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Lessons from Athletic Coaches

Executive coaching has its roots in athletic and performance coaching, and there is a gaggle of books written by famous coaches to be found in the business section of every bookstore. Therefore, it makes sense to check the sports literature to see what nuggets lay there. Your clients have bought some of these books and might have even read a few.

One reason that coaching is called coaching and not executive counseling or workplace psychotherapy is that many hard-charging corporate types, especially men, are likely to favor a coach, but may be unwilling to enter therapy. Most identify with sports and would love to see themselves as athletes or, at least, as high performers. Most grew up on sports, following their favorite team and imitating their favorite athlete. Counseling is associated with trouble, weakness, and inadequacy, whereas coaching is identified with successful sports figures and winning teams. Great teams have great coaches, and Tiger Woods apparently visits his swing coach regularly.

Attempts to apply formal psychological methods to athletic coaching in the United States date to the 1920s, when Coleman Griffith, an academic psychologist at the University of Illinois, joined the Chicago Cubs baseball team in an ill-fated effort to try to improve coaching and performance (Green, 2003). He wrote the first text on psychology and coaching in 1926, called The Psychology of Coaching: A Study of Coaching Methods from the Point of Psychology. A surprisingly small number of serious scientific books were published after that. In about 1990, however, there was an explosion of books about successful coaching and its application to the business world. Famous coaches and athletes hired ghostwriters to describe the best ideas and the motivational techniques responsible for their success.

These books have relevance. Books by athletic coaches are interesting sources for executive coaches because team sports at the highest levels, especially football, have become corporate in nature. The San Francisco 49ers have an executive vice president for football “operations.” Players are referred to as “personnel” and the teams are now “organizations.” Former 49ers head coach Bill Walsh’s book, Finding the Winning Edge, is essentially a large, detailed corporate organizational operations manual. The premier coaches insist on total control. Walsh wrote, “It was agreed that if I was going to be coach, I would be in charge of all football operations” (Walsh, Billick, & Peterson, 1998, p. 9).

Rather than cope with limited authority and meddling owners, athletic coaches now serve as “executives” of large, complex organizations. Much of what they do has significant relevance to the corporate executive. Most of these books make at least some reference to the business world, and Walsh published an extended series of management articles in Forbes magazine between 1993 and 1997 (Walsh et al., 1998). There is significant content overlap between the football coach and the executive coach.

The reading of books by marquee coaches can be mind numbing. They all contain more than their share of clichés (“Failing to prepare is preparing to fail”) and well-worn (worn-out) motivational mantras (“When the going gets tough, the tough get going”). To make matters worse, many of these books brim with quotes from famous military figures such as George Patton, Sun Tzu, and even Erwin Rommel (the Nazi Panzer commander).

In the real world, athletes tire of these clichés, having heard them year after year, and they simply turn them off. Even one of University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) basketball coach John Wooden’s stars reported that he never paid much attention to Wooden’s famous Pyramid of Success while he was at UCLA. In tribute to Wooden, however, he admitted that the pyramid was meaningful to him later on as a professional player (Walton, 1992, p. 52).

Frank Deford (Jones, 1998) notes that “some incredibly stupid coaches have beaten some demonstrably brilliant coaches,” so we have to be careful about giving too much credit where it is not necessarily due. He remembers that long-time Boston Celtics coach Red Auerbach’s theories were brilliant as long as Bill Russell played on his teams. But some of these coaches have produced highly successful records over long periods, and star athletes and luck simply cannot account for all of their success. Some of what they have done has been masterful.

These busy winners probably do not actually “write” much of what is in their books themselves, and that is a good thing, for they did not attain success on the basis of their writing skills. It is also likely that the majority of coach books rest forever unopened on coffee tables and nightstands. There is a certain charm about these books, though, and each contains one or two real nuggets mixed in with all of the success speak and the examples from games won or lost along the way. Most coach books stress the obvious, such as hard work, teamwork, attention to detail, good communication, and positive attitude. This chapter synthesizes the less obvious lessons common to sports coach books (as well as a few nuggets) that are sure to be useful to the corporate coach.

Existential novelist and philosopher Albert Camus was once asked which he preferred, football or the theater. Camus is said to have replied, “Football, without hesitation. After many years during which I saw many things, what I know most surely about morality and the duty of man I owe to sport” (Albert Camus Society UK, n.d.).

