By Ryan Ginster
Being a neighborhood team coach can be the worst nightmare for some people. Staring as a team of seven year old soccer kids, watching them kick the ball around with no sense of direction or team-play can push your pateience and even sanity. It might even seem strange at first to be looked upon as a coach, knowing that however hard you try to influence your players, ultimately you are not the one playing on the field.
Even in the corporate world, lessons learnt from coaching still remain relevant. The handlers, front-liners and even benchwarmers in your company are all bidding their time to perform, eager to impress you, the coach. Like sports, some corporate players are MVP matieral, some are simply to support your star players while the unfortunate some, are capable of nothing more than benchwarmers. However, everyone wants to be in the spotlight, to get a pat on the back and the coach's praise. It is often difficult to accept that the star players are always in the limelight while you are sitting back on the bench. This is the same in the corporate world.
However, a wise man once said, determination is that which makes a coach. This article outlines 7 steps to becoming a successful coach in the corporate world.
1. The new buzz-word lately is the concept of "corporate team building". There are many ways to go about this: vacation packages, rope courses, in-office games, ice-breakers and many others. Management may also choose to purchase videos, books and seminar packages to aid them in consolidating their organization into a well-forged team. Such tools are widely available online and form the most common method to begin coaching. However, it is by far not the only method.
2. Motivation works magic. A coach must be practical in looking for ways to motivate your team. Be it speeches, rewards or even the hair-dryer treatment, a motivated team works better than one that is disillusioned.
3. Experience is more valuable than education. Knowing the theory of stirring up energy in your team is one thing. Being able to lead your team correctly, bringing forth their creative energy in practice is another. Mixing up the energetic side of your team can work wonders even when working on the smallest of projects.
4. Questioning a person's performance is often required as a coach, however, never allow things to get personal and begin to question his or her knowledge or intelligence. Players are often put under immense stress and expectation to succeed, personal attacks will only lead to further aggravation and hostility between the player and the coach. Often, coaches need to experience first hand what the players are going through in order to set a better course for improvement.
5. Benching a player is often a difficult choice especially for the coach. Even more so when you need to bench your top performer. However, sometimes it might be necessary to do so in order to keep egos in check. Egoism breaks the team apart and makes them lose their focus even on the most mundane of tasks. Being firm yet understanding about this can often help solve bruised egos.
6. Never allow yourself to be blinded by your position. A coach has to guide his players even if he can understand their actions. It is infinitely better to give them good advice for their own benefit rather than letting them realize it for themselves.
7. Lastly, be confident in your decisions and your team. While performance is what your team is striving for, it is important to consider the human factor also. Before benching your player, have a chat with him to see if there are any areas of improvement. Encouraging your players helps keep morale high in the team, and this in turn allows you to have the confidence in your team's performance.
Being a coach is a tough job, yet seeing your company succeed can be one of the most rewarding experiences in the corporate world. Coaches are not there as disciplinarians or teachers, they are there to guide each player to perform at their best. Being a coach is like being a parent, watching your team succeed, not only makes you proud but also makes your team proud of you.
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