HOW TO COACH A WINNING TEAM

"Extraordinary achievements demand extraordinary leaders."

How To Become A Good Coach

If you want to become a good coach, it's not difficult. There are five things that you must do while coaching your team.

· Be Accessible
· Counsel
· Give Recognition
· Reprimand
· Discipline

Why You Must Be Accessible

It is a mistake to build a wall between yourself and those you lead. This does not mean that you must become "one of the boys" to the extent that you become overly familiar with them. What it means is that you are completely open with everyone. If there is a problem, or something to be said, you want it to get said. You don't have to agree with everything said to you or implement every suggestion. But your team should be able to speak to you freely and without fear of punishment.

A wall will prevent all but good news from getting through. That can hurt your leadership and your organization quite a bit and even cause catastrophic failure.

Fortunately, I had no walls with any of my people. They knew that I expected them to argue their causes as long as they believed in them and until I made a decision. But hadn't I just made my decision? Fortunately my team member thought not.

My engineer looked me in the eye and said, "Boss, if that's the way you want it, I'll sign off. But before I do I want you to remember that if I'm wrong, the cost is very little. However, if I'm right and these tests are wrong, we'll save a bundle. With that in mind and before you make your final decision, I want you to know that if we don't repeat these tests I must state emphatically that you're full of bananas." However, he didn't use the word bananas.

His determination caused me to rethink the problem. He was right. I was too eager to press on after so much previous time invested in trying to solve the problem. Since there was doubt in my engineer, it made sense to take the time to check it out.

We did and my project engineer was right. The tests were incorrect for several critical frequencies. Fortunately, we had actually solved the overall problem, and this minor problem was easy to correct.

I shudder to think what would have happened had I been the kind of leader who insisted on instant obedience without listening. We would have wasted forty thousand dollars or more in tooling costs, and a lot of wasted time before the error would have been discovered.

Probably more than half of the screw-ups made in any situation that ultimately cause a major problem are actually spotted by someone in the organization earlier. Either this individual was afraid to go to the responsible leader, couldn't get to the responsible leader, or the responsible leader wouldn't listen. The Watergate and Contra affairs as well as the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster all fall into this category. Some say that Ken Lay at Enron was really innocent. He really didn't know of the illegal and unethical behavior of several of his subordinates and thought his company was in great shape. One of his vice presidents testified to that effect. But every employee that knew what was going on was afraid to go to him for fear of punishment. Still, he was overall responsible as "team" leader. It cost him his company, and ultimately, his life.

As the team leader and coach, this doesn't mean that you must always take the advice offered, or that there aren't situations where there really is no time for discussion. It does mean that your subordinates shouldn't be afraid to make their feelings known to you in the strongest terms possible. It also means that there should be a clear channel to insure the you receive this message. Part of this has to do with your manner of dealing with those who report to you. If you accept no difference of opinion, you'll get none.

What do you think will happen if only those who agree with you get promoted in your organization? Let me tell you that it won't be long before everyone agrees with you. You may feel pretty good, but some of your best people will have long since left. When the times comes no one will be willing to tell you what may be disagreeable to you.

For this reason you must also frequently check on the procedures in force to allow people to see you. You will find that your staff will tend to protect you from those they consider to be timewasters or who would upset you. If you make an unthinking comment to your secretary that you don't want to see any more timewasters, you won't. The problem is, it will be your secretary's decision as to who is, and who is not, a timewaster. It should be yours.

Counsel Followers
Counseling means a one-on-one meeting. During this meeting, you can go over what your subordinate has done, good and bad, since the last counseling session. You can also discover what is bothering and what is pleasing the person you are counseling. Sometimes you can find out quite a bit in this way. Along with seeing and being seen, you can keep touch with the health of your organization this way. There are two important aspects to counseling which you should not ignore. The first is when to do it. The second is what to do in a counseling session.

When Should You Counsel?

Many organizations require that their managers counsel all employees periodically, usually once a year. A periodic counseling is fine. Both you and the individual being counseled knows that it is coming and can prepare for it. For followers or leaders that are reticent about face-to-face meetings, a periodic counseling insures that a meeting will take place. However, periodic counseling, while good, is insufficient.

