A Managerâ€™s Guide to Coaching Performance By: Mark Landiak

A Manager’s Guide to Coaching Performance

By: Mark Landiak

Mark Landiak is President of Corporate Dynamics, Inc., and for 17+ years has helped organizations just like yours transform business problems into profitable solutions. CDI is an innovative professional consultative selling

and training firm that specializes in sales, customer service and management of those functions. CDI helps you improve your processes, procedures, and employee performance, so that you can grow and secure your customer base profitably. If your company would like to learn more

about Beat Your Best!™, email Mark at [email protected].

As a partner of SalesDog.com, CDI is currently offering 20% off Beat Your Best!™: A Manager’s Guide to Coaching Performance (retail price of

$28.95). Please take the time to read the following chapter taken from the book and decide if Beat Your Best!™ is exactly what your sales managers need! To redeem this special promotion and order your copy of Beat Your

Best!™, please email Danyl Porter at [email protected].

. . . . . . . . . .23

RECALCULATING

CONVENTIONAL WISDOM

WWWWWe start at Point A (where we are today) and

drive a steady, relentless course to Point B

(where we want to be). Simple, right? We’ve

known it since grade school: “The shortest distance

between two points is a straight line.” It’s what

conventional management usually uses for team

incentive and motivation.

Point A(Where(Where(Where(Where(Whereyou areyou areyou areyou areyou are

now)now)now)now)now)

�

Point B(Where you(Where you(Where you(Where you(Where youwant to be)want to be)want to be)want to be)want to be)

BEAT YOUR BEST!™ A Manager’s Guide to Coaching Performance. . . . . . . . . .24

You know the routine. You might’ve done it this way.

(I did.) It goes something like: “They’ve sent down the

magic numbers, guys. Here’s our big Point B. Go for it!”

When working one-on-one, often it comes out like this:

“Look, Larry, you’re not even close to Quota again this

quarter. Would’ja get on the stick and hit it, for a change?

You can do it. And we both know what’ll happen if you

don’t!” Point A. Point B. All numbers. Straight line. No

sweat. Except that business doesn’t work that way.

Because employees don’t work that way.

Point A(Where(Where(Where(Where(Whereyou areyou areyou areyou areyou are

now)now)now)now)now)

�

Point B(Where you(Where you(Where you(Where you(Where youwant to be)want to be)want to be)want to be)want to be)

. . . . . . . . . .25

No one is immune. Every single one of us faces

diversions, barriers, and distractions, which lure us

off that steadfast course from A to B. They’re physical,

metaphysical, mental. Some are mistaken. Lots are

valid, at least from the player’s viewpoint.

As far as barriers go, lack of time is a biggie. The

team environment gets even more polluted when

“lack of time” gangs up with all the other “lack ofs”

that derail business today; “lack ofs” like clarity,

communications, confidence, chemistry, skill,

training, resources and a thousand more, in greater

or lesser proportions. All those “lack ofs” are barriers,

heightened by personal problems of every sort (or

perceptions of those zigzags and barriers, whose

consequences may be just as negative and distracting

as if they were real)! When “lack ofs” fold in with the

“too-manys” (meetings, administrative tasks,

whatever), it’s amazing anything ever gets done at

all.

A lot is at stake. Every zigzag and barrier costs

us something—corporately and individually—in time,

money, productivity, attention to something/

someone else. Every barrier—no matter its nature or

legitimacy—drowns the roaring flame of momentum

and self-confidence players need to take intelligent

risks for improved performance.

It’s a coach’s job to repave the freeway and help

draw the map from Point A to Point B. Before a rookie

BYB coach can be truly effective in guiding players

past their personal proficiency barriers, there’s work

to be done on the coach’s own job description. After

all, the coach is the designated driver and all those

along for the ride are trusting that he/she will get

each one where they want to go. We begin by

examining what it really means to be a coach.

Recalculating Conventional Wisdom


When I took my first shot at

dissecting the coaching arts and sciences,

I intuitively knew it warranted closing my

office door and taking time alone to really

sharpen up my analytical marksmanship.

I was right. I strongly recommend the

following exercise for every rookie BYB

coach: Sharpen up a fistful of pencils, get

lots of paper, and remove the stuff that

distracts you.

Remind yourself that this is the start

of something extraordinary: You’re

planning your team’s trip to dramatically

improved proficiency with an itemized

list of the Action Steps necessary to get

there, beginning with your own strengths

and shortcomings.

