It’s a check and balance, something that we do on a regular and ongoing basis with our athletes, whether they’re just starting out in T-ball or all the way up to our professionals. A coach is there to lead players through drills and game-time scenarios. Athletes practice regularly to maintain their already honed skills and work on improving skills that may need some work. With that being said, why wouldn’t we want to maintain that same expectation of excellence in the other aspects of our lives? Let’s be honest; there’s only a small percentage of athletes that will continue to perform on an athletic field for their entire career. Most of us will choose another path to spend our time committed to that pays the bills. But that doesn’t change the fact that each position we hold has a required set of skills that may not always come naturally to us. So, PRACTICE and having a COACH are imperative to continued success in our respective fields. 

When starting out in any position, we need to have a basic understanding of what the job is and what is expected of us. Then we pick up processes here and there that help round out our duties as a whole. We may have a review here or there with a manager about our performance, or we may not. But we will never improve our performance if no one points out where we can strengthen our game or fill in any gaps. Active coaching in any position will assist an associate on many levels. Some of the most important “coaching” can be done by making sure that the company’s set processes are being followed, and if they aren’t, we have an opportunity to take corrective action. In an industry that deals with customer service, every customer interaction is different. We need practice with different scenarios and the ability to review scenarios to improve (drills and game day reps). Why not review a scenario that we experienced firsthand?

Just like shooting free throws in basketball practice or kicking field goals in football, we need to feel the right things physically, but we also need a coach to see things from a perspective we cannot see alone. We can take a step back and review our performance, listen to the coach, self asses for future situations and focus on consistent performance of the right moves. Daily reps and performance assessments are a great way, and really the only way, to continuous improvement in any skill set.  Bringing that philosophy into the workplace means we ARE going places. Get the entire team on the same skill level, and improve daily, and our business is on FIRE (in a great way). 

Really the only way to be excellent is by getting active coaching on our primary skill set regularly. And the old saying really does still ring true “practice makes perfect.”