Responsibility and Accountability on the Youth Soccer Field

 I am one of the coaches for my two sons' youth soccer teams--the kids on each team are 7, 8 and 9 year old energetic boys (plus one VERY talented 8 year old girl), so you can imagine what it might take to get their attention sometimes.

If you haven't been to a youth soccer game, the rules at this age usually require the parents to be on one side of the field and the coaches on the other side.  This allows the kids to focus their attention on one side, rather than trying to distinguish their coaches' voices from those of their parents.   At a game recently, the field was not set up in this way and both coaches and parents were on the same side.

The kids had complained for a long time about the parents and their yelling and instructions--to the point where none of them wanted to play in the position that was on the same side as the parents.   But I had never gained a full sense of it until I was on the same side as the parents.  I couldn't hear myself think....one child was running around back and forth totally confused as he was getting instructions from me in English and from another players' father in Spanish at the same time.

We lost this game 3-1, our second loss in a row.   We were competitive, but had a couple of lapses of concentration that resulted in goals for the other team...and that is how soccer is.   It punishes you for those little mistakes.

I came away from this game very frustrated, not so much because of the loss, but more because of my realization of what the kids had experienced every game with the parents...hearing the direction, the yelling, the groans at mistakes.  It was just too much.  

It is important before going any further to recognize that we have a very passionate parent base--they get their kids to practice 3-4 days a week, to games that are sometimes in San Francisco or as far away as a three hour drive, and give up whole weekends for tournaments.  And most of these families are not families of means--they are sacrificing time, energy and money so their children can pursue competitive soccer.  So clearly the parents care deeply about their children and want them to succeed.   But what I realized is that we needed to give them the space to perform.

As a result, I reached out to the parents both by email and personally at practice and told them that there we could not continue in this way and that our behavior (including that of the coaches, too) needed to change.   I assigned the two most vocal parents to serve as monitors and ensure that no one gave direction from the sideline.  I also pledged that as a coach, I would say very little, but that for this experiment to work, I needed their participation.  They conceded that it would be difficult, but that they were willing to try.

The following week in practice, we also had a situation come up...because of an unusual set of work commitments for my co-coach that particular week, he could not attend practice.  So it was basically me and a set of about 20-25 kids....not our ideal coaching ratio.    I still went about creating a practice plan as usual, but realized that the quality of practice was going to be dependent on the kids, and wanted them to understand that.

I shared this with all of the kids at the beginning of practice, and decided to also start and end each practice that week with a kind of pledge.   I would say these words, and ask them as a group to repeat after me:   "I, individually, and we collectively, are responsible and accountable for the quality of our practice."   Obviously not all of the kids understood every word, but they were clear on the sense of what they were saying.  For these practices to succeed, I needed their help.   I would say that for the week, practice went relatively well and the kids responded.  At the end of practice, I also began to have them evaluate the practice on a scale on 1-10, and tell me what they thought went well and where we needed to improve.   I reserved the opportunity to add my thoughts, but I found that, not surprisingly, they covered most everything themselves.

Following this week in practice and my talk with the parents, we had our first game since this new system was put into place.  Before the game, we recited our pledge but with a little variation :  "I, individually, and we, collectively, are responsible and accountable for our performance in today's game.   Not the referees, not the coaches, not the parents, and not even the other team."  One key element is the choice of the word "performance"--it is neutral of wins or losses, and about the quality of our effort and play.

 The parents held up their end of the agreement ( although it was difficult at times for them) and the difference in the experience was dramatic for everyone.  For the first time the kids took control of the game and were communicating with one another, telling each other where to go and taking leadership roles on the field.   What is also amazing is that when as a coach you say very little, it makes other coaches who are yelling and screaming almost seem like lunatics--as if you have ultimate confidence in your team, while the opposing coach feels like he needs to manage every movement their players make.  The experience was also great for me--I had become accustomed at the end of the game to feeling stressed, exhausted, and frustrated.  At the end of this game, I felt relaxed and energized, and I spent most of my time on sideline chatting with one of my assistant coaches.

