Everybody gets better with a coach. The best of the best know this. Tiger Woods has a swing coach. Tom Brady had a throwing coach. Steve Jobs had a business coach. The best actors and actresses have coaches. Presidents have speech coaches to help them communicate more effectively.
No matter how gifted or talented you may be, you too have areas where a coach can help you get incrementally or significantly better.
In this The Philadelphia Inquirer article, Alex Coffey details the impact Philadelphia Phillies hitting coach Kevin Long is having on center fielder Brandon Marsh. Whether you are a baseball fan or not, the lessons learned about the value of a coach could potentially help you become a better leader.
The following are 6 Things Great Coaches Do:
Great Coaches Identify Small Improvements You Can Make Which Result In A Big Difference In Your Performance
Coach Long knew for Marsh to become a better hitter he needed to simplify his swing. To accomplish this, Long helped Marsh reduce his head movement and have greater use of his legs. A small thing like lessening head movement resulted in a significant increase in the amount of time Marsh was able to see the ball which leads to the next point…
Great Coaches Help You Make Better Decisions
With Marsh now able to see the ball better and longer, his pitch selection improved. As a result, his walk rate increased from 6.1% to 14%. Marsh’s strikeout rate has also dropped from 34.3% to 30.8%. Better decisions allowed him to become a better hitter.
For a deeper dive on decision-making read The First Mistake Leaders Often Make In Decision-Making.
Great Coaches Help You Develop New Skills
Marsh’s ability to make better decisions allowed him to develop a new skill called “Controlled Aggression.” Referring to this new approach to hitting, Marsh said, “Controlled aggression is probably the best way to put it. … If you’re too aggressive, you try to chase out of the zone.”
Great Coaches Help You Play To Your Strengths
Marsh made an interesting observation, “Really trying to stick to my strengths and where I feel like I can put the ball in the gaps and do damage. And if I don’t see it (the pitch I’m looking for) there before I get to a two-strike count, I try not to swing at it.”
Here is what I deducted from his comments:
Small Improvements + Better Decisions + New Skills = Playing To Your Strengths
Allow me to elaborate:
Small Improvements (more legs, less head movement, seeing the ball longer) + Better Decisions (“if I don’t see it there before I get to a two-strike count, I try not to swing at it.”) + New Skills (“Controlled aggression, I feel like I can put the ball in the gaps and do damage.”) = Playing To Your Strengths
Great Coaches Help You Control What Only You Can Control
There is so much out of our control as leaders. It requires incredible mental and organizational discipline to focus on only the things you can control.
This is an area where Coach Long has really helped Marsh. He noted, “I’m really just trying to control the at-bat instead of being controlled. I know it’s hard to take control when everything is in the pitcher’s hands, but really just trying to take the at-bat I want to take, depending on the situation at hand.”
Great Coaches Help You Simplify Things
Albert Einstein famously said, “Genius is making complex ideas simple, not making simple ideas complex.” Herbert Simon would add, “A wealth of information creates a poverty of attention.”
Coach Long has helped Marsh cut through the clutter and simplify his hitting process. He concluded, “In reality, I just need to get to first. Just keep it simple.”
Conclusion
There are some leaders reading this post right now who have made their responsibilities too complex. If this describes you, please allow me the privilege of coaching you today:
Identify areas where you can make slight but necessary improvements, make better decisions, develop new skills, play to your strengths, control what only you can control, simplify things, and finally – just get to your proverbial first base. Batter up!
My latest eBook is available for download. The Top 65 Leadership Quotes Of 2022 Part 1 is a resource every leader should have. Great quotes bring clarity and put into words who we intuitively feel as leaders. They give us wisdom and insights which advance the mission and vision of our organizations. This eBook includes thoughts and insights from leaders like Warren Buffett, Nick Saban, James Clear, Dawn Staley, Jurgen Klopp, Jerry Seinfeld, and even Ted Lasso. This resource will take you about 10 minutes to read but a lifetime to apply. You will want to stop and ponder the implications of each quote. Click HERE or on the image provided for immediate download!