This week the clip chosen because of its potential interest to coaches is on the subject of teams from TED2018.
How to turn a group of strangers into a team | Amy Edmondson
Clip length: 13 mins 07 secs
Prefer to watch via YouTube? In that case you’ll need to click here.
When you set up your own coaching business and become “your own boss” there’s lots of ways you can organise your time and business. In today’s guest post coach Jaynine Howard shares one aspect of how she organises one day a week …
Friday – oh how that word can invoke a series of fleeting emotions ranging from dread to delight.
I have coined the phrase Finish It Up Friday as a way to make a mindset shift from dread to delight. It is the day to sleep in an extra hour. It is the day to enjoy that first cup of morning coffee knowing there are no real deadlines for the day. There is no better way to start a Friday than listening to the birds chirping, reading morning inspiration, and enjoying that first cup of coffee.
I and my team work long arduous hours Monday through Thursday. We do not prescribe to a normal 8 hour day. My day is typically starting by 5 or 6 am and ends around 10 or 11pm. My team works diligently providing fabulous services and meeting deadlines so that I meet my deadlines so my clients meet theirs. Much of what my team does for me is often not seen by others. They are busy researching and gathering statistics for my clients or for whatever program I am currently working on. They are busy writing media releases, preparing marketing materials, proofreading and taking care of the invoicing.
Just as many of us observe Sunday as a day of rest I and my team observe Friday as a day of rest. Adopting a casual Friday allows me and my team to recharge our batteries. When we have a fresh brain we are more creative. Also, since they know that I do not expect them to be available on Friday they know they can schedule personal appointments and plan their time off accordingly without fear that there will be work that needs to be completed.
Not much quality work gets completed when you or your employees are mentally exhausted. Using Friday to follow up with clients, finish up a few tasks or projects, and plan for the following week is a great way to unwind and prepare to enjoy the weekend. I am usually only at my desk a few hours on Friday morning taking care of loose ends. Making time to review my week and self-reflect on what went surprisingly well and what was a bit off provides me growth opportunities. I learn from the lessons of the week.
Designing a plan for the upcoming week has shown to increase productivity and increase income. Taking time to plan the tasks I will delegate, prepare for client sessions, and set aside time for writing also reduces the stress that would normally be felt if I had not planned to enjoy a successful week. I have learned when planning what I will delegate I must set up my emails to my team so they do not post until Monday morning because they are so very dedicated they will work on the tasks over the weekend regardless of the due dates.
Finish It Up Friday is a great way to self-reflect on your week, finish up projects or tasks that didn’t get completed, and prepare for the new upcoming week. Know your energy level and planning for self-care is key to success. I encourage you adopt a Finish It Up Friday and allow your employees extra time off. They will reward you with continued hard work, an increase in productivity and creativity as well as loyalty.
Coach Jaynine is the owner of Dream Catcher Business and Career Coaching. Jaynine uses the knowledge and skills she acquired during her 20 year career in the United States Marine Corps, working as a Psychologist in a locked mental health hospital, and being an entrepreneur to help medical and mental health professionals, small business owners, and medical spa owners grow their businesses by teaching them her five step process for attracting their ideal clients and turning them into paying clients. You can learn more about her signature program and download her free ecourse My Five Steps to Networking Success by visiting http://coachjaynine.com/
Article Source: Finish It Up Friday: Why I Don’t Require My Team to Work on Friday
EzineArticles Expert Page: Jaynine Howard
“The secret is to work less as individuals and more as a team. As a coach, I play not my eleven best, but my best eleven.”
(Knute Rockne)
“The way a team plays as a whole determines its success. You may have the greatest bunch of individual stars in the world, but if they don’t play together, the club won’t be worth a dime.”
(Babe Ruth)
This weeks guest post is an extract from Ben Morton’s new book, “The Little Book of Coaching Success” which is written for managers who believe in developing the people in the teams that they lead.
by Ben Morton
“Leadership is the simplest thing in the world because
it’s just plain you”
(Field Marshall The Viscount Slim)
Whilst I absolutely believe that coaching and leadership are not about you as an individual, I do believe that they both start with you.
As a leader, our role is to inspire and motivate those around us. As a coach our role is to quieten our own thinking so that we can give all of our attention to supporting those we are coaching. In either role, leader or coach, we are there to serve those with whom we have the privilege and pleasure to work with.
