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May-June 2010 |
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If You Want a Better Performing Team, Be a Better Coach One of the things I have heard company officers say that challenges them is the substandard performance of some crew members. As I talk to these officers about this, I am struck by how quickly they are to blame the firefighter or their recruit training. These officers are often complaining and more rarely are they seeking advice about how they can improve the performance of their team. For those who want to improve the performance of their firefighters, I would suggest being a better coach. It’s much easier than you think. Just emulate the qualities of the best coaches in the world. All you have to do is invest some time observing first-hand the qualities that make great coaches so successful. Watch them… listen to them… talk to them. Now, you’re probably thinking to yourself, “How in the world would I ever get the opportunity to talk to any of the best coaches in the world?” It’s easier than you think. Just go down to the park and talk to the men and women who coach nine-year-olds in baseball. What can you learn from someone who coaches nine-year-old kids? More than you can imagine. One of the main jobs of the coach is to teach their players new skills. These players often don’t understand the rules. They aren’t always focused. They don’t always want to be playing the game. Some players are impatient, whiney and disrespectful. You can probably see a few similarities between these young players and some of your firefighters. And (wording this as gingerly as I can) these young players almost always have different levels of talent and desire. They make mistakes — lots of mistakes. What’s a coach to do? Kick a player off the team? That’s really not a viable option. Just isolate the talented from the untalented? Nope, every player gets to play every game and every position. The coach does his job. The coach gives encouragement. The coach teaches the team members how to perform. And the coach makes sure the team practices — over and over and over again. And when team members still make mistakes, as will happen, the coach encourages them some more. If one of these tykes strikes out or misses a grounder the coach doesn’t yell at them, belittle them or discipline them — regardless of how much time the coach has spent teaching the player how to take a cut at the ball or how to scoop a grounder. The players need encouragement. Their self-esteems are fragile. Saying the wrong thing can really hurt them. The coach knows that. The coach also knows that in their hearts the players “want” to do it right, but their performance doesn’t always reflect that desire. Players will keep doing what they get rewarded for. On a baseball team of nine-year-olds, that reward isn’t better pay, bonuses, or promotions — it’s praise. Define the performance you desire and reward the team members with praise when they fulfill your expectations. The performance or behavior the coach rewards will get repeated. The definition of team that I like best is this: A group of individuals working toward a common goal and having fun doing it. If you’re not having fun coaching you can bet that your players aren’t having fun playing. Why do some of these simple lessons get lost as the coach (a.k.a. supervisor) tries to get top performance out of an adult team? I could double the size of this chapter by comparing the youth baseball coach to the adult supervisor. But I don’t think I need to. The lessons should be crystal clear. If they’re not, go watch a master coach work his magic. © Copyright Firenuggets.com 2010 • Click here for Terms and Conditions of Use
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