Until I began using the BYB process, I

evaluated coaching excellence by

checking out team results. In sports,

League pennant: good coach. Super Bowl

ring: very good coach. Six NBA

Championship trophies: great coach. In

business, made quota: good manager.

Exceeded quota by fifty percent: very

good manager. Broke company records:

great manager. This exercise goes a lot

deeper; it’s more pragmatic, and

discerning.

“The idea is toget the pencil

moving quickly… work up a

feeling, ride onit.”

—Bernard Malamud

“There’snothing lost by

discarding yourfaults.”

— Sophia Bedford-Pierce

. . . . . . . . . .27

CHARACTERISTICS OF TOP PERFORMING COACHES

How do the great ones earn the right to be called “Coach”

in that special tone of voice? It begins with a profoundly

personal question. Of all the coaches I know or know

about,whom do I really admire? Don Schula? Phil

Jackson? Bela Karolyi? Our Glee Club director? My Little

League coach? My current boss? My dad?

Take your paper and pencil and draw threeTake your paper and pencil and draw threeTake your paper and pencil and draw threeTake your paper and pencil and draw threeTake your paper and pencil and draw three

columns. Label the columns, A, B, and C.columns. Label the columns, A, B, and C.columns. Label the columns, A, B, and C.columns. Label the columns, A, B, and C.columns. Label the columns, A, B, and C.

Column A:Column A:Column A:Column A:Column A: List three to five coaches you admire as

“the best.”

Column B:Column B:Column B:Column B:Column B: List the characteristics that these terrific

coaches exhibit that make them “the best.”

Column C:Column C:Column C:Column C:Column C: Write down three specific things that these

coaches do to motivate their teams to perform at their

peaks, and to improve from there.

Jot ‘em all down.Jot ‘em all down.Jot ‘em all down.Jot ‘em all down.Jot ‘em all down. Three to five great coaches in

Column A. Four to five characteristics for each great

coach in Column B. How they motivate their winning

teams in Column C. Once you have a list of your own

opinions of coaching excellence, the really informative

ideas begin to pop.

No two lists come out the same; this is an examination

of personal opinions. This exercise is a lot more exciting

and enlightening—and takes a lot more thought—than

reciting the Boy Scout Law. Try it.


See sample form on next page


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. . . . . . . . . .29

“THE BEST REFORMERS

THE WORLD

HAS EVER SEEN

ARE THOSE WHO

COMMENCE ON

THEMSELVES.”

— George Bernard Shaw



Out of these three columns your

“personal coaching checklist” develops.

The characteristics of “The Greats” evolve

to become your backdrop to your coaching

profile. How you want to coach. To become

one of “The Greats” you have to evaluate

yourself and develop a list of action items

to get there.

When thoughts are focused, the mind

expands. Results are invigorating! Almost

all-new BYB coaches say their art-of-

coaching philosophies were much more

developed and detailed than they ever

realized.

“What isresearch but ablind date with

knowledge?”

— Will Henry

PERCEPTIONS

With the Coaches CharacteristicsCoaches CharacteristicsCoaches CharacteristicsCoaches CharacteristicsCoaches Characteristics beside you—take

another piece of paper and go down item by item in

your “characteristics checklist,” and ask yourself:

“Does my team perceive me to be _______ ?“Does my team perceive me to be _______ ?“Does my team perceive me to be _______ ?“Does my team perceive me to be _______ ?“Does my team perceive me to be _______ ?

“No” or “I don’t know” answers provide your first

food for thought for creating your personal BYB

coaching “Action Items.”

“Yes” answers give great information, too, when

they’re ranked, from one to ten. You can score yourself

a point or two or three for Lame-Yesses (“yeah, I guess,

but not that often”) … five or six points for Usually-

Yesses … and nine or ten points for Yesss!-Yesses, those

characteristics that you almost always deliver. More

real-world guidance emerges for your list of coaching

Action Items.

. . . . . . . . . .31

“Procrastinationis opportunity’s

naturalassassin.”

— Victor Kiam

One BYB coach said he put off this

exercise for days because he knew he’d hurt

his own feelings:

“I don’t know why I was worried

The outcome—my first tangible BYB

product—was a precise map for a

professional Action Plan, custom

designed for my own career. It was a

black and white assessment of my own

perception of myself right now, my

own Point A. It really focused me on

my own self-improvement. It was a lot

more powerful than if my boss handed

me the same data in a performance

review. It was truly a personal moment

of truth.”