By looking after ourselves (Me) and managing our own ‘state’, we can look after and support our teams or coachee’s (Us) so that they can get on and do the ‘doing’, delivering the objectives (The Results) for the business.
I have introduced this model, or variations of it, in hundreds of training workshops and to numerous coaching clients. In every one of these I have asked the participants to think about a typical day or week and estimate the amount of time that they allocate to each of the three elements. The results are always the same. The vast majority of managers spend around 70-80% of their time doing the doing themselves. Sometimes this is even as high as 90 – 95%. At best this leaves between 20-30% of their time to invest in themselves or their teams, which I’d suggest is far too little.
The ideal situation is to hold the three parts, on average, in balance. By managing your time and allocating it between the three elements you are able to hit the sweet spot of leading and coaching.
This equal split of 33.3% of your time being allocated to you, your team and the results is of course somewhat unrealistic. There will be times when the demands of a specific project mean that you need to place a lot more focus on the results yourself – and that is absolutely fine. That is the correct thing to do in those circumstances. But, when the work has been delivered or the pressure eases then it is time to redress the balance. You most likely will need to focus on supporting your team again. You will probably also need to focus on yourself and re-charging the batteries.
Consider this familiar situation. It’s mid-December and you have been under a lot of pressure at work due to a number of major projects that you need to deliver. You’ve not had any time off work, other than weekends, since August when you took a one-week holiday in the sun. Your partner wanted you to take two weeks off but you said that you were just too busy at work- you really could only take one week. The cumulative effect of this pressure and lack of time off is a build up of cortisol, the stress hormone, in your body. Cortisol’s prime purpose is to prepare the human body for action – it controls our fight of flight response and makes us super alert. In order to do this it ‘turns off’ what it considers to be non-vital bodily processes or functions. One of these is our immune system. We are not designed to have large quantities of cortisol pumping through our veins for protracted periods of time. So, the effect of that pressure at work is a continual drip, drip, drip of cortisol into our body suppressing our immune system. Christmas comes and your body shuts down – you suddenly have the flu, a cold or a sore throat. Why does this always happen you ask yourself? It’s because you have not got the balance right.
The first step in getting off the treadmill therefore has to be about getting really clear on where you currently invest your time and then looking to redress the balance. In doing this we start to take back some time, take back control enabling us to think, lead and coach our people to the best of our ability.
The Little Book of Coaching Success has been written for managers who believe in developing the people in the teams that they lead. Ultimately, it is a book designed to accelerate their development as a line manager coach.
It provides insights into what prevents line managers being great coaches and practical advice into how to overcome these obstacles. It makes sure that coaches, who are at the very beginning of their experience, are comfortable with GROW, but then offers guidance and challenge into how to move beyond the relatively simplistic basics and develop their own coaching style. Whether you are a beginner as a line manager coach, or one who is looking to enhance their skills, you will at the very least find some useful hints and tips within its pages.
The book is available to buy here:
Ben is a Chartered Member of the CIPD with approaching two decades of experience in leadership, learning and management. His broad range of experience is gained from roles including Group Head of HR and Training for a global subsidiary of TUI Travel and more recently 2-years in the Global Training Academy at Tesco.
He began his career in the British and trained at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst. Following two operational tours of Iraq, Ben retired his commission as a Captain leaving the Forces in 2006.
Ben specializes in two key areas. Helping individuals moving into their first leadership role or those whose careers have progressed rapidly, finding themselves leading large and often very experienced teams. Secondly, he works with clients to enable them to understand what is required to develop high performing, highly effective teams.
You can find out more about Ben’s work via his blog, Unlocking Team Potential, or via his LinkedIn profile.
With 20 years sports coaching experience DeAngelo Wiser specialises in leadership. In today’s guest post, which can be easily transposed into other team contexts, Coach Wiser shares some of his experience and knowledge of working with teams.
by DeAngelo Wiser
Wiser Sports Leadership
There’s nothing like coaching a team for the first time, whether it’s your very first job, or if you’ve been around awhile and are just taking over another team. How will you gain trust and convince them you have their best interests at heart? Why should they believe you’re different from, better than, or as good as the last coach or coaches they’ve dealt with?