Common Themes

There is a striking consistency to books by athletic coaches and, perhaps, to the philosophies of the successful ones. If that is the case, there may be some serious truths to be found there.

Theme 1: Drive

There is one quality that nearly all successful athletes and coaches have in common. This quality actually diminishes the usefulness of athletic lessons to the executive coach. Highly successful coaches and athletes are focused and driven to the extreme. Most normal humans do not possess their brand of single-mindedness. Regular people might not even possess the capacity.

Virtually all of the popular sports or coaching books found in the bookstore say the same thing: Highly successful people are driven, focused, and single-minded in their dedication to their craft. They work much harder than normal people and do not have balanced lives.

Most of these books stress the importance of dreaming and setting goals. It seems that drive and dreams are related, and it would do well for executive coaches to help clients decipher their dreams or lack of them. Certainly, we cannot expect executive clients to be working in the job of their dreams like basketball players or golfers often seem to do. But it is a coach’s job to help a client figure out where passions reside and whether those passions are too distant from the real-life workplace. If dreams and drive can be harnessed and ridden like a fine steed, all the better. That makes the task simple. Align everything directly, and go for it. But when a client is working at a career with great ambivalence, that is a different matter. It is also different when clients feel that their work is secondary to other aspects of life, such as family or triathlons or Girl Scouts. Coach books stress the importance of balance in life, especially with regard to family. But, in some cases, coaches go on to say that they did not do a very good job with their own familial responsibilities, and others quietly got a divorce sometime after their book was published. One coach’s book is dedicated to his father: “I never got to say goodbye or tell you that I loved you.”

This can be a starting point in executive coaching: Where does work fit into your life and your dreams? How driven are you now and how driven do you want to be? Would you feel confused if your larger priorities limited your career success? Similarly, would you be ashamed if your career strivings produced family pathology or spousal resentment? Perhaps an intense career drive was feasible early in one’s career, but incongruent later? Success in important leadership roles often requires a massive commitment of time and energy. Is your client certain that this is what they want to do with their life? Would the commitment be temporary or permanent? Is it part of their character structure to be committed and to work 18 hours per day? If they are part of a family or intimate relationship, are partners clear about the commitment, rules, and agreements?

None of this is meant to demean drive. It is central to excellence in anything, and positive mental health and self-esteem are greatly enhanced when a person is excellent at something. But that “something” does not necessarily have to be career; nor is it reasonable to expect obsessive drive in most clients.

If a client intends great success at work, single-mindedness should be considered, though. Coaches can help clients develop drive, once focus has been defined and established. But I say: consciously choose one or the other (single-mindedness or a balanced life) and remember that you made the choice. Take joy in the outcome, but do not make one choice and expect the fruits of the other. Each path has its benefits and its liabilities. As a coach, help clients clear this up, as it can be confusing and even demoralizing. Organizations often advocate work–life balance, but they rarely reward it. It is the coach’s job to stimulate clarity.

Theme 2: Teach the Fundamentals

Coach Wooden is famous for starting each new season with a lesson on how to properly put on sweat socks. All of the coaching books stress fundamentals, the teaching and learning of the basics of the game that is being played. Famous coaches typically view themselves as teachers, first and foremost. Several felt that it was their teaching skills that separated them from less successful coaches. They stressed redundant coverage of the fundamental skills, even to highly talented players with huge egos. They repeated and repeated these lessons until the skills were second nature, so that they could be executed under the extreme pressures of white-hot competition at the national level. These coaches simply refused to accept an athlete’s reluctance to go over and over the basics. They forced the issue, using their best teaching skills.

Executive coaches can do the same thing. With your client, establish a taxonomy of the basic skills and competencies. Your clients may lack basic listening skills (many people do), they might not send thank you notes, they might be poor time managers and show up late for meetings, or maybe they don’t return phone calls or e-mails promptly. Perhaps they do not know how to make an excellent oral presentation (most people do not). Maybe they cannot write an effective memo or proposal. Some people do not know how to behave at a meeting. Some do not know how to dress. Do they know how to delegate? Conduct an in-depth assessment of the relevant basics, and then go to work on them. Coaches need not be reticent about this. If you do not raise these issues, who will? Break jobs down into component skills and offer a few new ones. Teach these skills using your best teaching. Read pertinent corporate manuals and review them for your clients. Assign readings and go over them step by step. Practice the skills off-line where there is no risk or pressure. Model them for your clients. Problem solve when your clients get stuck. Sell the basics, especially when your clients think they seem simple or when it seems embarrassing to admit they are missing a skill. Some clients have been able to avoid confronting a skill deficit for years, but now it has finally caught up with them.