In fact, every new BYB coach who’s

played back the experience to us—even

those with long lists of Action Items—

reports that with personal Point A in hand,

they felt newly capable, clear and focused.

There’s a real sense of progress when

you’ve done the work to figure out what to

work on first in your quest to become a

world class coach. (One boulder out of the

backpack.)

Then it’s easy to pick out two or three

major characteristics for a prioritized

“short list”—those that you want to change,

work on, or develop right now. Your effort

on this exercise work has given you

everything you need to create a list of

Action Items that respond to your short

list entries.

For example, if you scored yourself a

“Definitenessof purpose is

the startingpoint of all

greatachievement.”

— W. ClementStone

“Everythingmust be as

simple aspossible. But

not a bitsimpler.”

— Albert Einstein



Lame-Yes (three points or so) when you

asked yourself, “Does my team perceive me

to be enthusiastic,” your preliminary

Action Items might include simple steps

like these : “Every morning, greet all folks

with an authentic smile, an energetic

remark, and/or a genuine compliment.”

Neither subtle or esoteric, but precise,

detailed, and instantly recognizable signals

of change. In fact, the simpler and more

directly responsive the Action Item, the

better. The BYB mantra is important:

“Specific Actions Lead to Quantifiable

Results.”

There’s even a BYB validity checklist

to evaluate your Action Items in advance:

1) Is the Action specific enough to act

upon?

2) Does it state exactly what I will do?

3) When will I actually do it?

4) How will results be measured?

If you skip the process of thinking out

specific and pragmatic how-to-get-there

answers, this amazing BYB instrument

might just as well be a letter to Santa,

because it will have no more staying power

than a New Year’s resolution.

Now that you have a plan for where

you want to go, with specific Action Items

to get you there, it’s time to think about

your players.

“A bad habitnever

disappearsmiraculously:

It’s an undo-it-yourselfproject.”

— Abigail VanBuren

BYB ValidityChecklist

�Is the

action specific

enough to act upon?

�Does it

stateexactly

what I

will do?

�When willI actually

do it?

�How willresults be

measured?

. . . . . . . . . .33

The next stop on your BYB coaching

itinerary is to pinpoint where each player

is starting from, first, in terms of hard-

numbers, measurements and results, and

second, in terms of their proficiency at

executing specific activities that’ll make

those results come true.

Pinpointing a player’s demonstrated

maximum proficiency level is as easy as

checking out their history of results to learn

the “Best” that each player has ever done,

in any period, by any measure that matters

to player proficiency—units sold, sales

volume by category, cases closed, service

calls completed, deliveries made, accounts

collected, or any result that has measurable

revenue, profit and proficiency

implications.

Another BYB coaching goal is to handle,

understand, anticipate, minimize, or

eliminate performance barriers. The best

starting place is to analyze specific

workplace barriers that divert your whole

team from a steady trek to Point B. Relax.

Every team has them. Great teams assess

and address them. Mediocre teams neglect

them. Poor teams are practically killed by

them, but absolutely every team has them.

It’s human nature. Some team barriers

have been around so long that they don’t

even look absurd any more (except to new

players, still too polite to question them

out loud). Study your team’s clubhouse and

playing field as if you’ve never seen them

before.

“There isnothing so

strong or sagein an

emergency oflife as the

simple truth.”— Charles

Dickens

“If you wantto see, you

have to look.”— Bob Smith

“Opportunitiesare often the

things youdidn’t noticethe first time

around.” — Catherine

Deneuve



“““““PERFORMANCE

BARRIERS EXIST IN

EVERY ORGANIZATION

AND WITH EVERY

INDIVIDUAL.

WINNERS

FIND A WAY TO

SUCCEED ANYWAY.”””””

- Coach Mark

. . . . . . . . . .35

List the workplace barriers, stumbling

blocks and diversions. With your new BYB

vision and courage, you can assess them,

one by one, with productive questions like,

“Does my team have what it needs in

resources, equipment, training, support

staff?”

If the answer is “yes,” congratulations!

If it’s “no,” specific coaching Action Items

emerge. Once again, the simpler and more

straightforward, the better the Action Plan.

Your coaching list of workplace barriers is

a preliminary draft. A bit later on, when

your team works on it together, it’s likely

to grow, shrink, change priorities, and

become even more accurate and useful.

