COACHING

Mar

2022

Three Secrets of Successful Coaches

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.

Oct

2021

Pruning as a Leader

We have a bush on the side of our house that is a little out of control. A few months ago my wife suggested that we need to trim it down so I finally got to it the other day. As I worked on thinning out this bush I was reminded of the book Necessary Endings by Henry Cloud. He discusses the idea of pruning as leaders. He says:

“The areas of your business that require your limited resources – your time, energy, talent, emotion, money – but are not achieving the vision you have for them should be pruned.”

As I reflect on trimming and pruning that bush there seem to be different ways we need to prune. (As an aside reading the above book will provide a greater depth of exploration on this topic.)

Dead

As I was working my way through this large bush and grabbed some branches, they broke off. These branches were of no value to the bush. They were rotten or dead. Sometimes we may lead people that seem “dead.”

These are the employees in an organization I’d call subordinates who simply show up to get their paycheck and do just enough to not get in trouble. They may be volunteers in another organization who show up and do nothing or worse stir up problems. These people may create problems by not carrying their load, creating more problems, not getting results, or simply bring no value. If you think you may have someone like this on your team visit this post to see if there is a deeper reason before removing them.

Out of Control

One of the branches on this bush was out of control. I began sawing the branch off, but it still was fruitful so we will evaluate if we keep it. We must determine if the way it sticks out detracts from the overall vision we have for the bush.

Maybe you have someone you lead who is out of control. They still get results but are not staying aligned with the organizational or team vision and may struggle as a team player.

With this person pruning may be determining together how to best position the individual to help the overall vision. It could also be a difficult conversation to help the individual understand how to use their desire to be unique in a productive manner. This individual may not have to be removed, but could use some mentoring or coaching so they are not a negative influence.

Healthy but Need Attention

Finally, some of the branches simply needed cut back so they can grow back more fruitful. These are the individuals on your team who add value, produce, but need some guidance and direction to grow. This may be the individual who has only been on the team for a few months or is new to learning how to behave in your environment. This could be someone who has transitioned from a sales or technical position and needs help shifting to thinking like a leader.

Mentoring from someone within or coaching from someone outside the organization may serve this individual well. Pruning in this case is for the purpose of identifying gaps in their performance to help them grow to their full potential.

Take a minute and look at your team. Do you need to do some removal or pruning? Do you need help thinking into your leadership or does someone on your team? Contact me and let’s discover how I can help. Don’t put off pruning like I did my bush so you can create room for growth. Lead Well.

Aug

2021

Olympic Mindset for Leaders

I was watching the end of the men’s 1500 meter swim race. I am not a swimmer. Actually, I am more of a drowner. Watching this was mind boggling for all of us as each of my boys were sharing how they would have drowned by the end of the first lap.

The American swimmer was holding a pace between third and fourth during the race.

Then they hit the last lap.

Finke starts closing the gap and reaches the wall to push off before the final length. He explodes off the wall staying under water long enough to gain ground. As he comes out of the water, he overtakes the leader to reach the finish with plenty of room to spare.

While watching this and the women’s 100 meter track race later I thought of three principles these athletes teach us about toughness that all leaders can apply.

Focus

At the end of Finke’s race during his interview they asked what was going on in his mind during that final length. I imagine all sorts of thoughts raced through his head such as “I am exhausted,” “I can’t swim anymore,” “my body hurts,” or even “I want to quit.” None of these thoughts dominated. What dominated was the voice of his coach yelling in his head not to quit.

When it gets hard where does our focus go? As leaders we often want to quit. The climb feels too hard. The challenges look to big. (As an aside, if you aren’t experiencing these feelings ever I would ask: is your vision big enough?) I like what John Maxwell says in his book Sometimes You Win, Sometimes You Learn:

“Not being controlled by our feelings means that we can face our fears, get out of our comfort zone, and try new things.”

Long before that evening Bobby Finke had developed the discipline to control his feelings in such a way he could focus on results.

Coaching

As I mentioned, in the post-race interview Finke said how he heard his coach’s voice in his head. I would assume all those other thoughts were competing, but his coach had not only helped him develop his body, but also his mind. As leaders we need someone in our corner to help us with our mental game.