Teaching, first, requires an agreement between teacher and student. Each must agree to take on the appropriate role, along with its attitudes and behaviors. The teacher must first set the scene and create a learning atmosphere. He or she must then make a clear presentation, give examples, answer questions, and give guiding feedback. Sometimes the teacher exhorts, sometimes the teacher praises. Teachers also respond to feedback about their own effectiveness, making adjustments as they go.

Theme 3: Use Individual Approaches, Flexibility, and Ingenuity

Psychologists sometimes get stuck in their primary theoretical point of view. This is professionally acceptable in the practice of psychotherapy, in part because it is a function of theoretical integrity. But such a stance is counterproductive in executive coaching. Unlike many psychotherapy patients, coaching clients will quit the relationship when they are not getting results.

Virtually all of the sports books emphasize flexibility in human relations. Don Shula refers to this as being “audible-ready” (Blanchard & Shula, 1995). (An audible is a change made in a football play at the absolute last moment—well after you have committed to a different plan.) Each coaching book stresses that absolute rules are counterproductive because athletes must be treated as individuals. Some people learn one way, some another. A coach with a limited or inflexible repertoire will not succeed. Even the athletic coaches with the most rigid reputations recognized this facet of their work, before the appearance of the free-spirited or “modern” self-centered athlete. Cookbook approaches are doomed, and executive clients will sniff them out and run for the door. Most executives have paid their dues in seminars and leadership classes. They have tried cookbook approaches, or they have bought the book but neglected to read it or have forgotten what it said. Coaches are hired and paid to bring a wide-ranging, creative, individually designed and compelling repertoire to the effort.

It is best to treat each new client as a unique adventure. Versatility is essential in executive coaching. There is no need to stick with one theory or one approach as a psychotherapist might do. There are really no theoretical constraints in coaching. Be ready to try any innovative approach that has promise. Even if it does not work, both coach and client can learn from the trial. Communicate a sense that the coaching process is an adventure, and that it will be tailored for that specific client. Seek innovative ways to work with each client, and when something is not paying off, move quickly to a different method.

Theme 4: Play against Yourself

Most coach books do not buy this harsh point of view, that the final score is all that matters. Although some of these books stress winning—often at enormous cost—the majority focus on playing against yourself; that is, striving to better your own best performance. They advocate setting goals relevant to your own progress and measuring performance against those, rather than against an opponent or scoreboard. They value a worthy opponent, as such an adversary offers the best test, but they do not vest much self-esteem in the outcome. One successful coach makes the point that if all the coaches in America choose the national championship as their goal, 99% of them will have to label their season a failure at the end of every year. Wooden is the most steadfast advocate of this view (and is arguably the most successful basketball coach of all time). Wooden even emphasized the processes of preparing and playing as more important than the outcome—the journey over the destination. Wooden made it a point of saying (when in public) that his team scored more points than the opponent, not that they beat them. “He never challenged us to win the game. He always challenged us to do the best we could do” (Walt Hazzard, as quoted in Walton, 1992, p. 65).

With so much at stake it seems implausible that big-time coaches would embrace this perspective, but apparently coaches believe it. For college teams, alumni are all over them to “produce” (read: win), and large amounts of money are involved. These books are quite convincing, though, and their coach-authors make a consistent case for the validity of unrelenting self-improvement with an emphasis on excellence. Most of these coaches stress goal setting, but the goals derive from an effort to improve relative to one’s own gifts and previous accomplishments, not to the performance of others.

This lesson is of value to the executive coach and client. Rather than relying on the scoreboard of institutional personnel decisions, why not set your own personal learning and competence goals and then measure yourself against them? This is a much saner approach. You cannot control the decisions that an organization makes about you, but you can control your expectations, goals, and effort. In this way, you can take some control of your own destiny. You choose the goals, you choose the standards, and you decide how well you are doing and how to respond. When you get passed over or downsized or offered an attractive opportunity, evaluate the situation based on how it fits into your own personal plan. Then decide how to feel and react. Coaches can teach this point of view to clients and the advice of celebrity athletic coaches will provide support.

