“Without counsel plans fail, but with many advisers they succeed.” Proverbs 15:22
Independence is a virtue that many business leaders possess. There are great benefits in having the capability to do things yourself. You don’t have to depend on others to accomplish things. You don’t have to wait for someone else in order to finish a project. And it is great to save from paying someone else to do what you are able to do yourself. But what happens when you aren’t producing the quality you should, at the rate you should, or with the power you should? In comes an advisor. Let’s look at how the NFL (National Football League) handles production of it’s players for a great example to our own businesses.
The typical NFL team has upwards of 16 coaches (1 head, and 15 assistants). Let’s see how some of these coaches would fit in our businesses. And for the sake of this blog, we as business professionals sit in the position as head coaches.
The head coach gets the most credit for winning games, and the most flack for losing them. Sound familiar? As the business owner, you must be casting vision for the team. It is up to you to ensure you have an amazing coaching staff, and that every player is the best they can be. You have a lot of say so (if not all) in who is hired and who is fired. You (should) want to win more than anyone which means that you work harder than anyone else.
The offensive coordinator develops the offensive game plan and works with the head coach to make sure the right plays are written, and practiced. For business owners, this is your sales coach or sales manager. They must write the sales plan, and make sure that it is implemented and executed to perfection. Anything less than that and you will lose every “game” you play.
The defensive coordinator protect the structure of the team, and strive for excellence in executing the teams vision. They don’t want to give up a single point and stop at nothing to do that. For business owners, this is your business consultant or potentially, your operations manager. They must protect every player, every play, and create an environment where nothing gets left on the table (money, materials, etc).
The special team coach is working with younger players finding their calling on the team. They are constantly training and mentoring to build up the team for greatness. For business owners, this is often times a hired trainer or coach working one on one, or in small groups, with your team. The goal is to build up your team so there are no weak links.
There is also a quarterback coach, offensive line coach, defensive line coach, linebacker coach, secondary coach, strength coach, and many many more. Some of those may fit your business somewhere as well.
Do you have each of these spots filled in your organization to build the best winning team possible? If not, you many want to consider training them into these roles or finding others to fill these roles. As the head coach, if you want to win badly, you will stop at nothing!
But what about the solopreneur, or even the business of only a few employees? You have a head coach and a few players. What do you do? My recommendation is to quickly find one or two good assistant coaches (consultant, or trainers) that can help you to be the winning team. It doesn’t take a large coaching staff in house to be a successful one.
Without the appropriate coaches (advisers) on your team, all the success plans in the world will be nothing more than words on paper!