Leader to Leader

In the last 5 to 10 years of business-speak, the word and concept of coaching is one that has almost become overused. If you, like me, have been to many seminar events, it is very difficult to go for a full day without a reference to Vince Lombardi, Lou Holz, John Wooden or Pat Summit. In fact, all these individuals either have written books on their success in athletic coaching or have had books written about them. If you somehow have missed these more professional references, speakers will also refer to their daughter or son's soccer or basketball coach. So, why all the emphasis on successful athletic coaching and relating that focus to the world of business? Maybe, because the principles are quite transferable. Here are five.

I recently had the opportunity to do a workshop with a group of small business owners and managers on motivating their people in these interesting business times that we are in. The environment was interactive and everyone got involved in the programmed activities in the first half of the meeting. Then at break time, a department manager in a mid-sized service company came up to me with the following comment ...

In a discussion with the CEO of a large Wisconsin corporation, our focus began to narrow down to the effectiveness of his leadership team. As we got into the heart of the meeting, I asked: "If there were one thing that your managers and supervisors could start doing now that would have the most positive and dramatic impact on your company, what would it be?"

His answer may surprise you, as it did me: "If everyone in a leadership position in our company acted more like a professional salesperson, life would be much easier."

There is a story about a man who was constantly annoyed with ringing in his ears, bulging eyes, and a flushed face. Over a period of years, he saw several experts — both traditional and non-traditional. After a number of years, he had had his tonsils and appendix removed, his wisdom teeth extracted, and had been on almost every conceivable diet. He even spent a month in Tibet being mentored by a wise old monk.

Yes, not only is 2009 well under way, it is proving to be a historic time of significant proportion. It is changing the way people think, work and act – both in business and personally. The direction in these few paragraphs is not to give any secret to success; however, the sad truth is that many people are either looking over the next horizon or the last one for help, when the real answers lie in the here and now.