Theme 5: Visualize

Virtually all successful athletic coaches use covert imagery rehearsal, or visualization, as they call it. This technique has truly made it from cognitive psychology into the arena of big-time sports performance. Athletes go through their entire performance ahead of time in their mind, step by step. John Robinson, the former University of Southern California (USC) football coach, calls this “rehearsal vision” and notes that diver Greg Louganis mentally rehearsed his dives 40 times prior to the actual event (Robinson, 1996, p. 24). Athletes who have used visualization say that when they actually played, they had the feeling that they had done it all before and that it was now second nature. One professional basketball coach described how he engaged in 45 minutes of visualization at home prior to each game “to prepare my mind and come up with last minute adjustments” (Jackson & Delehanty, 1995, p. 121).

Guided imagery literature is available to executive coaches, and covert rehearsal is an essential tool in the coach’s kit. Virtually anything can be rehearsed in the mind prior to execution. If coaches need a refresher in covert rehearsal, sources are included at the end of this chapter (Bry, 1978; Lazarus, 1977). Assign these readings to willing clients. Coaches can teach and demonstrate covert rehearsal in client meetings and advocate its use at home and at work.

Theme 6: Video Feedback

Successful athletic coaches make extensive and creative use of video feedback to teach and support their lessons. Video provides us with information that is unavailable any other way, and it does so powerfully. No talk is necessary, and the feedback can be provided without much verbal criticism. Verbal feedback must be offered skillfully, lest the receiver experience it as criticism. The tape is not critical, and it does not lie. Certain things simply cannot be communicated adequately with words, and sometimes a picture really is worth a thousand words. Athletic coaches would not think of coaching without video. Big-time college and professional programs rely on video to understand what they are doing and what they need to change, even during contests, while the action is taking place on the field. Most use video to understand technical elements, but some creatively use it to change a player’s attitude or to reward good performance or loyalty. For example, basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski once used it this way:

On another occasion Krzyzewski spliced together a segment of the awful plays that a star had made during one bad performance and played it in front of the entire team. This seems risky, but perhaps this player needed a serious wake-up call. On the other hand, Krzyzewski presents each senior with a video of the highlights of his best efforts each spring as a graduation gift to celebrate his career.

Walsh once produced a video with a series of brief clips of stirring moments from several sports, focusing on the athletes’ eyes and the way that they focused their concentration. He used it to motivate a complacent team (Walsh et al., 1998, p. 330).

Most psychologists and mental health practitioners underutilize video. The Harvard survey of experienced executive coaches revealed that coaches do not think very highly of video feedback in practice. Only 25% reported that video is a “particularly valuable” tool, whereas 18% felt that video has little or no value in coaching (Kauffman & Coutu, 2009, p. 16). In my view, video feedback has enormous potential for executive coaches and should be used with virtually every client. Younger clients grew up with YouTube and are comfortable around cameras, webcams, and screenings. The equipment is inexpensive and convenient. Nonetheless, some measure of creativity is necessary, and some clients will be reluctant at first. But the benefits are clearly worth it. Show clients how they look, how they act, and how they speak and sound. Record meetings and evaluate them later. Practice new skills on tape and review them. Audio recordings can be a powerful tool. With your clients’ permission, record messages that your clients send. Listen and practice them until they are perfect. It is much easier to learn how to leave an effective voice message when you can hear yourself and get a coach’s feedback than it is to read about it in a book. Rehearse important conversations and interactions prior to execution. For example, audio-video rehearsal is useful when a client must deliver a difficult message to a partner or employee, when a client must sell something, and when a client must change a troublesome mannerism. Video is of particular value when an analyst or manager strives to become a partner. A significant job promotion often requires a shift in identity and style, and this is very hard to communicate without visual input. A recent Harvard Business Review essay makes the point that aspiring partners must “forge a new identity,” but all the help they get is “snippets of vague advice” such as “If you want to be a partner, start acting like one” (Ibarra, 2000). This is easier said than done, but video feedback closes the loop between a comment like that and real learning. When you see how partners behave and then compare it to how you appear on a video screen, the changes are tangible. This way, the coach does not have to be the bearer of bad news. Just let the video do the talking.

Theme 7: Learning from Defeat

Virtually every coach’s and athlete’s book makes reference to the importance of adversity and one’s response to it. They credit losses with great learning.

