Guiding the championship season.
Are you listening to your managers? At How We Won, we’ve seen how managers are in a unique position to develop their teams’ best strengths for optimal performance. Managers know exactly what their teams need to stay engaged and productive through the ups and downs of a season. So we’ve filled this guide with best practices on coaching managers. Looking through the lens of our 2018 championship with Drew Saylor, we highlight nine key points of the season common to all managers and organizations. We hope this view can help strengthen your upcoming conversations with your managers, driving forward a championship winning team.
Strengths Training
Leading With Strengths is our daily tool for building resilience and optimism in your managers in the most uncertain times. Anchored in past successes, our approach involves ongoing conversation individualized with a talent assessment and guide called Strengths Based Leadership. It’s in sync with how the work actually happens and is meaningful to managers.
Breaking Records: Drew Saylor’s Strengths-Infused Strategy that Crowned the Quakes as 2018 Champs!
Drew Saylor
September 2, 2017. CAL Playoffs.
Drew Saylor: “We were winning, but there was something missing.” When Lancaster knocked out Rancho, Drew was fighting for more than just a win.
TOP COACHING TIPS
To maximize your manager’s strengths and manage his weaknesses after a season-ending loss you can use the behavior analytics from his talent assessment to help him stay focused on his top talents.
Managers are insanely talented at keeping things the same. Some even prefer it that way. They’re most comfortable with predictable patterns. Patterns they know work best. In general, your manager is not going to be in a good mood after a loss. Much less one this dramatic. Some are really good at maintaining their stoicism about it. Others are really great at expressing their disappointment. You’re going to feel your manager bring this energy to the follow up conversation.
Our idea for action here is a reminder to be even more supportive of your manager during this time. It’s not always easy to just forget about the loss and move on. He is going to want to vent, create distance from the conflict or grieve the loss. Helping him feel totally comfortable bringing that drama and energy to the conversation creates an open, non-judgemental space. It’s vital to the outcome of the conversation that you see the chance your manager is giving himself. He’s steering himself toward a more comfortable pattern of thought, feeling and action. Intuitively, he knows it’ll be more productive in the short and long term.
If you listen without trying to fix the situation and pick up the questions he’s asking himself to hand them back to him then he’ll feel heard and understood. This is what drives him to a place of internal balance. He’ll feel more productive and dynamic once he’s there. He’ll begin to recognize just how much he accomplished with his team throughout the course of the season, including the final result. You’ll hear his why and his win and should use these the following morning (daily AM “WHY” text) to frame your message in the way he’s told you it will keep his motivation focused and recognizing his success (daily PM “WIN” text). This will contribute to making the organization more productive and dynamic overall.
February 23, 2018. Spring Training.
Dreaming of a future as the best. Watching rising prospects. The highs. The lows. The moves. And buzz. How will the season be won?
TOP COACHING TIPS
At this point in the season, you can maximize your manager’s strengths and help him manage his weaknesses by adapting to his top talents as the data you’re tracking on his behavior grows.
As team members are sharing controversial opinions, your manager is going to see this as an opportunity to engage. He needs lots of touches to engage with those members. This is what makes the difference for him when he’s got people around him.
Our idea for action here lies in your manager’s ability to see the areas of agreement amongst all the members of the team instead of imposing his view on them. The same goes for you. He’ll know if you hold a differing view just as much as he can sense it in others. In your manager’s view there’s little to be gained from conflict or friction amongst team members. He sees it as a waste of time. He’s going to want to hold these conflicts to a minimum so he’ll try to steer the conversation away from confrontation. You’ll want to follow him on this guiding value of harmony and listen for the common ground he’s seeing amongst team members.
One spot you can help your manager hold himself accountable as he’s striving for this harmony is in keeping his own opinions in check. Your support on this end will make him feel more productive and bring more overall consensus and support to the organization.
April 5, 2018. Opening Day.
It’s time to move on from Spring Training. Drew remembers returning to Rancho as a member of the Quakes, “It was developing a new culture in the same spot.” The 2018 season officially begins with great aspirations.
TOP COACHING TIPS
You can maximize your manager’s strengths and help him manage his weaknesses heading into opening day by making the largest data points available throughout his behavior system more readily available to him when he needs them.
Your manager is going to have a strong tendency to be present. He knows what’s happening best in the moment and will manage the day’s events and the game based on right here, right now. When he sees the most effective people on staff are being currently undervalued, he’s going to focus his attention on that.
Our idea for action here lies in seeing where he wants to include others so that he can draw everyone together. His purpose is to make everyone feel part of the team from the start. He isn’t drawn to exclusive groups within the team. So he’ll actively avoid those groups that are excluding or ignoring others or he’ll work to expand them so that everyone on the team can benefit from the support. He’ll draw in those team members he feels are outsiders looking in or feeling hurt. You’ll want to follow his instinct to be accepting of others by casting fewer judgements throughout the conversation and mirroring his respect for everyone on the team as same and important. This will bring the warmth of team out and into the organization.
May 15, 2018. Losing Isn’t Easy.
Losing over and over and over again. The 15 biggest growth moments of 2018.
