Watching another coaches practice can be an eye opening experience. I have seen a lot of practices on all levels. When you watch another practice, you can always pick up something that you would like to use in your practice. This practice was a pretty good one. There were some very good things going on our there. Almost every player was moving at all times – my mark of a good use of ice time. Teachable moments were being applied to individual players and the team as a whole. What happened next, was the gauntlet drill. Checking in hockey is one of those items that is important to teach the proper technique. For those that don’t know the gauntlet drill is supposed to help the player with puck control while  receiving a body check. It usually is done along the boards with the player with the puck skating with the puck up the line of the other players wait to check the player into the boards.  Most coaches use the drill to get every player used to receiving a check… Getting other players to check more… This particular drill has to be well supervised. Coaches need to insure that proper checking technique is used. What typically happens is not good. Hands start to raise up towards the head. Players move in close to each other (not giving the player time to recover). Hence someone gets hurt. In this case, it was the teams best player that suffered a concussion when the biggest player used his size and improper technique to smash the players head against the glass. It was not the first check that was improper, but the drill ended when one player got hurt. There were a number of opportunities to have a teachable moment before the injury, but every player and coach was excited about the crushing checks that were being delivered.

With all of the focus on concussions in football and hockey, it is time for coaches to make sure that they are protecting their players and teaching proper technique. I used to tell the parents, “checking is a part of the game. It happens. I will do my best to teach each player the proper way to give and receive a check. Realize, the best part of my responsibility is to teach players how to play in a safe environment and have fun doing it!” If we were to use a checking drill, it was in a controlled and safe way. Never will you see my team run a gauntlet drill. We may have a one on one situation like that, but it will have a coach watching and instructing after each check.  I used to get mixed emotions from some parents on that. The gauntlet has been around a very long time (I used to have to run it). Many of the parents remember their experience. My only comment was did anyone ever get hurt? Where the checks always properly delivered? We will check, but we will do it right!

I met the parents after the practice and gave them my observations. I asked them, if they told their son that I was coming to watch him practice. They said “no.” Practice is important. Sacrifice is important. Does he shoot pucks at home? Does he do stick handling drills with a golf ball at home? How much effort do you think he is putting into hockey outside of scheduled practices? They said some, but not a much as he could. I didn’t want the parents to think that he should only be focused on hockey. He is  young and needs to experience life. He should set goals around how much time he will work on shooting, passing, fitness, stickhandling and studying the game – outside of practice. Have him record his time on what he is working on. He then can see if his work is paying off in playing time, effectiveness on the ice or just how he feels about what he is doing. I stayed till the player came out of the locker room. Asked him if he felt that he gave his all in practice? He said, not really. Stressed to him the importance for him to take advantage of the ice time given. Work hard and excel every time you take the ice. Passed along to the player the same things that I told his parents. I felt honored that I was called. I thanked them all for that honor and wished them well.

Now, I am wondering if I need to get back to being involved…

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How do you as a manager deal with them? As a manager, at least a good manager, you have to be able to see, hear and help. How do you set this up for your people?

• You need to develop an open, trusting environment. People have to have the ability to speak freely. With no fear of reprimand. Start with the individuals on the team first, then make sure you take it to the complete team. Start small, then go big.
• Know you people. Think of the fear emotions… Some folks can deal with it themselves, they “fear” they may fail and they buckle down and do whatever is necessary. Others may shutdown. Recognize what works for each person and get to moving forward quickly.
• Push through the uncomfortable. Sometimes dealing with emotions can be uncomfortable. It happens. You as the manager need to make sure that you deal with the situation as early as possible to lessen the effect long term. Role play that discuss with a mentor, be honest and push through – you will be surprised at the end of it.
• Be real and yourself. Slow down.. The first thing that most people do is react. Slow down and think it through first. I know this is a broken record when it comes to be a manager. You have to set the example for your team. All eyes are watching you all the time. Make sure that you are being real. If you are having one of those days (like your folks), acknowledge it with them. Maybe they will have some insight for you! Last time I checked, you managers are people too.
• Ask others if they are feeling the same way. When in the team setting, go ahead and ask for additional information. Some folks are more vocal than others and sometimes we think it is just them. If you ask, you maybe surprised to see that more folks are in the same boat. Just afraid to speak up first. Once on the table, it can be worked.

Don’t think that emotions are not going to play in your teams. Be ready, be prepared and don’t be afraid. The sooner you confront, acknowledge and validate, the quicker moving forward can happen. All negative emotions can true to a positive, if handled properly. Same is true for positive emotions (passion). If you play that one up too much on your “rising star” – the rest of the team will be deflated or be negative toward that person. This is a very tricky subject, probably why that VP wanted nothing to do with it. You have to deal with it…

Here are some things that I believe that should be considered:

• Setting up very discreet reviewed time limits. Most programs or employees have yearly review of performance. I think within that particular review the overall review should not just be able wins, loses and where did you end up within the BCS ranking. It is time to really demonstrate leadership… Develop a package that is about graduation rates, GPA for student athletes, social and moral code of conduct and really focus on life learning. It is all about accountability for everything a program should stand for. These reviews should be tough and really focused.  Stand up and celebrate your successes.. Work on those items that missed the mark.
• Succession planning. It is time to make sure that within every program there is a real and developed succession plan. Setting up your program and keeping it for the long haul is really how well the program develops the talent that they have and attract. In this day and age, with coaches moving to head coaching positions all over, succession planning could be a difficult task. If you have the right people and take care of them, they will stay. If not, than they will take the lessons learned and apply those to another institution. Which if done right, just means another great program will start up. Everyone wins…
• Hold everyone (up and down the organization) accountable for the overall organization! For college football, that is being accountable to the university and what the code the university stands for. The football team (players and coaches) are not the university, but need to be a reflection of the university.

