I love sports. I love everything about them: the competition, the teamwork, the strategy. etc. Having played sports my entire life, I like to compare specific things you see sports teams doing with the business world because I feel there are things that businesses can take from these teams to help improve their own performance.
There are three areas where I feel sports excel and business should try and follow: vision, preparation, and performance. In three separate posts, I will expand upon each one of these items.
Vision:
Every successful team can attribute a large portion of their success to the vision given to them by their coach. Successful coaches will consistently share with their teams their vision of where they feel their teams can be and what their players can accomplish. Before the season even begins, players know what is expected of them, and how they can contribute to the success of their team.
Coaches will post their vision in locker rooms, in tunnels, in meeting rooms, on t-shirts, in notebooks, and anywhere else a player may come across it. They want it to be very clear to all of their players what they are trying to accomplish during the season.
Now contrast that to your company: Do you know what your company would consider a successful year? What kind of goals and aspirations do they have? What is expected of you as the employee? Where does your company want to be in 5 years, and what kind of role do they want you to play in it?
Most business owners know the answers to the questions above. However, they do a very poor job of disseminating this information to their employees. Employees are often confused as to the specific role they play within their company. Yes, they may understand their job duties, but they don’t know how this specifically contributes to the overall success of the company.
Message: Business Owners share your vision! You know where you want the company to go. You have an idea of what it can become so share it with your employees. They want to know. Employees, just like athletes, will perform better when they know what their role is and how it will contribute to the company’s overall success.