Midway through the first half when one of our players was substituted out to take a break, I said to him "This game is a lot different, isn't it?"   He responded "Yes, I like it!" One of his parents was one of my chief offenders in past games, but was very disciplined about following our parent expectations in this game.

Please be clear--To do this, one needs to be prepared to accept the good with the bad--the other team scored one goal against us strictly because of a mistake that one of our players made.  Normally, I would have corrected it well in advance and probably prevented the goal.  However, after he had the experience of the mistake and the consequences, it was much easier to have a meaningful discussion with him about the importance of maintaining his position.

We also went through our self evaluations as a team both at half time as well as at the end of the game, and finished with our pledge just as we started the game.

I hope the rest of you can start this way rather than learning it through experience, but learning it  in the way I did was powerful and a lesson I will never forget.

Oh , and the final result?  We won 4-2....

Leveraging Human Potential

People use this term a lot...but what does it really mean?   I think there are basically two elements involved--one is having leaders or managers who have a desire and the skills to bring the most and the best out of their teams.  The other element is having a team that has the desire to grow and the willingness to experience the rights of passage involved in that growth.  There are times when I find myself in fear of growth--it involves revealing to people that I don't know everything, it will involve discomfort as I do something new, there will be mistakes, etc.   There is a lot of humility that is required for personal and professional growth.  As a result, leaders who are going to facilitate this growth must work the triangle of pushing their team mentally, helping their team grow the competencies necessary for growth, hold them accountable for their progress, and be there to support them when they run into inevitable challenges.   It is an exhilarating process, but one where all of these different elements should be kept in mind.

Danny

Talent Management – Holding on to your most innovative employees

I recently read an article in the New York Times about some of the challenges Google faces in holding on to its most innovative and entrepreneurial employees.   This is something that we face at Innovations ourselves, and also see our clients face every day.   Here are some of the keys I'd suggest you consider:

1)  Cut out the red tape--Creative people really don't enjoy going through process for the sake of process.  That of course does not mean that collaborating with other people in a way that adds value to the creative process is not something that they enjoy...in fact, to the contrary, most creators find it exhilarating to create with others.  But checks and balances that don't add value to the process can be demoralizing.

2)  Creativity within your own job--For our most creative people, about 50% of their job based on internal and client needs, while the other 50% is really created independently by them.  Of course, their projects are consistent with their roles and our organizational goals, but at the same time it gives them the ability to create  and to continue to develop their own personal brand.

3)  Give them the resources they need--I have found that much more so than monetary reward, our most creative employees want either the technological or human resources that they need to do work on their projects.  Not that they don't appreciate monetary reward, but their requests for resources have far outnumbered any requests for money.

Those are a few of the items that we have found important.  Please feel free on your comments to share your experiences retaining your most entrepreneurial employees.

Danny

Shifting Populations–Diversity only growing

This probably is not a surprise to anyone, but the California Public School System is now for the first time over 50% Latino.  Demographic shifts like this, when combined with the fact that millenials will make up over 40% of the work force within the next four years mean that as organizations recruiting and employing people, our profiles of our incoming staff will be much different than they were even five years ago.   The most immediate question is of course "How do I attract the best people in this group?", but the immediate following question is "How do I retain them once I hire them?"  Again, these are not new questions, but when you overlay these demographic changes on them, the texture becomes much different.

In addition, looking outward from an organization, how does this impact the products and services that I offer to this new work for?  These will be the consumers of tomorrow (they already are today, of course, but to a larger extent in the future), how do I make certain that what I make is relevant to them?

One practice that I enjoy incorporating in my staff meetings once each month is to distribute trend data to people in all sorts of areas (demographic changes, consumer spending, environmental factors), and spend about an hour brainstorming on how these different factors could impact our core functions.   Not only is it a fun exercise, but we always derive value from it as an organization and it has become a source of some of our key initiatives.  It may be something that you may want to try at some point.