It amazes me how many coaches have written books about leadership and then we watch them fall from their soapbox. Ever leader has to take a look deep into themselves and be proud of every aspect of their actions. From all indications, coach Wooden was spot on in his teachings and actions. That is one example that I have modeled my coaching after. Don’t get me wrong there are lots of fine examples out there. Some really recent coaches that are doing the right things, right. I just hope that they can keep their course and not let someone or something distract them from complete success.

I do think that some training and coaching of people to be leaders is possible. In the workplace, you get to interact with many different folks, some standout for their potential in leading a team. From  my experience I have seen both sides of the spectrum. Those folks that have the ability, but really want nothing to do with leading. They prefer to just do what they are doing. Other folks want to be leaders, but frankly, don’t really demonstrate the initial abilities or characteristics necessary. Having discussions with both sets of folks is interesting. For me, I want to make sure that my teams are set up with secession plans. I want to develop my folks to help them achieve their dreams. Here is where I believe that training and mentoring comes into play. Everyone has a blind spot or two that needs attention. When you step into a management role and really want to do well, you need some training. You really need someone to help you with highlighting those blind spots and putting focus on the “right” areas. Training and follow-up will help lessen the blind spot. For me, leadership is something that is a life-long learning experience. There is always something new to learn or find out about yourself.

Leaders need to be honest, have a demonstrated track record of success, be excellent communicators, place an emphasis on serving those they lead, be fluid in their approach, have laser focus with a bias toward action. Some of those items come natural. Others can be helped along. So, when I hear or see that question about are leaders born or created, I go with both…

• A team that works together to accomplish whatever is set in front of them.
• A team that works whatever hours are necessary to accomplish their goals.
• Hitting their numbers, pushing product and doing a quality job.
• The team gets along.
• Someone in the team sees a problem and the team handles it.
• Each member of the team is pulling their own weight.
• Team is not afraid of failure, as they can accomplish anything they set their mind to it.
• I as the manager, do not have to be “too” involved. The team understands that they are empowered.
• Work gets done, on-time and within budget.
• The team helps each other out.

These all sound pretty good, right? I can remember in my early days as a manager thinking if my team was to accomplish these or a subset of them, I felt pretty good. I used to hear from my management that my team was the best one of all of the teams in the department. That was not enough, as upper management to me, is not there daily or in the trenches when work is getting done.  As I gained more experience with managing teams, I started to really look underneath the surface and see how the team was really working together. Asking myself, how does the team accomplish the work that is set out in front of them? What is the overall commitment level of each and every team member? Do they really work together? What motivates the team members to do new and interesting stuff (innovation)? I started to develop my own scorecard for success of the teams that I led.

• Getting the work done in a timely and cost effective manner – this still is the overall measure of success. That never changes as this is the most visible to the complete department. Getting your work done. If you don’t you won’t be around much.
• Gauging the overall free flow of ideas and information – having great discussions about how to improve, how to do stuff better, or what is really happening. Having a team that shares the good, bad and ugly when it comes to team self reflection. Doing this in a constructive and not threatening manner. Working the problem rather than focusing on the individual.  The discussions were pretty lively and listening to them build on each other’s thoughts, made me see that a complete diverse team is better than a set of individual’s. Where I worked we used to do a yearly plan for the upcoming year. I used to include my complete team in this exercise. Set up some basic assumptions (budget and rev 0 goals) and what the team work together to set the plan together. The overall ownership of that plan was strong among the team. I usually had to point out that we must not try to do too much, we realize that year over year stuff happens, we must be flexible.
• Balanced workload – for all team members. It is an easy thing to say, but in practice very difficult to manage. Here is where the manager really has to know what is going on with each individual on the team. Is there too much work being loaded up on all, too much on a few or not enough on some. The team members want to do a good job, they really want to receive praise and better raises and doing more work than the others seems the easiest way to demonstrate worth. Not good for the team.
• True development plans in place for everyone. “True” development plans require much work from the individual team member and the manager. The team member needs to be honest in what they want to do, how they do it and what do they want to be when they grow up. What is their passion? The manager than becomes the coach and helps to develop a plan that works for the individual and the team. Sometimes the individual’s passion is not within the team overall direction. The manager has to make sure to balance and do the best in every situation. I have had to help get new positions for my team members to insure that the best of the employee, team, department and company were winning.

Some of these items can be measured by metrics, but most of them are more on how you know the team is doing. Spending time with the team in different ways. Being an observer during meetings – rather than talking 100%. Facilitator during planning meetings – rather than telling what will get done. Walking around the office, listening to the team working together – rather than sitting in your office. Asking questions and listening to the answers – rather than assuming you know what is happening. It is easy to take control as the manager.. You may even think that is why you are the manager. Observe, listen and act when necessary – that is truly what your team wants.

Related articles

• Team Dynamics (stevebellnow.com)