The next phase is to jot down barriers

that might divert a steady course from

Point A to Point B for some segments of

the team (say, sales folks), but not others

(say, service techs), or for certain players

but not everyone. With the Barriers

Checklist in black and white, you can

customize your coaching Action Plan for

minimizing or eliminating each barrier, one

by one.

Another step in your preliminary “solo

flight” is to develop a first draft look at

which barriers, one by one, seem to stand

in the way of each individual player’s

progress from Point A to Point B.

Managing the team as a whole is history

with BYB. Since “team performance” is an

aggregate of “individual proficiency,” great

“The art andscience of

askingquestions

is the sourceof all

knowledge.”

— Adolph Berle


Ask yourteam: “What

could keep usfrom boosting

sales 30% thisyear?”

— Coach Mark


“The socialistssay making

profits is a vice.I consider the

real vice ismaking losses.”

— Winston Churchill

coaches manage players as fascinating

individuals, with unique skills, talents,

and promise. The great news is that

coaching is much more interesting,

productive, and fun when it focuses on

one player at a time, one day at a time.

Cemented together into one wonderful

whole, players offer each other mile

markers for their marathon.

The barriers assessment exercise goes

a lot deeper. It calls on you to assess what

barriers stand in the way of a player’s

clambering up just one level. What

diverts this player from the most

profitable and productive course? What

can you do to chop down or chop up each

barrier? How can you minimize a player’s

risk? How can you help him/her to get

over his/her fear of change, to feel safe

and competent, to see the promise of

payoffs as worthwhile and close at hand?

“My interest isin the futurebecause I’m

going to spendthe rest of my

life there.”— Charles Franklin

Kettering

. . . . . . . . . .37


“““““THE MAN

WHO MOVES

A MOUNTAIN

BEGINS BY

CARRYING AWAY

SMALL STONES.”””””

— Confucius


Remember! Leverage strengths and build specific plans todevelop proficiency with each member of your team.

EMPLOYEE ASSESSMENT EXERCISE

For each employee in your organization that reports to

you, identify the barriers that affect them, and create

the strategies you feel are needed to help them overcome

these barriers and improve their proficiency.

B B B B BARR IERARR IERARR IERARR IERARR IER S S S S STRATEGYTRATEGYTRATEGYTRATEGYTRATEGYManager’s

Perception

Employee’s

Perception

Focus on your conversation

with each employee

Employee:Employee:Employee:Employee:Employee:

. . . . . . . . . .39


Here’s that BYB mantra again: “Specific actions“Specific actions“Specific actions“Specific actions“Specific actions

lead to measurable results.” lead to measurable results.” lead to measurable results.” lead to measurable results.” lead to measurable results.” You assessed your

coaching, workplace, and players. In return, you now

have a detailed catalogue of:

1) Where you are today (your personal Point A);

2) How you are perceived as a coach (your Coaching

Checklist);

3) Specific diversions (barriers) that lure your team

off course (and preliminary Action Plans to minimize

their impact);

4) Preliminary player-by-player assessments (and

Action Plans for working with each individual), and;

5) Other Action Plans tied to each of these. You’ve done

incredibly valuable work! It’s right-headed and real.

You sense it right away.

If you’re like other new BYB coaches, you find these

exercises provide a huge infusion of “new” data to fuel

your development, a new view of details—as they are,

and as they are perceived. As a dividend—even at this

early stage—you sense new trust that since BYB has made

these important facts and attitudes ready and reachable,

it’ll work for your team in the trenches, too. (Another

boulder gone.)

With your Barriers Checklist form and preliminary

player-by-player assessments in hand, it’s finally time

to open your office door, take BYB to your team and

play with it.


BYB PROCESS FUNDAMENTALS

1 .1 .1 .1 .1 . Positioning the BYB Process withPositioning the BYB Process withPositioning the BYB Process withPositioning the BYB Process withPositioning the BYB Process with

Team PlayersTeam PlayersTeam PlayersTeam PlayersTeam Players

2. Identifying Barriers

3. Determining Performance Categories

4. Pinpointing “Personal Bests”

5. Designing Templates

6. “Framing” Your Players

7. Creating Indiviual Forecasts

8. Assessing/Rejecting/Collaborating/Accepting

Forecasts

9. Developing Individual Mutual Action Plans (MAPs)

10. Logging Results

11. Forecasting with Your Team

12. Celebrating Beat Your Best!™ Successes

13. Setting New Records …

A Managerâ€™s Guide to Coaching Performance By: Mark Landiak

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