10 Principles for Coaching Your Players to Success
Impatient leaders rely on power and authority to get things done.
Persistent application of power and authority drains energy from those in it’s wake.
Coaching leaders share power.
10 principles for coaching your players to success
#1 Align:
Shared purpose creates alignment.
Create a “we’re pulling together” environment.
Two people pulling in the same direction achieve greater success than two people pulling against each other.
Ask, “Why is that important to you,” until shared purposes rise up.
#2 Don’t fix:
People resent being fixed.
Fixers:
- Know it all.
- Emote arrogance.
- Impose themselves on others.
- Make people feel rejected.
- Focus compulsively on the weaknesses of others.
- Judge others through the eyes of their strengths.
- Feel frustrated when things don’t go their way.
- Take the credit. “I told you.”
- Create helplessness. The more you do for others, the more helpless they become.
- Drain energy. People find energy when they do what they want to do not what you pressure them to do.
Bonus: Fixers feel like solutions are easy if you just do it their way.
#3. Ask.
Follow curiosity about the purpose, passion, strengths, and goals of others.
#4. Focus on observable behaviors.
#5. Find an “imperfect” path forward.
Don’t waste time finding the perfect path. Adapt as you go.
Wisdom emerges when you get busy.
#6. Practice.
New behaviors feel like new shoes.
Help people test new behaviors in safe environments where results matter less and failure is a learning experience.
#7. Agree on timelines.
When will you step forward?
#8. Evaluate.
Establish a follow-up meeting to evaluate results.
#9. Learn and adapt.
- Explore what worked and what failed.
- Don’t pour more energy into strategies that didn’t work.
- Repeat behaviors that worked.
- Adapt behaviors that produced poor results.
#10. Celebrate.
There’s more energy in a pat on the back than a kick in the pants.
What principles help leaders coach their players to success?
What prevents leaders from successfully coaching their players?
Cooperation helps leaders to success, when all the individuals are on board with the plan things tend to go well. When individuals decide to modify the plan without communicating their intentions, tend to be a recipe for disaster. So Cooperate, listen and pay attention, take pride in your tasks, and do the best you can do every time.
Thanks Tim. I’ve heard that called sideways energy. It doesn’t take much sideways energy to really slow things down.
I like point # 5 … “Find an imperfect path forward”. Is there ever a perfect path? If you wait for the “perfect” path you’ll be waiting a long time. Roll with the punches and look for alternate ways to move forward. Look at failures as lessons for future success.
Thanks Michael. Even though there is NO perfect path forward, we spend a lot of time trying find it. 🙂
Dear Dan,
Your suggestions are great. Align, evaluate, celebrate, practice and ask are very important, and are inseparable. I also agree that leaders should focus on behavior that help success. I would like to add two concepts here- mission and morale.
Leaders should focus on mission. They should always see big picture. They should show others the big picture. This is very helpful step in aligning players to succeed. They should feel, realize and visualize their mission. They should feel that they have mission. Second step is to boost the morale of players. Leaders should do all possible things, to boost morale. And unfortunately in absence of effort enhancing morale prevents from success.
Leaders should create a positive feelings about their effort, intention and will. They should feel that they see their mission, and they will achieve it.
In case, they get setbacks temporarily, they should still have confidence to maximize their efforts. Leaders should create belief in them. Once they feel, they are important, they can achieve even difficult missions.
Thanks Dr. Gupta. Your last sentence says it all. Make people feel important if you expect them to do important things.
I would add a point Dan. One of my best managers always thought that it was important to coach, mentor, and teach her people to replace her. That was everyone was always developing and their capacity for doing more was always increased. And, we loved her for it!!
Thanks John. Real success is training/enabling your replacement. It takes courage, skill, and a servant’s attitude to engage lift others. Cheers
Shared purpose IS the heart of aligned goals. The foundation for that, I find, consists of our shared values. If we are clear on that, we can trust taking the “imperfect path forward.” Another candidate for the Rock Wall, Dan. Thanks and best regards.
Thanks Steven. It’s great that you point us to the roots of behavior, values. Your kind words are truly appreciated.
Most of the time this goes wrong at stage 1: managers (as opposed to leaders) cannot create the feeling of genuine joint involvement. They will tell their subordinates “we are all in this together” when they have more, different and better options. They believe it’s obvious why it’s important (because they say it is!) and don’t care about inspiration and buy-in.
These sort of managers see coaching as an unnecessary diversion: you wouldn’t coach a computer, a vehicle or a hammer, so why should you have to do it with other assets, like people?
Thanks Mitch. You remind me of a famous Wooden quote, “Go slow to go fast.” Some people don’t appreciate the value of investing in building a foundation so that progress accelerates.
Hi Dan,
Great post.
I would say that shared purpose is at the heart of leadership. Shared purpose needs to be a created future which the leader and the led can relate to , a future which addresses the concerns of both sides. A future allows all concerned to be and act in the present in a manner that the future is achieved.
Shakti
Excellent and sage advice
in a nutshell teamwork has no leader
Hands down its always about collegial collaboration!!
To ask the right question is so fundamental for successful coaching