What can the workplace learn from a successful sports coach?
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I WAS an amateur golfer hitting poor tee shots. Fast-forward many years
Over the years I have practised relentlessly to improve my swing and have constantly pushed myself hard to excel. I believed I was quite good, but I really wanted to be great.
For that to happen, I realised I needed a good coach to enable me to take the next step – not to competitive tour-type greatness, but rather to consistency, predictability and continuous improvement.
The coach that I had initially sought out very quickly disqualified himself – all because he took on the role of a micromanager and gave me 23 things on the first day to work on. All I could remember was his voice that kept echoing in my ears every time I hit the ball.
A coach should be more like a mentor who provides “big picture” advice and counsel on what goals we want to achieve together.
It is actually the coachee who should determine what he wants to improve and sets an achievable goal.
Not all golfers can hit the ball 300 yards – for some, their physique and natural swing just won’t allow it. Coaching, in fact, is all about the coachee’s agenda. These are the traits of the coach I want.
An athletics coach is all about driving optimum performance throughout the team and letting the players play at their best. Coaches and chief executives are enablers, not micromanagers or hand-holders.
Great business leaders are adept at and thrive in motivating and inspiring people to do more and keep up with the strategy.
They provide foundations, goals and resources for their teams to demonstrate their own powers of excellence with respect but not compromising on the results.
Coaching in sports and business is alike – unlocking the potential of the individual is a primary responsibility.
Success is contagious and ingrained in everyone, but a good coach can make the invisible visible.
Golf, soccer and any other sport share coaching techniques.
The legendary coach of the Manchester United Football Club, Sir Alex Ferguson, once said in an interview: “I have come to see observation as a critical part of my management skills.
“The ability to see things is key – or, more specifically, the ability to see things you don’t expect to see.”
Coaches are there to listen, observe their team’s performance, fix all missing gaps and drive better execution. It’s all about the cycle of giving feedback, aligning performance and doing it all over again.
We have hundreds of uniquely talented colleagues at DHL in Thailand who have been coached and provided with honest feedback in order to become successful 21st-century|leaders.
The team learns from all the motivational and developmental feedback that the coach provides over the years to develop a winning mindset and become the great leaders and sports champions of tomorrow.
Undoubtedly, a great coach can make the CEO swing the best shot for today, and strive for a better shot tomorrow.
Chanayarak Phetcharat is executive coach at the Berkeley Executive Coaching Institute.
