Copyright (c) 2008 Richard Nugent

“You cannot manage men into battle. You manage things; you lead people.” Grace Murray Hopper

This month’s tip may seem like a slight diversion from ‘psychology’ however I believe it is the number one issue that I see in coaches and managers in football today, at all levels!

I’m talking leadership.

There is an old saying that ‘if all you’ve got is a hammer then every problem is a nail’. It is becoming more and more frequent for me to see that many coaches, and again I’m talking at every level, only have hammers.

It’s going badly – lets blast the players. It’s going well – let’s blast them to bring them down to earth. They need to be more motivated – let’s blast them. I could go on and on.

I strongly believe that the missing piece for many of these coaches is an understanding of what it takes to lead people.

You can manage tactics, you can manage arrangements, you can manage coaching sessions but to perform at their best people must be led.

In their book “The Leadership Challenge” (ISBN 0-7879-5678-3) Jim Kouzes and Barry Posner introduce five practices that great leaders do to get the most from their people. These aren’t just ‘made up’; they are the practices that coaches and managers who get the very best from their teams do naturally.

These five practices are:

Modelling the Way, Inspiring a Shared Vision, Challenging the Process, Enable Others to Act and Encourage the Heart

I’m certain that if football coaches can raise their awareness, and do more of these, then their results will improve.

How Can You Become A Better Leader?

“You get the best effort from others not by lighting a fire beneath them, but by building a fire within.” Bob Nelson

We often invite clients to complete a questionnaire that helps them assess how well they ‘lead’. Here are some example questions that might help you to reflect on how well you do. Remember we firmly believe that these are applicable to any coach, of any age group, at any level.

When you make a promise to your players, do you keep it without fail?

Are you always first in and last out at training and on match days?

Do players know what is important to you? Do you walk the walk?

For example if you say that discipline is important, is your discipline excellent?

Does the squad know what your aims are for this year and for the next three years?

Did the squad have any input into these aims?

Do you talk about these aims with genuine enthusiasm? In training, are you innovative?

Do you try new methods, techniques and approaches? When things aren’t going well on or off the pitch, do you experiment rather than leaving things and ‘keeping your fingers crossed’?

Are you your own coach or manager, rather than simply doing things the way you were coached and managed?

Are you willing to let others input into your decisions?

When players disagree, are they able to discuss this with you (in the right way at the right time)?

Do you know what is important to your players?

Do you appeal to what is important to them in a positive way to get the most from them?

Do you encourage a ‘togetherness’ in your team?

If you can honestly answer ‘yes’ or ‘usually’ to most of these, then well done; you are in the minority. You’ve probably got a very successful team.

For the rest of you, maybe now is a good time for a change? The good news is most of these can be put right quite quickly (and of course we can help!) Spend some time doing the actions below and notice the difference in your players and results.

“The key to successful leadership today is influence, not authority.” Kenneth Blanchard

What to do now…

Answer the questions above… Think about what you can do to say ‘yes’ to more of them. If you are stuck for ideas, email me and I’ll help you.

Put a note in your diary to do the questionnaire again next preseason, it is a great time to start leading more. To learn more about who we are and what we can do to help improve the results and performances of your team visit http://www.successinfootball.com or ring (+44)7932 725113swarovski crystals wholesale

The results are alarming:    -          More than half the coaches had no mentor or access to a senior coach to support them. The coach’s role is critical. Few other professions have such an impact on the development of our future generations. Both young and older athletes look directly to their coach to role model the types of behaviors which create a successful contribution to our society. The fact is, a coach is a role model and an extremely influential and important leader.   In a study into Leadership in Australian businesses, it was found only 20% of Australian leaders were formally educated, compared with 63% in Germany and 85% in Japan and the United States. Only 50% of Australian leaders had been adequately prepared for a leadership role. The “average” leader spent roughly 7 days per year, or 3% of their time, involved in training for their development and future performance in their roles.   Based on the conference coach survey results, there is a significant gap in either leadership development opportunities for sports coaches, or there is little take up of what development opportunities do exist.     Bottom line is this, we expect our athletes to learn and develop and therefore we as coaches must also look for opportunities to do the same.    To view the full Coach Survey Results from the 2009 Evolution of the Athlete Conference covering leadership development, coaching mentors and how coaches get to know their new athletes, visit the website.   You can also access the full Coach Survey Results from the 2008 Evolution of the Athlete Conference covering what coaches’ biggest challenges are and what are the characteristics of a phenomenal coach, visit the website.   If you would like to comment on this article or have any questions, please contact us.   Bo Hanson is a four time Olympian and Triple Olympic Medalist. He is one of Australia’s most dynamic speakers on sport and business performance. He founded Athlete Assessments to assist coaches and athletes to improve their results through better understanding of themselves and others. He can be contacted through http://www.athleteassessments.com or bo.hanson@athleteassessments.comWP Robot Wordpress Autoposter