--Danny

Diversity, Inclusion and Employee Engagement Part I

Diversity, inclusion, and employee engagement--what do all three of these initiatives have in common? People. More specifically, the extent to which the inherent differences people bring to the workplace are embraced in such a way that employees experience inclusion and full engagement in their work. Studies by the Gallup Management Journal indicate that only 29% of employees are actively engaged in their jobs.
Diversity is a an inclusive environment wherein differences—human, cultural, and systems—are leveraged as a competitive business advantage in order to:

• provide exceptional customer service
• ensure the physical, mental, and spiritual well-being of employees
• achieve exceptional workplace and business performance
• deliver the highest quality products and services
Inclusion is an environment where there is “equity of opportunity” for personal and organizational success, as well as pride in the organization.
Employee Engagement is a level of “employee commitment” to the organization that ultimately results in greater discretionary effort in his or her work—beyond the expected or compensated level of performance.
The Roles of Leadership/Management and Employees
All three of the initiatives cited above have two dimensions: The Role of Leadership/ Management and The Role of Employees.

1) The Role of Leadership/Management

• Create an environment of integrity and trust.
• Provide employees with career and growth opportunities.
• Establish an environment where employees take pride in the organization
and communicate that pride to others.
• Provide opportunities for personal and professional development.
• Establish quality interpersonal relationships, communication, and
problem resolution.
• Create an environment for work-life quality, balance, and integration.

2) The Role of Employees

• Request, ensure, and design engaging work that is personally
satisfying.
• Ensure that your work is aligned with the organization’s or business
unit’s goals and objectives.
• Assume a natural leadership role among peers as greater delegation
occurs (Leadership is the ability to influence others).
• Design a career development plan inclusive of the experiences and
learning you will require.
• Establish quality interpersonal relationships, communication, and
collaboration among your peers.
• Define and create a plan for work-life quality and balance.

The role of leadership/management is to proactively provide an inclusive environment and management practices that support the development, learning, and well-being of employees. An inclusive environment is an organizational context where all employees experience being wanted, appreciated, and valued.

1. Wanted for their diverse membership as part of the organization.
2. Appreciated for the unique contribution they make in creating the culture of the organization.
3. Valued for the unique perspective they bring in terms of creativity, innovation, and high-performance.
It’s also an environment where an employee feels commitment and passion for their work, beyond the expected or compensated level of performance.

Talent Managent

Ever heard the phrase, “good help is so hard to find these days”? Any HR manager or executive is familiar with the daunting task of trying to find the perfect fit for their company. Today’s workforce is more demanding than ever and every employee must contribute to the overall success of any organization. In response to this, Dr. Guillory released a white paper this week entitled The Age of Human Potential—Talent Management. This paper is the first part in a two part series on the subject. Dr. Guillory describes talent management as, “an initiative designed to source, attract, recruit, develop, advance, and retain highly competent employees.” In his white paper he proves the cost per benefit ratio of each stage of employee recruitment and retention.
The stages are:

* Sourcing – establishing a system and criteria for identifying highly motivated, multicultural individuals for potential employment.

* Attracting – presenting a compelling case to potential recruits that are interested in your organization.

* Recruiting – the collective effort of an organization to show a potential employee that his or her future is best realized by their employment.

* Developing – providing the opportunity and support necessary to an employee for their continual expanding potential.

* Advancing – providing the opportunity for employees to attain higher positions of responsibility, as a result of mentoring, coaching, and visible opportunities, in proportion to performance.

* Retaining - the result of the proactive, professional development of an employee.

Business objectives have continued to evolve over the centuries as technology presents us with more efficient work tools and more challenging tasks. Dr. Guillory shows this progression over time and suggests that every organization develop a talent management support system that continuously monitors the efforts of employee well being.