer game, not the third-stringer. The coach must be performance-oriented. They’re in the game to win. He does not go into a match expecting to lose. Why play the game with an objective to lose? The coach must believe that his team can achieve victory and discipline his team through a practice regimen. Focus the majority of your time on the top players.
Focus on the best, but don’t forget about the bench. You need a backup plan when the starting player gets injured. Leaders should implement apprenticeship systems to create a culture of accountability and mentorship. Once the top guy moves on, he is replaced with an equipped and passionate underling.
Give genuine recognition and rewards often to your top guys and your bench warmers. Leaders create teams that can perform and continue to produce results. He should ensure each team member is uniquely recognized for a job well done. I forget things super easily and often depend on written systems. Coaches should delegate this responsibility to another team member or a system. However you choose to give recognition, just make it happen!
Are you building a coaching or management culture with your team? Culture is the seed of influence the leader plants in an environment to express the collective attitudes and behaviors of a group of people. How are you inspiring and instilling coaching principles in your leadership team? Leaders have the capacity to sustain movement through clearly expressing ideas. Are you willing to commit to the individual’s betterment and the team’s best interest? Coaching a team is an involved and selfless virtue.
Nathan Jamail owns several small businesses, and trains, coaches, and mentors professionals in many industries. He is the author of the self-published books The Sales Leaders Playbook, The Sales Professionals Playbook, and The Sales Leaders Gameplan. He lives in Frisco, Texas.