In one of my early leadership experiences in industry, I hired an older man who was far more experienced than me. In many ways, he did a good job. However, one thing that he did drove me up a wall. When I assigned a task, I could not depend on him to complete it on my deadline without several reminders. Of course I reprimanded him. It did no good. He performed well in other ways. He did what I asked. He was not disrespectful. But I had to dun him to get him to complete a project when I wanted it. He could not be depended on to do a job on his own without this nudging. I hadn't the time to let him alone to "learn a lesson" from missing a deadline.

I intended to have a special counseling session with him about this problem, but it seemed that I was always too busy. I knew that after six months his initial performance review with a full counseling session would require me to speak to him in depth. Maybe the fact that he was much older and more experienced than me had something to do with it.

Than one day the date for his initial performance review arrived. Typically I would give a modest raise to an individual after six months if I was satisfied with his or her performance up to that point. Now I had a problem. In many ways, he was doing a good job. But to give him a salary increase when he still wasn't completing projects without reminders meant that I found his performance acceptable. I didn't.

I decided that due to this problem, I could not give him a raise. However, what I would do was to have a supplemental review after an additional ninety days. At the counseling session, I asked if I had been assigning too much work for him to do. He said that I had not. I explained why he would not be getting a raise and about the supplemental review. I suggested some methods that he might use to insure finishing a project without my reminders. He was surprised. He said that he expected me to remind him continually. According to him, this was the procedure used by his previous boss in his former company.

Whether his explanation was completely accurate or not is besides the point. What is relevant is that this employee effortlessly turned the situation around. After our counseling session, I could depend on his getting his work done on time, every time without me saying anything. He had no difficulty earning a raise at the supplemental review. In fact, I made his raise retroactive to the time of his initial review. I had no difficulties at all with him afterwards.

Here was a case in which I allowed the situation to fester unnecessarily for six months. I vowed that I would never let it happen again, and it never has.

When To Call A Special Counseling Session
In addition to a special counseling session called for by someone who works for you, you should call for a special counseling session whenever:
· Performance is lacking in some way.
· You want to get an opinion about something.
· You think you can help.
· You want to review a past action or project as a learning experience.
· You want to offer advise about the future.
· There is evidence of a problem of some sort.
· Any other reason you may have for communicating with someone you work for privately.

How Should You Structure A Counseling Session?

Some leaders think that they can easily ad-lib a counseling session. This is a mistake. Depending on its purpose, you should clearly lay out what you want to discuss, and what questions you want to ask before the session.

Of course, you should be ready to answer all questions in a straightforward manner. In addition, don't be afraid to ask questions yourself.

When Mayor Koch was running New York City went everywhere asking, "How am I doing?" He didn't always get a positive answer. But every answer provided him with important information about what he and his administration were doing right and wrong in running New York.

Questions You Should Ask During Counseling

Major General Perry recommends that a leader ask these questions during counseling:
· What aspects of this organization do you like the most?
· What areas around here bother you the most?
· What are your ideas for improving this organization?
· What policies, procedures, tactics, subordinate organizations, systems, etc. should we divest ourselves of and on what kind of a schedule (now, next year, five years from now, etc.)?
· In your judgment, who are the most innovative, helpful and cooperative people in this organization?
· What are your personal goals while you are in this organization?
· Where and to what job would you like to go next; why and when?
· What do you consider to be your most significant weaknesses?
· What self improvement programs do you have underway?
· What do you think your chances are for promotion to the next level, and in what time frame?
· What bothers you the most about my decisions and my leadership style?
· What three things cause you to waste your time the most?
· What are the goals that you have established for your organization?
· Please evaluate the performance of the organization, unit, or group that you led over the past six months. Please outline the high and low points of the period.

One successful leader I know follows the same counseling procedure every time he takes over a new organization. He asks, "What is it exactly that you do? What are your problems? How can I help you? What can I do to make your job easier?"

Why Counseling Sessions Are Important

Counseling sessions provide excellent opportunities for subordinates to talk to you off the record, yet in a meaningful way. Done right, you can find out quite a lot about people that you did not previously know. The biblical quotation, "Ask and you shall receive," is pretty good advice when it comes to counseling.

Your subordinates can talk to you about things that bother them, and you can put rumor and gossip to rest. It is a good opportunity for you and your followers to set goals and work toward performance. Take advantage of this aspect of leadership. Coach your team by good counseling.