I spent well over a decade helping athletes develop and when I launched the business I was amazed how many mental battles I had to face. I too need someone in my corner just like an athlete to encourage, challenge, and help me think. Who is the coach in your corner and who do you need to be a coach to?

Trust the Process

As I was watching this race I thought he must have had a plan. He did not get out front and hold the lead of this long race. He paced himself strategically. When the time was right, he burst ahead. I am certain for years he has raced with this process and seen positive results.

I wonder if he ever got bored and wanted to try a new method. Maybe. The process of timing worked so he trusted it. As leaders we need to innovate as John mentioned above, but we also need to trust the processes that work and know the right timing to make our move as Finke did.

As a leader how are you doing in these areas. Just like sports, leadership is a mental game. Who do you have in your corner to coach you and help you win the mental game? Need help thinking into your timing or with focus? If these are areas you need to grow in contact me at randy@wheelercoachingsystems.com and let’s discover if I can help you reach Olympic level results in your leadership. Lead Well.

Dec

2018

Learning From Championship Coaches

I am sitting in an office with three coaches who have collectively earned four state championships and a state runner-up in the state of Indiana. One man is the head football coach, one the head women’s soccer coach, and one the head baseball coach. Each of these three men are excellent people,but this particular day I wanted to learn from them about leading championship teams.

To summarize succinctly what each of these coaches found as their principles is a challenge, but one concept they all agreed on and chuckled about when asked about building a championship team is the need for talent. Talent was key to each of them achieving their results combined with positive family influences. This was not the magic bullet though because each of them had coached teams with a lot of talent, but did not achieve the same results.

Top Three Leadership Principles

1. Vision. Each coach had a clear vision for what they wanted for the team and a plan. Coach Wimmer’s plan looked different as a football coach and was very dependent on the support of his staff and the administrators around him because of leading such a large team. Coach Beasley helps clarify vision from day one by providing clear expectations and teaching them technical, tactical, and behavioral expectations. Coach Cherry creates a family atmosphere and attempts to determine the “right leader” who may not be the most talented. Each of these practices are informed by their clear vision.

2. Equip players. A coach, or any leader, is only successful by developing leaders around him or her. Each coach expressed this whether it was through the support of player buy-in to what they were trying to accomplish,such as creating a certain amount of intensity at practice, or encouraging the players to actively lead each other by passing down expectations verbally and through modeling. No matter the method,each coach realizes they cannot be successful without the players being leaders and driving the team more than the coach.

3. Relationships. This concept also looks different for each coach. For one coach persevering by being patient with each athlete’s growth process honors the relationship. For another staying out of the way while setting realistic expectations and communicating clearly what the player’s role is honors the relationship. For a final coach,intentionally shifting from a focus on results to a focus on people created a family atmosphere and ultimately led to his team’s success.

Leadership Tips

When I asked these three coaches for some of their final thoughts on leading a championship team they said the following stand-alone learning principles.

Use one on one coaching and individual conversations to clarify what a leader is.
You and your players must have passion for the sport and being a great team
Everyone has to be “on the same train” to create unity
Listen to the right voices as a leader and do not be distracted by the negative noise
Get out of the way and build into your people

So what about you? You want your team to excel at the highest level. Is your vision clear enough that your team knows what it is and is passionate about it? What can you do to grow your relationships with your team members and equip them? Did one of the stand-alone principles strike you as an area to work on? Whatever your action step is, do it now and build your championship team. Lead well and let me know how I can help you.

Jul

2018

Youth Sports and Questions about Leadership

Ever since my kids started being involved in sports activities I have helped coach them. Selfishly I do it because I don’t want to sit and watch . . . I’m a doer so I’d rather help. Now with my youngest it has felt like herding cats since he is in the early elementary stage, but with my older two boys I have come to enjoy it a little more.

I remember as a child as I continued in my sport it got to be more serious and not quite as fun. That is the normal progression and each individual has to determine at some point in their “career” if they love the sport enough to continue when the next season comes. I appreciate that increased intensity and competiveness especially since I tend to be naturally competitive.