Parents and players in the audience don’t care if your record is 300-0, you’ve coached 100 All-Americans and won 7 National Titles. A successful past will certainly open many doors and extend your grace period of renewed hope for the program. But these parents and players are mainly concerned with what you can do for them.
That’s why one of the keys to getting off to a great start is to gear your comments toward them, not your accomplishments.
Certainly, each situation is different. But a team that’s had two or three coaches in a short span of time often is among the most challenging ones you could face. They will be callused to most of what you’re saying–they’ve heard the speech before and have become skeptical. Can you blame them? It becomes paramount that everything you say can be translated into immediate, concrete actions that are visible to the team.
1. ACTIONS– Everyone associated with the team will hear 50% of what you say, but will be watching 100% of the time to see if your actions are true to your words. If you know you can’t deliver something, don’t say you’ll do it.
2. CREDIBILITY– Are you a coach of your word? Let players know as soon as possible if they aren’t the right fit for your system, and or you don’t see them playing much. Often upperclassmen from the previous year will still be on the team because the previous coach didn’t want to make the decision to let them go. Never think that players will “get the message” and leave on their own. Be strong and let them know before it gets out of hand. Disgruntled players can destroy your team.
3. HONESTY– If you make a mistake, admit it. If you see something that isn’t right, take care of it. Players need to know you’ll stand up for them and make the right decision based on expectations and values, not favorites.
4. PROMISES– This word should be used in a very meaningful way. Promises broken or never addressed will destroy your relationship with players and parents. A promise is an assurance that an expectation will be met.
5. VISION– Lay out your vision for the team, and begin work on it immediately. Mention it every day in how it relates to specifics in practice and games. The passion for that vision will spread to your players and continue to grow.
6. WORK ETHIC– Be a fireball of energy, passion and enthusiasm working at every chance. Be an example for your team and they will follow. Always outwork your team, and never have them do something you are unwilling to do.
7. CONSISTENCY– Never waiver in any decision with respect to expectations and discipline. Always be consistent. Players need to know you mean what you say. You can never make everyone happy, but you can base decisions on sound principles.
8. COMMUNITY PROJECTS– Get your team involved in important community projects. The chance to help others shows them life is more than a game.
The sense of accomplishment of helping others as a team is a feeling that cannot be matched.
9. INDIVIDUAL MEETINGS– Nothing means more to a player than having a coach who is willing to sit down, listen and meet with them on an individual basis. This is a wonderful time to discuss individual goals, and how you can help them become a reality.
10.TEAM BUILDING– Take the time to use any and all team building activities to bring your team together. If possible, take them on a ropes course. These are wonderful activities that challenge their decision making, leadership, teamwork and physical ability. If they’ve had several coaches they need that bond to tie them all together.
11. TEACH, TEACH, TEACH– At every opportunity teach your players goal setting, work ethic, expectations, motivation, personal discipline, nutrition, skills, tactical awareness, character, integrity, values, teamwork, leadership, respect, courtesy, humility, unselfishness, etc. You have a unique situation with a wonderful audience. Take advantage to make a difference in their lives.
It takes time for players from a team of many coaches to trust anything you say. There are no quick, “fast food” fixes. Don’t rush it. Remember that every day is a building block for you to prove that you have their best interests at heart and that you’ll do anything possible to help them be successful.
The beginning is always the most challenging. Selfish words from certain parents, an attitude from certain players, and the lack of skills and knowledge that you’re used to can be overwhelming. That’s when your true color will shine through.
This team needs you. Never doubt that this is the place you need to be and the joy of building this program will be one of the most rewarding aspects of your career. Anyone can coach a team of all-stars. The biggest challenge is to get them to play together. Show me a coach who can build a team from nothing, get them to believe in each other and accept their roles, and I’ll show you a coach of the year.
There’s a TV show that uses the phrase, “You are being watched every hour of every day.” It’s an appropriate phrase as you begin that new coaching job. While you can’t dwell on it, just keep in mind that your actions not your words will carry more impact with your players than anything else.
I wish you and your team the best in 2014.
Founder, Wiser Sports Leadership:
Experience in Coaching, Business and Teaching clearly give us the edge in assisting you, your team, and or business achieve their goals. We deal in what works, not theories.
