Coaching and Leadership

When you are a parent, you spend so much time coaching . . . coaching the right way to eat with utensils, coaching how to play a particular game, coaching on how to improve playing a particular sport, coaching how to read, coaching on math problems . . . You are a coach, whether you realize it or not.

I was coaching my youngest son who is playing flag football (American style), it is a great feeling to see someone following your direction (i.e., coaching) and being successful, and seeing the wonderful sense of accomplish that was on his face . . . priceless moment. Coaches get more satisfaction in realizing they had an impact in growing someone; leadership is the same. The best leaders receive more satisfaction from the team and seeing improvement in team members from their involvement.

One of the important duties of a leader is coaching. Someone once said “Coaching isn’t an addition to a leader’s job, it’s an integral part of it”. However, I bet you leaders don’t necessarily think you are coaching, but you are . . . and sometimes in ways you might not know, how you act in meetings, how you organize yourself, whether you show up to meetings on time, players look up to coaches (leaders) for guidance, so realize that you are a Coach, so for now on . . . my title is Coach and yours should be as well.

Here are some suggestion to Coach others:

1. Conduct regular one-on-one meetings

2. Offer feedback and ask how you can contribute to their success

3. Avoid overlooking the “middle stars” as there is much upside to coaching these up and comers (we sometimes focus too much on the “super stars” and the “fallen stars”

4. Research Coaching techniques, there is lots of information out there and apply what you feel is your style of coaching (if you look at various coaches, they all have different styles, what is your coaching style? Is it the same for everyone? What is the best style for your group?)

Have you known and seen Bad Coaches . . . I have and they don't end up on a winning team! So, take coaching seriously and begin to improve all and the overall team!

Best of luck and may you Coach a successful winning team!