Everyone in America is looking for new and different ways to create income.  If you are one of those individuals and have a business management degree or experience in business management, there is a fantastic opportunity waiting for you.  That opportunity is working as a business coach.  With today’s struggling economy, once profitable businesses are losing money.  Unless help is sought and fast, those businesses may have to close their doors.  They need you! As nice as it is to hear that you can make money working as a business coach, you need more information.  Most importantly, you need to know what is expected of you.  What job responsibilities do business coaches have? Education. As a business coach, you are the expert.  You have schooling or experience that makes you qualified to run a business.  You know what works and what doesn’t.  Unfortunately, many home based business and small business owners did not think their plans through.  They realized they could make money and jumped in with both feet.  Action is good, but having knowledge and experience is even better. It is your job as a business coach to educate them on how to properly run a successful and profitable business.  To do this, dissect the key components of running a business.  These include leadership development, proper communication, teamwork, organization, resolving workplace conflict, sales, and marketing.  Those who started a business on a whim may not see the connection between these important components and profits.  You need to show them. Setting examples.  As a business coach, your job is to educate and teach a business owner how to run a successful and profitable business.  You are just like a sports coach, you teach the team plays to run.  Do not do the work yourself.  You can however, set examples and give continued instructions. For example, organization is key to business.  In the retail industry, an unorganized sales floor turns off customers.  They want to shop where it is easy to find what they need, easy to walk through the aisles, and so forth.  If your client’s retail store is unorganized and unclean, give team members a shopping cart and a list of items to pickup.  Let them see for themselves how hard it was to shop.  Then, give them a few suggestions, such as removing bulky displays from the middle of the aisle.  Run through one play yourself, but let the team do the rest of the work. Reviewing. You can educate your clients and show them ways to improve productivity, organization, marketing, and sales, but there are no guarantees.  As soon as you leave or end a training session, your client and their employees can revert to their old habits.  Include a review in with your fees.  Return a week or two after your training sessions.  Have things changed?  Did the company utilize your tips or did they return to normal habits? If you return to a client’s place of business and do not see improvements, don’t start the process again, especially for free.  Verbally repeat the important components of running a business and restate some of the tips you shared.  Before leaving, warn your former client about the dangerous path they are headed on.  Unless they offer to pay for your services again, your hands are tied, but at least you made an attempt. Summary As you can see, you will be wearing many hats.  If you ad some of the work that your clients many not have the expertise to do, you can do some of that yourself, or even potentially outsource it.  Keep in mind that you will need to package your services and explicitly spell out what your rates are for each specific request.  You will find business coaching lucrative, challenging, and rewarding. Chris W. Kilber is an avid supporter of small business in America. He is an entrepreneur, small business owner, small business coach, SEO expert, and a past systems engineer. His business works with individuals and business start-ups to establish and increase revenues using online and offline marketing methods. Chris specializes in small business coaching, marketing, and leadership. He blogs at http://smallbusinesscoaching.info and can be reached at 1-888-518-1776Wordpress Autoblogging Software

Introduction What’s the first thing that someone thinks of when you think of coaching? Yes, sports coaches are the most popular and widely thought of. They teach athletes to play and work together as a team, but the phrase coaching encompasses a world of opportunity. For example, there is business coaching. Do you know what a business coach is? If not, you should take the time to familiarize yourself. Why? It is a great opportunity and one that can translate into profits. What Is a Business Coach? A business coach is an individual who provides business owners support and encouragement. This support and encouragement gives them that extra push they need to see success. The most common users of business coaches are new small to medium sized business owners. These individuals usually have a passion and they want to profit from it. For example, a stay-at-home mother may enjoy making handmade quilts for her children. One day, it dawns on her that she can make custom order quilts to sell both locally and online for a profit. She has a good idea and a good product, but does not know where to start. This is where a business coach, which could be you, would provide assistance. A Business Coach’s Responsibility What do business coaches teach their clients? Anything and everything related to business. If the above mentioned mom wants to open a local quilt shop, you can show her the importance of location. A high-trafficked and easily seen storefront will automatically translate into more customers and sales. If she has yet to pick a location, help her make the right choice. As for an online shop, if she has yet to set that up, help her choose an affordable web hosting package, a good domain name, and encourage her to hire the services of a professional web designer. Some clients seek the advice and expertise of a business coach right from the start, but others wait until their new business shows signs of trouble. In these instances, business coaches educate their clients on marketing and sales. A stay-at-home mom selling her handmade quilts online is nice, but handmade products are widely available online. Just because she has a well-designed website, it does not mean that people will find it. Business coaches need to stress the importance of online and local marketing, as well as highlight a few examples for their clients. Is Business Coaching for You? In keeping with the example of a stay-at-home mom who wants to profit from her talent, most of these individuals want to be self-employed. They want to work for themselves and have no hired help. This does lower costs and increase profits, but many new small business owners make costly mistakes. One of those mistakes is taking on too much, too quick. Business coaches should also stress the importance of time management and show proper techniques. For example, the above mentioned quilt selling mom should have a waiting list and inform customers of a long wait, not stay up all night making quilts. One question that those interested in running a coaching business ask is about profits. Most clients are new business owners or business owners who aren’t seeing profits. How can these individuals pay for a business coach? Honestly, some cannot, but many can. Summary Business owners need to look at it from the standpoint of a wise investment and you must do the same. For a small to medium sized business that is barely staying afloat, a professional business coach may be its last hope. For that reason, you will always find clients willing to pay for your service. With that said, fair rates and flexible payment plans cannot hurt. Coaching certainly involves more than just teaching an athlete to beat the competition; it encompasses many things. If you have a business management degree or prior experience running a small to medium sized business, take your degree and experience and turn it into a profitable career. Become a business coach. Chris W. Kilber is an avid supporter of small business in America. He is an entrepreneur, small business owner, small business coach, SEO expert, and a past systems engineer. His business works with individuals and business start-ups to establish and increase revenues using online and offline marketing methods. Chris specializes in small business coaching, marketing, and leadership. His website is at http://www.ChrisKilber.com and can be reached at 1-888-518-1776Give Aways

Review
Harvey Dorfman’s books, from the Mental Game of Baseball to those on approaches to both hitting and pitching, have been — Peter Gammons in ESPN.com
–This text refers to the

Hardcover
edition.

Coaching the Mental Game is a bible for coaches who strive to make their athletes the most complete performers possible. Not only a wonderful asset to athletic coaches, this book is a motivational resource for workers in all industries as well as in the game of life.

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