Our leadership program for coaches, players, teams, organizations and business is based on five main principles as the foundation of success:
Character and Integrity as the cornerstones, with Optimism/Positive Outlook, Enthusiasm/Passion, and Confidence solidly placed between Character and Integrity. http://wisersportsleadership.blogspot.com/2013/07/laying-foundation-for-leadership.html
“Character and Integrity are worn everyday, regardless of the weather.”
“Leadership never rests”
“Lead with a passion”
Former Head Coach, High School Girls Soccer
20 years, 223 victories, currently ranked 4th all-time in state of KY, coached in 357 games.
4 State Playoff Elite Eights, 4 Regional Championships, 7 District Championships, 2 Regional Runner-ups
Kentucky High School Girls Coach of the Year
Kentucky Soccer Officials Sportsmanship Team of the Year
Owe it all to God, Wonderful Wife, Outstanding Players, and dedicated Assistant Coaches
35 players earned scholarships to collegiate level
Founder, Five Star Soccer Camps
Member NSCAA since 1994
National and Advanced National Diploma, NSCAA
Team Building, Motivation, Life Lessons and Bringing Teams Together are my passion!!
Compiling material for my book, “Coaching the Coach”
https://www.facebook.com/WiserSportsLeadership
http://wisersportsleadership.blogspot.com/
Twitter @coachwiser
co********@***il.com
This weeks guest post is an extract from Ben Morton’s new book, “The Little Book of Coaching Success” which is written for managers who believe in developing the people in the teams that they lead.
By Ben Morton
“Great leaders understand that every team member
is unique and every team member adds value.”
Ben Morton
I believe that there is a clear, close and incredibly significant linkage between coaching and leadership. To be a great leader you need to understand how to get the very best levels of performance from your people. To get the very best from your people, you need to know how best to support them, how to coach them.
I also believe that leadership and coaching has never been more important to the success of teams and organisations than it is now. The leadership capability of any team or organisation directly shapes its culture, how innovative its products and services are and the experience its customers have. This direct line between the ability of the organisation’s management community to lead, inspire and develop their people is why coaching is now so crucial.
Year on year we see more and more surveys that report the most common reasons why people choose to leave an organisation. One of the most common reasons that consistently appears in these findings is that people leave due to poor management, leadership or a lack of development. How many times have you read or heard this quote?
“People don’t leave bad organisations,
they leave bad managers.”
If there was ever a compelling reason to invest time, energy and resources into developing our ability to support our people then surely this is it. For me, the most effective way for any company to reduce its recruitment costs is to invest money in developing the leadership capability of its managers. It’s a simple formula. Better management equals lower staff turnover, equals lower recruitment costs.
That may be a compelling business case for the organisation but I often hear managers ask what’s in it for them. The answer is a very similar formula to that I described above. Better management equals lower staff turnover, equals less time recruiting and getting new recruits up to speed. It also equals more engaged staff who are willing and able to successfully take on more challenging projects. Ultimately, for you as a manager, the outcome is leading a team that’s a pleasure to lead because your people are motivated and successful.
Coaching is happening more and more in organisations today and recent research from the Chartered Institute of Personal and Development shows that:
So, for you as a manager this is really saying that coaching your people is one of the most effective things you can do to develop your people. It’s also saying that if your organisations isn’t already using coaching to improve the business then the chances are that they soon will. Finally, it’s telling you that there are lots of managers and leaders out there who don’t yet have the skills to effectively coach their people. So this is your opportunity to be one of minority that does.
With this background in mind, I think that it’s useful to begin by exploring, just briefly, a few definitions of exactly what we mean when we talk about management, leadership and coaching.
The word Management has Anglo-Saxon or Norse roots originating from the word ‘Manus’, meaning by hand. It is therefore about managing productivity, tasks or resources. For me, management is more about “telling and doing” and less about “showing and inspiring”.
Leadership on the other hand has Latin roots meaning ‘path’ or ‘journey’. It’s about looking forwards; it’s about creating a vision of where you are heading and how things will be in the future. The best leaders have the ability to align people to that vision whilst motivating them to work passionately and relentlessly towards its fulfillment.
Coaching is about helping your employees become more effective, it’s about improving their performance and it’s about solutions. In this respect coaching is also about the future and their development journey. At its most fundamental level, coaching is about supporting and involving them in the process and investing your time in their development.
Having looked at the definitions we can start to see some similarities and parallels between leadership and coaching. Both are about the future, they are solutions focused, about making things better and moving forwards.