Some of these books refer to personal tragedies such as the loss of a loved one or a hurricane as having been motivational. Duke’s basketball coach, Krzyzewski, calls failure a part of success (Krzyzewski & Phillips, 2000, p. 44). Former NBA coach Pat Riley even has a name for sudden adversity or losses: He calls them “thunderbolts.” Such a thunderbolt can occur when a star athlete suddenly goes down with a major injury. These books make a great deal of how important it is to learn from negative events and to grow stronger from them.

This is of relevance to the executive coach, especially when called in to help a client who has suffered a major career setback. There is a lot to be learned when you are passed over for a promotion or a prized assignment. A coach can help reframe the loss, while being careful not to trivialize it. First, empathize with how significant and disappointing the loss seems and feels. Next, figure out how your client views it. Then find a way to introduce the possibility that the experience can be a turning point or learning point. What is there to learn from the event? What weaknesses does it expose? Does the loss imply that this client needs to move in a different direction or strengthen a skill or learn a new skill? The response of some people to a setback is to tell themselves that they simply must work harder. This is rarely effective, because they risk doing even more of the things that were not working in the first place. It is more likely true that they need to sift through the wreckage and find ways to change, to do some things differently, to view other things differently, or to learn something completely new.

Pain and disappointment can generate energy, and the coach can help direct that energy toward a productive change rather than allow it to be squandered or used to further damage client self-esteem. Coaches must be there to remind clients that things cannot possibly go your way 100% of the time. Setbacks are normal and expectable. Sports books are unanimous and clear about this. Everyone suffers setbacks, and the key is to take advantage of them, just as you take advantage of vitamins or the wind at your back.

Most of these books stress flexibility. One must be able to adjust to changes to succeed. When an opponent throws something your way that is new or unexpected you must be able to shift your thinking, make exceptions to the rules, and take a different approach. Although many famous athletic coaches come across as steely taskmasters, their books typically contain examples of how they broke their own rules from time to time with good results. Often these exceptions were on behalf of a player who made a mistake, and were made on the basis of the coach’s intuition rather than published rules.

Theme 8: Communication, Trust, and Integrity

Sports coaching books stress the importance of communication, but then, so does everyone. The trick is to figure out what they mean. In some cases it is possible that these big-time coaches have no idea what they mean and are, in fact, terrible communicators much of the time. Sometimes they simply mean that you should use clear language and a direct approach when you talk to an athlete.

“Coach K will always tell you the truth” (Steve Wojciechowski, Duke athlete, as quoted in Krzyzewski & Phillips, 2000, p. 221). Several coach books emphasize the importance of direct, frank, and honest interaction. They point out that this may create difficult moments, but that benefits clearly outweigh the negatives. Krzyzewski even goes so far as to recommend that you “make the truth the basis of all you do.” This would be hard to swallow from most big-time, big-program coaches, but Krzyzewski is a West Pointer, and you get the impression that he really means it.

Most of these coaches connect communication with trust, and trust with honesty. For several of these coaches, communication means looking the other person in the eye when you talk and listen, so that you fully understand his or her intention. They talk about clarity and checking assumptions, giving examples of what has happened when they failed to do so. They advocate confrontation of problems quickly and directly. Basketball coach Rick Pitino (Pitino & Reynolds, 1997, p. 136) makes the recommendation that, in interpersonal confrontations “the goal is to connect, not defeat.” This is an important insight because of the natural competitive dynamics that tend to lurk in male-to-male coaching or mentoring situations.

High-level communication skills are the primary set of tools for the executive coach. This means that you are able to model them as well as teach them. Directness, excellent active listening skills, and a commitment to the truth are as important to the executive coach as they are to the football coach. If you need a refresher in active listening, get one. Reread Chapter 5 of this book. If you need to listen to yourself speak, record some meetings and study how you sound. Upgrade the quality of your speaking and listening. Make it a point to read the latest on communication in business. Executive coaches are expected to know what the gurus are saying, and it is best if you can teach what they advocate (if you agree with it) or teach something better in response.

Executive coaches often find themselves in the role of consultant, and a lot of baggage accompanies that role. For many, the first reaction to a consultant is cynicism and distrust. Clients have had experiences with consultants that left a bad taste in their mouth, often because consultants overpromised and underdelivered. After that, they disappeared or were let go. Consider absolute honesty and frankness to be core business skills. As the old expression goes, honesty shocks people. Serious, high integrity, communicated directly, enables you to stand out in the crowd, especially over the long haul, assuming that you are not obnoxious or dogmatic about it. This is a tough standard, but it is absolutely worth it. Any embarrassment or loss of work or money over the short run will eventually pay off, even if the payoff is only in the realm of your own sense of self. Your integrity is liable to be tested at least once with every client in some small or large way. Make sure that you pass the test the first time.

