Coaching Technique

Coaching Your Team to Victory
By Manny Nowak

It doesn't matter if you are in sports, sales, marketing, operations or any other area, as managers you need to become coaches to your teams. Coaching is a major stop up from being a manager, to being a leader.
Gallup recently did an article in which it said "coaching is putting people in the right roles, setting clear expectations, and praising accomplishments". Is that what you are doing for your team or as the article goes on to say, "are you spending your time critiquing performance".

If I was coaching a sports team, this is exactly what I would do. For those of us who have coached teams it was very simple when we were coaching. In soccer for example, I find the right forwards, players that can score, the right mid fielders, those that can play both offense and defense, and the right defense, those that can protect ( and if you are me, the best players with the most speed). I then set and deliver the expectations to each group. Forward are expected to score and be the first line for defense. Mid-fields are to get the ball up front, to score and to be the second line of defense. Defenders are to stop the forward movement of the other team and send the ball back in the other direction. Then the final point, when the players do it right, I let them know it, I praise them, both individually and as a team.

Now, how about your sales organization and your sales team? Are you coaching them the same way as you would coach a sports team?
First I have to ask, do you find the right talent? The Gallup article went on to say that, "7 out of 10 people currently employed in sales don't have the talent to perform at a consistently high level. Average sales people produce average results". If I am building my soccer team, do I go out and find average talent, or do I look for the best? Do I put someone who is OK in there to play forward, or do I look for the person who can drop the ball in the goal?

When you build your sales team, you need to spend more time finding the right talent. Don't get so caught up in filling the position. Take a look at your super stars, what is it that makes them super stars, then go out and find the same type of people.

Once you find the talent, then you have to set the expectations. In fact, when I work with companies and help them find the talent, I always insist that they develop a list of expectations, review them and get the prospect to sign in blood. If I am coaching the soccer team, my defense knows I expect my goalie never to touch the ball. If the goalie has to stop the shot, the opponent has gotten through the entire team. When my forward shoots the ball, I expect that forward to shoot for the open part of the net, not at the goalie.

In sales, just as in soccer, once I find the right players, I set the expectations and the team performs, I then take time to praise the effort. Are you praising your players for delivering results, or are you critiquing their performance? Are you getting the results you expect, or are you settling for less.
Gallup also reported that, "65% of employees in America reported receiving no recognition at work in the past year". Take time to recognize your team's performance.