TOP COACHING TIPS
If you’re working on a goal together that’s presenting with seemingly insurmountable obstacles like this one then you can continue to maximize your manager’s strengths and help him manage his weaknesses by adding the top data points back into the conversation.
If one of those data points shows your manager has an unbelievable tendency for the schedule then his unique perspective on time management and how time should be played in this challenge will emerge to take the lead. Since he’s not playing to a highly positive outcome that’s feeding his optimism, the chronic losses will feel like the worst kind of reps to him. Each loss will suck more energy out of him. He’ll become heavy with the pressure and dragged down by it.
You can take action here by following your manager’s instinct to insulate and protect himself from the negativity. This will include negative members on the team. Respect his desire to avoid them. Show appreciation for his feelings in specific, tangible and personal ways. He’ll naturally begin to see members on the team who find the same joy and humor in the world as he does. Remind him that he gets the greatest joy from recognizing and encouraging the team. They’ll energize each other and this will help the team rise above the daily frustrations that are adding up. It will help them see and focus on the good things that are happening amidst the challenges. Lifting the team and the organization upwards.
July 10, 2018. The Streak. Game 15.
The 15 best games of 2018. Rancho is fired up, focused on the bigger picture, and earning everything.
TOP COACHING TIPS
During this time your manager will be working with all of his top talents. He’s implemented the data analysis to maximize his strengths and manage his weakness so well he’s turned his ability to provide near-perfect performance into a win streak.
Your manager is going to get a great deal of satisfaction from being a leader during this time. He feels responsible for representing voices on the team that haven’t been heard until now. And this win streak is a validation of that care and effort.
You can take action here by following your manager as he continues activating on the opportunities he sees to bring together the diverse backgrounds on the team. That’s how he’s creating a winning culture. Let him explain what they all have in common. Understand that he respects the team’s differences. He wants to keep appreciating what they all share. He’s going to want to keep working hard to see that no one is overlooked in the process. You can remind him that team members relate to each other through him too. He’s a conduit for the information the team needs to succeed. He can interact with all parts of the team. And enjoy the challenge of making everyone feel important. This will keep them effectively connected to each other and the organization throughout their win streak.
July 31, 2018. Trade Deadline.
Dodgers, shortstop Manny Machado agree to deal. What will help Rancho reconnect with the game?
TOP COACHING TIPS
Sometimes when managers think historically about their season go straight to the deficits or what’s not working, as opposed to the sheer untapped power that there is. “How can the human capitol, talent and strength that exists on the team be harnessed and contribute not just to the organization but to the whole game?” Having your manager think more globally about their communities of practice is significant here because the focus turns to a conversation about belief, “What values are our actions tying back to here?” It can also be as simple as, “What’s the difference we’re trying to make in the world?” This also works as a litmus test for the question, “Are our priorities in the place we’re going to get the most energy from?” This is what opens up discussions about team goals as they relate to the team and what they really stand for. It’s these core values that inspire effortless action.
September 8, 2018. CAL Playoffs.
Rancho is creating dominance as they compete. This is the moment that the greatest team in the league shows not a damn thing stands in their way.
TOP COACHING TIPS
When they’re trying to figure out who they want to be in the lineup, listen for who they believe is going to be successful in each role.
Listen to where else they’re focusing most. For example, if they’re taking a strong look at the staff’s skills, what makes that so significant?
Listen for what tools they’re using in their selection process. Ask: What’s been most helpful about those tools?
September 14, 2018. Champions.
This is real. The journey and why it’s so important to win.
If your manager is struggling with all the thank you’s you can give them one more challenge. Have them think about the small sparks that help them make the most of their talents and strengths. You might say something like, “I want you to try this for me. Next time someone gives you a compliment just say, ‘Thank you.’ Let that appreciation in. Don’t apologize. Don’t try to qualify it. Their gratitude is a spark to your flame. It’s how we fought to the very end and made it as the last team standing.”
September 18, 2018. Off Season.
Who will land the championship-winning free agent? After the final game, Drew returns to his family and considers his next opportunity for growth.
TOP COACHING TIPS
You can maximize your manager’s strengths and manage his weakness when an opportunity like this arises following a truly remarkable season by applying your top talent data points to moving forward.
Your manager is going to be excited about continuing with the mission in his next leadership role. Given his options, he’s going to want to be sure about what he’s being called on to lead next.
Our idea for action in this conversation is to follow him as he’s looking for authoritative backup. He might need expert opinion here to feel comfortable taking action especially if the opportunity will lead him to another organization. He’ll seek out and consult the perspectives of people in the organization and the community he’s helped build. He’ll be relying on this expert knowledge to take the next step. You’ll want to match the openness to different views he’s showing up with because it strengthens his learning in the decision-making process. It also helps him see the areas of agreement within himself.
You can feel free to jump into the conversation with him when it turns to more practical matters. This will draw him closer to resolving any conflicts in the decision. It will also help him polish his technique for resolving conflict without confrontations, frustrations or upsets and see stronger starting points of agreement about which actions are clear and can be taken next. This clarity will help others see the practical side of his decision and help the organization continue to work productively as he transition into the next stage of his leadership.