In his speech at his recent induction into the NFL Hall of Fame, Bill Parcells referenced a quote that he said was at the heart of his coaching and leadership philosophy.

"The players deserve a chance to win, and you as an organization, a university and a head coach have an obligatory responsibility to give it to them."

What struck me is how much that also applies to managing a business and what a great perspective that is for any leader to have. Your employees absolutely deserve a chance to succeed and it is your job to enable them to succeed.

That’s a lot different mindset from the “hire the right people and get out of their way” approach that I’ve heard espoused far too often and which I firmly believe is really abdication of leadership responsibility. The “hire the right people” part is obviously crucial. But, any great coach knows that throwing a bunch of star players on a court or field does not produce a winning combination. I’m not advocating micro-management but I am suggesting that you as leader need to provide your staff with a framework within which they can flourish.

Business is a team sport and it’s the collaboration of the players towards a common goal that creates success. The players play the game, but the leader needs to do three things to enable them to be successful:

1.       Design (and redesign periodically as necessary) an effective operating system that defines how the players (employees) will interact to achieve the overall corporate mission.

2.      Deploy that system by recruiting the right types of players (knowledge, skills, and attitude), providing needed training and guidance, creating the appropriate culture and compensation/rewards, and supplying the necessary equipment and facilities.

3.      Direct the day to day activities monitoring how well the system is working, facilitating ongoing communication, and implementing corrective action when appropriate.

These are three very different types of top management activities that require different leadership and management skills. In some companies, one person plays all three roles but in other companies, the “Design” role is played by someone with more visionary talent while the “Deploy” and “Direct” roles are played by someone with more operational skill and experience.

Ask yourself these questions. When things go wrong in your company, before you place blame, have you and the other managers in your firm made sure you have designed the work flow such that people can do their jobs successfully? If your departments are not working together smoothly and collaboratively, have you checked whether you might have inadvertently exacerbated the problem by establishing a compensation system that rewards department performance at the expense of corporate performance? Are you providing employees with sufficient process training so that you are giving them “a chance to win” or are you throwing them into the fray and expecting them to figure it out for themselves?

For a limited time, JPMA is offering a special CEO Mentor Skype consulting program called “The Business Checkup”. It’s designed to help you answer these questions and implement a leadership system tailored to your organization at this stage of its growth. It consists of a 45 minute Skype sessions with me designed to help you make sure you are optimizing your opportunities for business success. The CEO Mentoring Program is available to any member willing to make a $150 contribution to Kids in Distressed Situations (K.I.D.S.). If you’re interested, you can contact Kyle Schaller at 856-642-4416 or by email at kschaller@jpma.org.  You’ll be asked to fill out a totally confidential questionnaire in advance of the Skype sessions which by itself will cause you to think about your business in some new and revealing ways. If you’d like to take a look at the questionnaire click here.

Of course, you can always sign up for individual CEO Mentor Skype sessions as well. Just contact Kyle and he will take care of the details. I’m looking forward to meeting with you.