Nuggets

Aside from the important themes common to the genre of books by coaches, many contain small and unique nuggets of advice for executive coaches. Here are a few that can be useful.

Nugget 1: Innocence

This is a very intriguing concept introduced by professional basketball coach Pat Riley. Although Riley’s book (Riley, 1993) is never completely clear about his philosophy, it advocates an innocence regarding the basic tension between the human urge to take and to give. He recommends that his players take a chance on one another, giving—on the assumption that the gift will be reciprocated, resulting in a win–win outcome. Therapists sometimes call this “opening your heart.” Without this attitude of innocence, cooperation cannot flourish.

Executive coaches would do well to experiment with such innocence. Begin with a commitment to integrity and assume that you can count on the same from others. Sometimes the results will disappoint. But without an innocent premise, long-term trust is unlikely.

Nugget 2: Clear Contract

Michael Jordan, Shaquille O’Neal, and Kobe Bryant’s coach, Phil Jackson, advocates a “clear set of agreed-upon principles” because they reduce conflict and “depersonalize criticism” (Jackson & Delehanty, 1995). Riley advocates a “core covenant,” and although his book is not exactly clear about what he means, he advocates the establishment of some form of central agreement between team members and coach—an agreement that all would hold sacred so that everyone could count on it (Riley, 1993).

This is excellent advice for the executive coach who is sometimes called into situations typified by their singular lack of clarity. Something is wrong or someone needs to be changed, but it is not exactly clear what that is, and you may not be assigned to the right person to fix the problem. The effort required to make a clear pact and to agree on principles is well worth the time. It allows you to learn about your client at the same time you communicate and model the importance of clarity. Plus, as Jackson says, if you have agreement on principles, restrictions do not need to be personal. If your client has to miss a coaching meeting, you have already agreed on how it will be handled. There is no reason for either party to take it personally. The agreement is in place, so you just stick with it.

Nugget 3: Goal Setting Is Overrated

This nugget comes from Don Shula’s book (Blanchard & Shula, 1995). Shula is old school, and a dean of American football coaching. His view is that goals can get in the way of present-moment living, of making the most of the opportunities and energy we have today. He feels that goal setting is important, but it is the follow-up and attention to details on a day-to-day basis that make things work. He also advocates that goals, when set, should be small, clear, and well monitored, and that they should not get in the way of immediate awareness.

He is right. Together with your client, choose discrete, doable goals that are tracked. When you accomplish those, congratulate yourselves and move on to new ones with a sense of self-efficacy. Do not let them blind you to what is happening in the here and now. And do not pick goals that are global and difficult to accomplish or measure. They tend to hang over everyone’s head and pollute the atmosphere when they are not accomplished and will not quite go away.

Nugget 4: Curiosity and Confusion

Swimming coach James “Doc” Counsilman points out that curiosity is the first step in the learning process. He figures that curiosity must be present for learning to occur. Confusion follows when the learner is confronted with a situation that does not make sense using the current knowledge available to the student. This is followed by a “quest for knowledge” (Walton, 1992, p. 78).

These factors are important to the executive coach who is often confronted with a client who is not necessarily curious about skills to be learned but is confused by what has happened. Instead of sorting out the confusion and helping clients to feel better immediately, it is probably a good idea to exploit these feelings of confusion to motivate the learner’s curiosity. Reframe the situation so that it is perceived as an opportunity. Leverage the confusion to nourish curiosity.

Nugget 5: Perpetual Change

“The older we get, the more we must change.” Rick Pitino, the basketball coach, makes this interesting point in his book Success Is a Choice: Ten Steps to Overachieving in Business and Life (Pitino & Reynolds, 1997). He writes that change becomes more important as we age, because it keeps us fresh and energized and young. This is often the opposite of how humans behave in real life, as we get older and more stuck in the same old dependable ruts. Pitino points out how quickly the business environment changes and how important it is to be ahead of the changes, or at least excited to move along with them. Mental health practitioners certainly must be willing to take heed and change with the times. This might mean a reexamination of important ideas, values, and techniques for the sake of surviving and thriving.