Give Recognition
Never fail any opportunity to recognize good performance by someone in your organization. For one thing, it is the right thing to do. When someone does something right, they have earned your praise. Don't you believe that you should be recognized when you do a good job? Don't you feel that you have earned the recognition of others under these circumstances? Let me assure you that everyone else feels the same way. It is a tenant of human nature. In fact, recognition is one of the most powerful of human motivators.

This leader used every technique he could think of to give the widest praise and publicity to winners. He held special award ceremonies. He had pictures taken and sent to hometown newspapers. He wrote special letters of commendation and favorable communication. The awards may not have been very significant. But the recognition and local fame that accompanied them were considered pretty important. So much so, that you would have thought that each award was worth no less than a million dollars.

As an old Air Force manual on leadership said, "Make allies of human nature's tendencies. Don't "buck" them as enemies. This desire for success and recognition is one of your most valuable assets in leading."

The Pink Cadillac Lady On Recognition
Mary Kay Ash, that fabulous woman who build a $ 300 million dollar a year cosmetics company using outstanding leadership techniques says, "Because we recognize the need for people to be praised, we make a concentrated effort to give as much recognition as possible."

And so she did. Yes, Mary Kay gave away pink cadillacs, expensive fur coats, diamond jewelry, and many, many other tangible awards for top sales. But she did more. Mary Kay gave out ribbons worth pennies, got people on stage before hundreds of her peers to receive applause, sent out hand written notes of commendation, published three separate magazines (two monthly, one weekly) to recognize superior performers, and personally recognized and encouraged her people whenever and wherever she can.

Mary Kay felt that one of the strongest forms of recognition cost nothing at all. It is simply praise. Mary Kay believed that praise will help your people achieve success. She called this principle "praising people to success." Mary Kay knew that people respond to praise and recognition as to nothing else. And so at every sign of success, even a small one, she heaped on the praise.

"I believe that you should praise people whenever you can; it causes them to respond as a thirsty plant responds to water."

You shouldn't be surprised to learn that her concept is psychologically very sound.
Although Mary Kay passed away several years ago, some time after retiring from the chairmanship of her company, I'm sure her successors followed the path she had set.

Give Recognition As Soon As Possible
Yes, psychologists tell us that the concept of recognition is on target. But they also tell us something else. Famed behaviorist B.F. Skinner maintained that to get the maximum motivational mileage, you should praise as soon as possible after the praiseworthy behavior occurs.

However all too frequently, it’s another story. The problem is it becomes very bureaucratic, and too many people get involved with “protecting the integrity of the award.” What this really means is that by their thinking, no act is really good enough. So they bounce the recommendation back for lack of a comma, or something equally trivial. Eventually the fellow who made the recommendation moves on to another assignment, or maybe just gets frustrated after the paperwork gets bounced three or four times and gives up. I consider this criminal! In the military, I’ve personally been involved in helping people get awards that were earned several years previously. And you have probably read of instances where people are just now getting medals earned during World War II. When this happens, this usually has just the opposite effect on the individual and the organization.

As a leader, making sure people get the medals they earn expeditiously is one of your major responsibilities.

Reprimand When Necessary

A leader cannot always be a "good guy." Sometimes you must reprimand and discipline. If you fail to do so, the offense, whatever it is, will likely be repeated. In additional you will send a message throughout your entire organization that you do not care, that any performance or conduct is acceptable. And of course, if you do not care, you cannot expect others who would follow you to care.

General Patton advised immediate reprimand for every mistake. And when one of his men made a mistake, he let that man know it, instantly. Said General Patton, "I cannot kill a man in our combat training, but I can make every man wish to be dead rather than take the wrath of my anger.!"

It is interesting to note that Patton's advice is fully in tune with more modern thinking about reprimands. Kenneth Blanchard and Spencer Johnson advise in their best selling book, The One Minute Manager: "Reprimand people immediately. Tell people what they did wrong - be specific. Tell people how you feel about what they did wrong - and in no uncertain terms."

When You Must Reprimand, Do So At Once

Remember that a reprimand is criticism. So, as pointed out in an earlier chapter, you should reprimand in private. Sometimes your interview with intent to reprimand brings out causes that justify the actions taken by your subordinate. Then there is no need to reprimand at all, and you will know it immediately. Since you have had the reprimand interview in private, you will embarrass neither yourself nor anyone else.

If you are angry, tell the individual you are reprimanding that you are angry and why. It's okay to be angry. It is not okay to lose your self-control, however. A loss of control means loss of focus on your main objective in performing the reprimand.

