It is that time of year where college basketball suddenly comes to the front of many lives. Work productivity seems to drop a bit on the Thursday and Friday the tournament begins. People like myself who don’t pay attention all year to college basketball become more in tune.
The games are exciting to watch especially when David topples Goliath (i.e. Kentucky being beat early this year), but there is an element we rarely notice. The coaches. We notice the crazy coaches that get media attention, but I am going to suggest that none of these teams get to the tournament without great leader-coaches. 
Sports psychologist Jeff Janssen and Greg Dale years ago described the secrets of successful coaches in their book The Seven Secrets of Successful Coaches. I will not go into all the seven secrets here, but if you are interested I do recommend this book as a great resource for any leader. Allow me to dive into a few of the principles and challenge us to evaluate how we are doing on these areas.
Caring
“I know if somebody really cares about me and is really fighting for me, I’ll go through a wall for them.”
Mike Shanahan
I realize this one may seem like a no-brainer. Of course we care about our people. Just like some of us men may think “of course I love my spouse” but we fail to tell or show our spouse that we love her. What does this look like for us as leaders?
One example Janssen shares is of Coach K of Duke. He would make it a practice to have each of his players over for dinner to get to know them and connect. I realize as leaders we can’t always nor may want to do something like that, but maybe we take someone out for lunch or stop by their office with no agenda but to check in on how they are doing. If they had something significant happen in their personal lives did we celebrate with them?
When a team member is struggling personally reach out and listen. Maybe they need their workload lightened for a period. If you see more in them than they see in themselves, call it out. Caring can be demonstrated in multiple ways, think of one way you can demonstrate caring to your team members.
Confidence Builder
“You have to create an environment where everybody feels good about themselves and what they can do.”
Marty Schottenheimer
Our words and actions can build others up or tear them down. This is always true, but when we have a position of authority over others our words can have even more impact. Let’s be honest, we all can have fragile egos, even the most confident of us battles. Janssen provides seven steps to building confidence that he covers in depth but I will share a modified version of them here so you can think into which of these seven you need to focus on with some of your team members:
- Focus on Potential
- Plant Seeds of Success
- Sell Team Members on Themselves
- Show Them a Simple, Specific Plan
- Inspire Them
- Set Them Up for Quick Wins
- Accentuate the Positive
Be a Communicator
“Confusion leads to misunderstanding, and misunderstanding leads to conflict.”
Joe Torre
Whether with teams I lead or am a part of or with organizations I serve, communication is one of the top challenges. I provide entire workshops on this and there is so much that can be said, but Janssen immediately suggests the foundation of effective communication is being open and direct.
For some of us this idea creates anxiety because of a desire to keep people happy and avoid confrontation. When we are caring, open, and direct we eliminate confusion. If we are frustrated we need to discover why and then appropriately share the reason. Balance candor and care in these conversations to maintain connection with those we lead.
Leader, when you see a problem, deal with it. Even better, create space to anticipate problems so you can proactively deal with them and communicate. Be proactive, candid, and continue to care.
Which of these do you need to focus on in the next 24 hours? Need help seeing any blind spots? Contact me or go here to invest in a Maxwell DISC Personality Indicator with a personalized debrief to understand not only your communication style, but your leadership strengths so you can leverage them to demonstrate care and instill confidence in those you lead. Lead Well.
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