In adopting a management style that embraces coaching, you are becoming a leader. In other words you are helping your people to see their future, to realize their potential and to be inspired by what is possible.
The Little Book of Coaching Success has been written for managers who believe in developing the people in the teams that they lead. Ultimately, it is a book designed to accelerate their development as a line manager coach.
It provides insights into what prevents line managers being great coaches and practical advice into how to overcome these obstacles. It makes sure that coaches, who are at the very beginning of their experience, are comfortable with GROW, but then offers guidance and challenge into how to move beyond the relatively simplistic basics and develop their own coaching style. Whether you are a beginner as a line manager coach, or one who is looking to enhance their skills, you will at the very least find some useful hints and tips within its pages.
The book is available to buy here:
Ben is a Chartered Member of the CIPD with approaching two decades of experience in leadership, learning and management. His broad range of experience is gained from roles including Group Head of HR and Training for a global subsidiary of TUI Travel and more recently 2-years in the Global Training Academy at Tesco.
He began his career in the British and trained at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst. Following two operational tours of Iraq, Ben retired his commission as a Captain leaving the Forces in 2006.
Ben specializes in two key areas. Helping individuals moving into their first leadership role or those whose careers have progressed rapidly, finding themselves leading large and often very experienced teams. Secondly, he works with clients to enable them to understand what is required to develop high performing, highly effective teams.
You can find out more about Ben’s work via his blog, Unlocking Team Potential, or via his LinkedIn profile.
In today’s guest post coach former basketball coach James White shares a little of his approach to working with teams:
By James White
“Treat others how you want to be treated.” This age-old adage applies just about everywhere—including the workplace. And, it turns out, is also a great way to build confidence in your employees and players. Read on to find out to install confidence in the faint-of-heart.
Everyone wants to feel valued. Many people who lack confidence became that way because their ideas were rejected and went unnoticed to the point where they have given up.
When you see your team members, how do you greet them? A smile, a nod, or a wave may suffice when you’re running on an extremely tight schedule, but, otherwise, you should say hello to everyone you pass; you should also be sure to address each person by his or her name to make them feel known and appreciated.
Beyond that, though, it’s extremely important to always listen to—and remember—what your team members say to you. This is because listening intently shows that you care and value the person who is talking. Encourage discussion and for people to share their ideas in a “safe place” where they won’t be judged. Feeling valued will, in turn, make those around you feel more confident in their position, so be sure to listen up next time a player has a suggestion for a play tactic in your next huddle.
It’s not just acknowledgment that makes your employees or players feel confident. Regular expressions of your appreciation will only build your team’s sense of self-esteem. For example, if you’re trying to build your own level of self-esteem, some studies suggest looking at yourself in the mirror and smiling each day. This is because the facial expressions that you see can encourage your brain to register and emit specific emotions. The same goes for your team members. When you tell them that their work has been really good and you appreciate them going above and beyond, they see the smile on your face and automatically feel a boost. So create a habit to always smile at your team members. Of course, by telling someone that they did a great job you are also telling them that they’re a valued part of your team. And, as previously stated, feeling valued equates to feeling self-assured.
The best part is that if you kick-start a “thank you” culture in your office or on your team, it will eventually trickle down. Once everyone starts thanking each other for jobs well done, everyone’s self-confidence level will increase, thanks to you! (Do you feel more confident after being thanked?)
Human beings inherently seek the acceptance of others. Whether you realize it or not, you’ve gone out of your way to make others like you since a very, very young age. Now that you’re aware of approval’s importance, you can use it as a tool to make your team members feel great about themselves.
One effective way of building self-confidence in others is to show them your approval each time they complete a project or task in just the right way. In fact, using approval to boost self-confidence can be an effective tool for tweaking your employees’ or players’ behaviors to match your ultimate goals for the team. More importantly, though, they’ll so benefit from your approval that they’ll start to do what it takes in order to receive it. To that end, another powerful time to show your support of someone is in front of the entire team. Like the first application, this one typically inspires employees to try and replicate their behavior in order to maintain their social position. It might also enable them to pursue goals with self-assurance, and what’s more important than that?
James White coached basketball for 3 years and is currently working on his business degree. Connect with James on Twitter at @JGtheSavage or read more articles from him on his personal blog Info Bros.