When you reprimand, be certain to keep your mind focused on what you are trying to achieve. You do not want to leave him or her hurt, resentful, or frightened. What you do want is for the individual to have the desire to improve on his or her own. Mary Kay's technique of sandwiching the criticism between two compliments is one way to do this. Another way is to follow Blanchard and Johnsons' recommendations:
"Shake hands, or touch them in a way that lets them know you are honestly on their side. Remind them how much you value them. Reaffirm that you think well of them but not of their performance in this situation. Realize that when the reprimand is over, it's over."

Administering Discipline

Occasionally, the offense is more serious. You must administer some form of discipline. When you must administer discipline, do it. Don't delay. The longer you delay, the more difficult it will be for you and for the person who must be punished. In addition, a delay can increase the chances of the disciplining action being perceived as unfair.

Always take some form of corrective action when discipline is needed. If you are disciplining partially as a future deterrent, it is the certainty of the punishment which constitutes the main deterrent component, not the severity of it.

In 17th century England, the punishment for highway robbery was death. Today, the punishment for the same crime is several years imprisonment. However, there are proportionately far less robberies. The reason is that the likelihood of being caught and punished is far more certain today.

In the United States, the incidence of robberies is proportionately far higher. There may be many reasons for this. However, it is not because the punishment has been reduced. The penalty for robbery was never death in the United States. One reason for the proportionately higher number of robberies in the United States today is because the likelihood of being caught and punished is less likely than it was once.

One very important aspect of discipline is not to administer it, but to achieve and maintain it. The Latin root of "to discipline" is "to teach." The level of discipline is, as with the level of teaching, what you as a leader make of it. If you want the members of your group to respect their leaders, to respect themselves, and to always seek to perform to the highest standards, they must be taught to do so. This cannot be done instantaneously. You cannot be lax in enforcing performance and than suddenly come on like Attila the Hun.

George Washington said, "To bring men to a proper degree of subordination is not the work of a day, a month, or a year."

George Washington knew that to achieve high standards of discipline is a rough, tough, job that takes time to accomplish. What he did not say is that once discipline has been allowed to decay, it is ten times as hard for the old leader to rebuild it. This is why leaders that have failed to maintain high standards of discipline are frequently relieved of command in the military, or fired from their civilian positions. It takes a new leader to turn the organization around. A new leader can be a strong disciplinarian and rebuild the organization. The old leader frequently cannot do this.

What Can You Do If Discipline Isn't What It Should Be?

If discipline in your organization has been allowed to wane, what can you do? First, you can set the example for high standards. You can never expect those that follow you to maintain a high standard of discipline if you fail to do this yourself. Next, pick one area. Focus on that one area alone.

Let's say that your company has a policy that lunch breaks are limited to one hour. Over the years, this policy has become pretty sloppy. Not only are lunch breaks more than one hour, but most are in the neighborhood of one to two hours. If you are a new leader you can make many changes simultaneously. If you are not, you can't. So you're going to work this one problem first. List all of the reasons why the current action is unacceptable. Its cheating the company. Its unprofessional. Customers who can't get hold of you when they want aren't serviced properly. It gives the organization a poor image. It sets a poor example for hourly employees or younger managers, and so on. Decide on the punishment for failing to adhere to the company's rules. This can be docking of pay, working extra hours, right on up to firing. this is up to you. Just make sure that the punishment is fair and reasonable.Think through the whole situation. Are there any circumstances which will justify a longer lunch? How will this be handled? Are you being completely reasonable considering everything?

When you're fully prepared, call your team together and tell them the problem and the solution. Be ready to answer any questions. When you know what you are talking about, your group will realize that you are right and be willing to support you. In fact, you'll probably find that those who have stayed within the rules are very happy about your new policy. They may have felt cheated for years because they pulled more than their share of the load due to others taking extended lunches.

Six Ways To Coach Your Winning Team
1. Make coaching a way of life. Do it day in and day out.
2. Insure that you are accessible to those you lead.
3. Counsel those you lead periodically and when they need it.
4. Never let an opportunity to recognize someone for good performance go by without taking it.
5. Reprimand whenever you have to.
6. Maintain high standards of discipline.

Finally, for maximum effectiveness give recognition, reprimand, and discipline as soon as you determine one of these actions should be taken.