Nugget 6: Patience Is Not a Virtue

Although few of the marquee coaches seem to be patient human beings, Walsh is explicit about it: “In reality, patience is not always a virtue” (Walsh et al., 1998, p. 355). He goes on to say that a proactive approach is better than giving the impression that things will work out in the end.

Executive coaches must pay attention to this factor and make difficult decisions about pushiness. How accepting should they be about the client’s timeline and progress? Most business people expect to change and to grow faster than most psychotherapy patients. And they do. It is always possible that the pushy coach could alienate his client or foster resistance, but pushiness is more likely to be welcomed, especially when the fees are high. This can be difficult for former psychotherapists to learn and do, after years of patients and patience. Plus, it tends to run against the Rogerian stance advocated in Chapter 5 of this book.

Nugget 7: Love, Fun, and Work

Most coaching books make this point in some fashion. Several point out the importance of fun—of having a good time while you work. John Robinson uses fun as a barometer: “Pay attention when you are not having fun,” as this is an indicator that something is wrong (Robinson, 1996). Robinson’s successor at USC, Pete Carroll, is the epitome of a successful person who has fun at work.

Executive coaching is the same way. Keep track of the level of humor and fun along the way, as well as the level of optimism and excitement. Use these qualities to measure the process. Add your style and the personality of your client to the mix. (Some people are very uncomfortable with mirth in the workplace, especially at first.) Enjoyment does not necessarily mean laughter or jokes. It can simply be an attitude that everything has an amusing or joyful element to it. Find an appropriate way to mix fun with the work. Make it a priority.

Nugget 8: Awareness Is Everything

One coach book stands out from the crowd of others, in that it takes a distinctly “Eastern” perspective on big-time basketball. This is Los Angeles Lakers’ coach Phil Jackson’s book Sacred Hoops (Jackson & Delehanty, 1995). Jackson mixes the Pentecostal religion of his youth with Lakota Sioux culture and Zen koans and Buddhist practice. The result is an intriguing take on how to align and motivate athletic megastars to win championships. One of the several valuable points he makes is that awareness is central to all that he teaches. You must be open to what is happening now—in the present moment, right here.

This is just as important to the executive coach as it is to the athletic coach. It is a fine idea to go into client meetings armed with extensive tools and tentative plans. But it is a mistake to allow those plans to interfere with observation and present-moment awareness. Take a posture of readiness—see what is going on and react. Notice.

Consider the following example. As an executive coach, you go to a session with a client, and you have clear ideas about what that client needs to do. But, as you pay attention to his physical movement and voice, you notice that he is fidgety and seems tense. Something about him tells you that he is not focused on what you are planning. So you stop what you are doing and ask questions. You inquire about his attention—what is on his mind? He tells you that he is facing a deadline. He has two days before his annual self-assessment is due, and he is immobilized. He does not know what to write or how to get started. So you shift gears (radically) and use the meeting to help him think about and write that document. You invite him to open up his laptop and you start to draft the assessment together. As part of the effort, you help him explore the issues you had originally intended to work on in the meeting. It is all related, and your client is highly interested and focused, because you are attending to the matter that is of highest priority to him at the present moment.

Prepare, and then be aware.

Summary

1. Hundreds of sports books and famous coachs’ books flood the market these days. They are littered with clichés and well-meaning but simple motivational ideas. There is a sameness about them, but there are a few core ideas of great usefulness to the executive coach. Among these are:

   •  Take the high road. Create honest relationships and protect your integrity.

   •  Establish a clear working contract with your client and stick to it.

   •  Learn, teach, and practice to perfection the basic, fundamental building block skills required for success in the business world, even with “high-level” players.

   •  Treat each client uniquely. Adjust quickly when things are not working.

   •  Consider the use of audio and video feedback with every client.

   •  Pay attention to your own drive and single-mindedness. See if you can find a way to do your work that really gets your juices flowing. Then watch your balance.

   •  Pay attention to the level of excitement and fun. If it is not there, find out why. Integrate humor into everything, even if it is just a smiling attitude.

   •  Remain aware. Bring a tentative plan, but stay present. Do not let your plan get in the way. Notice what is happening in the here and now, and be ready to adjust.

2. Sample the genre of sports motivation books. Find a few that you like and consider assigning them to clients for reading and discussion. Several are listed in the References and Recommended Readings sections that follow.