My children are not at that level yet and as I coached my middle child’s basketball team I had a rewarding experience. First, I am horrible at basketball. I am so bad that I missed a layup at 7^th grade tryouts as a kid. I didn’t just miss it, but launched it up over the top of the backboard. Needless to say I was in over my head coaching 4^th – 6^th grade basketball players.

I realize I don’t have to be a basketball genius to coach this age of kids, but need to be able to teach them some of the fundamentals. Our first game we looked like a herd of kindergartners running around and not knowing what to do. I soon realized I had to tap into my resources and learn how to coach better. I attempted to improve my coaching each week and slowly saw the team improve as well.

By the end of the season a thought became the central theme of our team. This was not about performance and making shots or blocking shots or rebounding. Three ideas became our theme: focus (quite hard at times for squirrely young boys) teamwork and best effort. Our team was full of individuals of varying abilities and when I began to emphasize above all else these three ideas the boys started to play better than they had all season to the level they beat one team they had not all season and came within a basket of beating another.

What does this have to do with leading?

At home, what are we emphasizing? Do our children feel like our love for them is based on how they perform in sports, school, activities, etc.? I am sure that is not how any of us feel about our love for our children, but do we unintentionally send that message?

I think about how many times I discipline my children (which is necessary) for bad behavior. Do they think I only love them when they are well behaved? What would happen if I intentionally highlighted when my children act with great character and make great choices? When they are involved in activities what would happen if I first address whether they are acting with great sportsmanship and effort and as an afterthought discuss performance?

At work, do those we lead get positive feedback only for great performance? Do they know we care about them beyond just performance? Do we slow down enough to know what else is happening in their lives? As they know we care maybe their performance will improve.

Leading is a challenge. At home, I know I need to be more aware of what I say to my children about their activities to emphasize who they are over how they perform. I want my children to have the right character when they enter the real world as well as achieve to their fullest potential. Am I being the example to model that? In every area I lead, am I valuing character alongside performance? What about you? What do you emphasize in your leadership at work or home? Share it below.

Nov

2017

Who Do You Allow to Influence You?

The rule of 5. The Law of the Inner Circle as leadership expert John Maxwell calls it in his book The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership. Your personal executive team. You can call it many different things, but this group of people will either help or hinder your personal and professional momentum.

The rule of 5. I have heard it said that the five people closest to us most impact the person we become. I have often interacted with youth who have recently made a poor decision that landed them in trouble. In some situations I have known the people they are friends with. I share with them this principle. If they are surrounding themselves with people who are a negative influence and encourage poor choices, then they need to change who those five closest people are.

The Law of the Inner Circle. Who do you let closest to you? Are they people who encourage you toward your dream? Are they positive and encouraging or do they either actively or passively discourage you in your pursuit of great goals? Maybe they are simply apathetic and neither encourage nor discourage you. We live in a discouraging world often times already so we must surround ourselves with people who encourage and empower us toward our goals.

Your personal executive team. Are there people in your life who will speak the truth when you need to hear it in a loving manner? One of the critical mistakes we make as people is not listening to what we don’t want to hear. I am fortunate to be married to a wonderful wife who is very different from me. Now understand I do not initially take criticism or the truth well. I get a bit defensive and need time to process and evaluate what someone has told me. When I mess up I often know it, but need to reflect and learn from the mistake before I talk about it more. I must have not only my wife, but other people in my life to hold me accountable, help me see life from a different perspective and bounce ideas off of.

Organically I create this through who I seek out for advice. Do I seek out people who only tell me what I want to hear or who are at the same stage of life as me? I try and seek out individuals further along in the journey and can speak truth whether I want to hear it or not. Another way we can develop a strong inner circle are through intentional groups or individual relationships. Groups such as masterminds where people come together to interact over similar material and learn both from the material and one another or hiring a coach to help you think into your life and leadership.

So where are you at? Do the people in your life want to grow and reach their full potential or stay safe and comfortable? The type of people we allow closest to us will most impact the person we become so who do you want near you? Think of who you need to add and who you may need to limit in your life and make the necessary adjustments so you can grow your influence as a leader.