So, for those of you who have read some of my previous articles – you know I’m an avid sports fan. Sports provides many examples and lessons that are applicable to business; particularly in areas such as leadership, team performance, and culture.
So – as baseball season is underway, hockey season is wrapping up, and college and NFL football season begins in a few months… lots of coaching – leadership transition – changes are occurring.
Some of the new football coaches:
Jim Caldwell…
- “…you can certainly tell whether or not a guy’s committed to his craft. You can learn about guys in terms of their learning style.You can see even today, those two I think are going to function well together. But that’s what you work out…”
Jay Gruden…
- “…The first order of business would be to review last year’s team. When you’re 3-13, there’s not one particular player or reason, there’s a lot of reasons and there’s a lot of things that need to be fixed, no question.”
Bill O’Brien…
- “…you see that there are guys that are instinctive and talented and how they translate to this league, but you don’t really know until you see them play. You’re trying to do a good job of studying their strengths and their power and their instinctiveness. Then you want to meet them and see what type of people they are and try and make the best pick.”
James Franklin (GO STATE!)…
- “It’s big-picture stuff, building relationships with the players and everyone associated with the program, … The other thing is laying a really good foundation with the philosophies and schemes…”
Derek Mason…
- “…This job means everything to me. This is where I want to be, this is where I plan on spending the rest of my career. We will win. Make sure of that. Make no doubts about that. I understand what college football’s about. It’s about winning, and you hired a winner for sure.”
… all these folks are going to have to gain the respect of their teams members (or in the case of Northwestern their employees), develop a high performance culture for their organization, and gain the engagement and support of their fans – stakeholders.
So how can these new coaches lead their teams a successful season?
Communication: In football – when plays are called by the coaches – they need to clearly communicate that play to all players on the field to ensure everyone is on the same page. The communication practices, both verbal and non verbal, are reviewed, understood, and practiced by the coaching staff, the team, and even sometimes the owners time and time again. The same applies to your organization. Frequent, transparent, and authentic communication amongst leadership, employees, stakeholders, and customers is a necessity. To keep audiences engaged in your products and services, and committed to the organizations’ strategy, mission and vision, they need to know what is going on and why (within reason).
Structure: In order to run a successful football program – you need a platform designed to help you succeed. You need the proper processes to evaluate your players, to ensure their actions are aligned with and in support of your mission and vision, and provide a structure designed to help you achieve your goals. In the early days you need to remain flexible and test different structures and processes before you find what works best. The first season for a new leader is always a learning curve.
Trust:Trust is a fundamental behavior for any successful relationship, both personal and professional. Trust and confidence in leadership is the single most reliable predictor of team performance and satisfaction in an organization. Trust must be earned. And new coaches must spend the time earning the trust of their players if they expect high performance. One way to build trust is to create a safe environment – don’t be the type of coach or leader who is verbally, emotionally, or physically abusive (hello Rutgers!) to those you lead. Leaders can also earn employee trust by helping those they lead understand the overall strategy and mission – if you’re changing the playbook, explain why – and inform team members how they contribute to achieving key goals.
People: If you’re trying to run a spread offense with a pocket passer quarterback – you’re unlikely to have a winning season. But if you’re trying to run a spread offense with a scrambling quarterback then you’re much more likely to succeed. The same applies to your organization. You’ve got to have the right people, with the right skills, in the right roles. An organization can’t keep winning without having a focus on the people.
Feedback: New coaches, like new business leaders, need to remain open to feedback. Many of the team members have been part of the culture a lot longer can provide valuable insights toward success. Soliciting input from those you lead regarding your actions and behaviors and how those behaviors positively and negatively impact them is imperative to being a great leader. Great leaders harness their self awareness and remain open to feedback – they take the feedback regarding those actions and behaviors that may negatively impact those they lead and make a conscious effort to be aware of when those behaviors are occurring and why, and aren’t afraid to work toward continuing self improvement. Just because you’re the coach doesn’t mean you always know best.
So whether you’re a new leader of an academic institution, a for-profit company, or a Government agency – how you choose to lead your program is vital to your long term success. So, what are you doing to be an example of positive leadership? Are you contributing to high performance or hindering long term success?
Remember, whether a leader on the field or in the office – you’re a role model – so act like one!
About Scott Span, MSOD: is CEO & Lead Consultant of Tolero Solutions – an Organizational Improvement & Strategy firm. He helps clients in facilitating sustainable growth by connecting and maximizing people –> performance –> profit™, creating organizations that are more responsive, productive and profitable.
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