References

Albert Camus Society UK. (n.d.). Albert Camus and football. Retrieved January 3, 2009, from: http://www.camus-society.com/camus-football.htm.

Berra, Y. (1998). The Yogi book (I really didn’t say everything I said). New York: Workman.

Blanchard, K., & Shula, D. (1995). Everyone’s a coach: Five business secrets for high-performance coaching. New York: Harper Business Books.

Bry, A. (1978). Visualization: Directing the movies of your mind. New York: Harper & Rowe.

Green, C. D. (2003). Psychology strikes out: Coleman R. Griffith and the Chicago Cubs. History of Psychology, 6(3), 267–283.

Griffith, C. R. (1926). The psychology of coaching: A study of coaching methods from the point of psychology. New York: Scribner’s.

Ibarra, H. (2000, March–April). Making partner: A mentor’s guide to the psychological journey. Harvard Business Review, 78(2), 147–155.

Jackson, P., & Delehanty, H. (1995). Sacred hoops. New York: Hyperion.

Jones, C. (1998). What makes winners win: Thoughts and reflections from successful athletes. New York: Broadway Books.

Kauffman, C., & Coutu, D. (2009). HBR research report: The realities of executive coaching. Available at: coachingreport.hbr.org

Krzyzewski, M., & Phillips, D. T. (2000). Leading with the heart: Coach K’s successful strategies for basketball, business, and life. New York: Warner Books.

Lazarus, A. (1977). In the mind’s eye: The power of imagery for personal enrichment. New York: The Guilford Press.

Pitino, R., & Reynolds, B. (1997). Success is a choice: Ten steps to overachieving in business and life. New York: Broadway Books.

Riley, P. (1993). The winner within. New York: Berkley Books.

Robinson, J. (1996). Coach to coach: Business lessons from the locker room. San Diego, CA: Pfeiffer & Company.

Walsh, B., Billick, B., & Peterson, J. A. (1998). Finding the winning edge. Champaign, IL: Sports Publishing.

Walton, G. M. (1992). Beyond winning: The timeless wisdom of great philosopher coaches. Champaign, IL: Leisure Press.

Recommended Readings

Bradley, B. (1998). Values of the game. New York: Broadway Books.

Carril, P., & White, D. (1997). The smart take from the strong: The basketball philosophy of Pete Carril. New York: Simon & Schuster.

Cousy, B., and Power, F. (1970). Basketball: Concepts and techniques. Boston: Allyn & Bacon.

Chu, D. (1982). Dimensions of sports studies. New York: Wiley.

Davis, J. (1999). Talkin’ tuna: The wit and wisdom of coach Bill Parcells. Toronto, Ontario: Evangelicals Concerned Western Regional Publishers.

Didinger, R. (Ed.), & Sheedy, B. (1996). Game plans for success: Winning strategies for business and life from ten top NFL head coaches. Chicago: NTC/Contemporary Publishing.

Gallwey, W. T. (1974). The inner game of tennis. New York: Random House.

Gopnik, A. (1999, September 20). America’s coach (Vince Lombardi). The New Yorker, pp. 124–133.

Hill, B. (1999). Basketball: Coaching for success. Champaign, IL: Sagamore Publishing.

Holtz, L. (1998). Winning every day. New York: Harper Business Books.

Lombardi, V. (1963). Run to daylight. New York: Prentice Hall.

Lombardi, V. (1995). Coaching for teamwork: Winning concepts for business in the 21^st century. Bellevue, WA: Reinforcement Press.

Martens, R. (1987). Coaches guide to sport psychology. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics Publishers.

Penick, H., & Schrake, B. (1992). Harvey Penick’s little red book: Lessons and teaching from a lifetime in golf. New York: Simon & Schuster.

Penick, H., & Schrake, B. (1993). And if you play golf, you’re my friend: Further reflections of a grown caddy. New York: Simon & Schuster.

Selleck, G. (1999). Court sense: The invisible edge in basketball and life. South Bend, IN: Diamond Communications.

Suinn, R. (1980). Psychology in sports. Minneapolis: Burgess Publishing Company.

Walsh, B. (1993, June 7). How to manage superstars. Forbes ASAP.

Walsh, B., & Dickey, G. (1990). Building a champion. New York: St. Martin’s.

Wooden, J., & Jamison, S. (1997). Wooden: A lifetime of observations and reflections on and off the court. Chicago: NTC/Contemporary Publishing.