Ashes to Ashes - What happens when you stop coaching?

You may have seen  my colleagues previous post around the Ashes win Batting Without Fear. I wrote another white paper a few years ago around the Aussies downfall: The value of coaching in shaping world-class teams.  I think it is more relevant now than ever.  What do you think?

Sir Clive Woodward once wrote that in order to win in sport, you need world-class athletes and world-class coaches. You cannot win unless both are in place.

When we fail to invest in coaching, we risk falling into the same trap that is currently seeing the Aussies in a state of disarray, flailing in their bid to win the legendary Ashes. As whispers of an English triumph begin to echo around the cricket arena, it’s time to consider just how Australia have ended up facing “the alarming decline of a great sporting nation”.  What is it about coaching that is so essential when it comes to building- and maintaining – world class sales teams? 

How could a culture of coaching, rather than simply training alone, transform our sales people and protect against our own teams crumbling to ashes?

Coaching is defined as ‘the act of training or instructing a team or player’, yet clear distinctions exist between the process of coaching and more traditional forms of training, in spite of the frequent interchangeable reference to both. When considering the best possible approach to maximise potential and achieve the best results, both within sport and business, it is essential to understand precisely where those boundaries lie.

As a directive form of development, training is a process or even a singular event during which those with experience and expertise in a certain field will direct and instruct those with less knowledge, determining exactly what those delegates should learn and how to learn it in order to promote enhanced performance. In some instances, training can be undertaken alone by the individual without specific direction, simply by implementing tools which are often previously determined by an expert. Traditional forms of training focus upon the wholesale transfer of new skills, for example through a change in procedures, new systems, a new role or job function. Entering the world of cricket at grass-roots level, training is delivered in those fundamental core skills required to perform the game: the imparting of knowledge that will equip players and delegates with the basics. It can be repeated, practiced and performed on an on-going basis, but training is, in many ways, static.

Training in the nets to repeatedly bat or bowl, sessions of training undertaken in the gym: all will deliver performance improvement under the age-old mantra of ‘practice makes perfect’, but when the desired outcome is a world-class result, training alone frequently fails to go far enough.

 ‘Sir Clive Woodward, ‘Aussie Sport Crisis’, The Daily Mail, Wednesday June 26 2013, p.71 In the world of business, standardised or generic training programmes see delegates complete structured modules or tasks that frequently fail to account for existing knowledge, skills or preferences, and may not be sufficiently similar to the ‘live’ working environment to ensure effective skills transfer. Likewise, Alastair Cook may consistently complete a training programme designed to improve and maintain his fitness and playing capability, but without development activities tailored to his personal performance and style, training alone introduces a cap on improvement that won’t see significant results on the cricket pitch. How can a training programme designed for batsmen, wicket keepers and bowlers alike ever seek to meet the precise needs and skills of opening and middle order batsmen, swing, seam and spin bowlers, all-rounders and wicket-keepers?

TRANSFORMING TEAMS: IDENTIFYING INDIVIDUALS

When it comes to driving change, coaching goes much further. As a fundamental differentiator, coaching always requires a coach. The act of delivering performance enhancement occurs within the ‘live’ working environment and actively responds and reacts to the circumstances at hand. Most significantly, coaching extends traditional training methods to recognise a fundamental point of consideration for all business organisations and sports teams alike: that all teams are made up of individuals.

Whether you are considering your strongest batsman, bowlers and all-rounders or looking at the telesales people in relation to account managers and new business development executives, internal sales people or those out in the field, there are an array of people who make up a team, each with their own specific skill set, experience and strengths. Coaching takes a focused approach to considering an individual’s needs and accomplishments, incorporating close observation at both individual and team level before delivering impartial and non-judgmental feedback on performance. Coaching, therefore, acts as an additional support to ensure training initiatives are tailored to the individual and translating into real-life skills development. In the world of business, coaching is simply the on-going process of helping an employee to identify and overcome the hurdles that prevent him or her from excelling. In short, the coach is there to remove the barriers.

Whilst traditional methods continue to hold a powerful place in driving results, a consultative, tactical and personalised approach that looks at the specialised requirements of the individual and relates these to the strategic objectives of the business is of far greater value. In essence, a business striving for excellence needs a coaching culture, not just training.

COACH THE COACH

Instructor, assessor, facilitator, mentor, guide, disciplinarian, advisory: no matter what you may perceive them as, the role of the coach is highly complex and multifaceted, catering to a vast range of requirements and needs. Defined as those who deliver or implement the training or coaching and facilitate development, coaches are a tremendously influential force in any team and regarded, by some, as the single most pivotal determent on the path to success. They possess a unique skill set that effectively empowers them with the tools necessary to master and drive change. In both sport and business, there are two main ‘types’ of coach: the internal and consistent figurehead attached to the team or business, and the external or outsourced coach, brought in to supplement or complement existing initiatives or, in some instances, coach the coach themselves.

Back in 2013 in a panic move Australia appointed Lehmann to replace a flailing Mickey Arthur, the team lost the security offered by a consistent figurehead, but gained the advantage historically gained by the ‘impress the new boss’ mentality, which typically sees team members present a surge in performance after the appointment of a new manager, coach or senior team member in order to ‘prove their worth’ and establish their place.

In the instance of the Australian cricket team, it arguably came as too little, too late: however, the introduction of new and external coaches can serve as a powerful tool to shake members out of complacency and introduce a fresh approach when it is needed most, Australia may of needed something like this in 2015. If an internal coach is failing to deliver results, the first port of call may not necessarily be to replace: introducing external experts or even having a different ‘coach’ from another division within the business look at the current state of affairs with fresh eyes can not only invigorate existing team members, but internal coaches also.

GRASS-ROOTS UP OR TOPLEVEL DOWN

When it comes to the structure of any team, it is also useful to consider the positioning of the cricket coach in relation to the rest of the players and management. Sitting below the selectors as per any Sales Director or Sales Manager beneath a board of Directors or senior management, the coach will typically have first-hand experience in the sport: a previous player, a rising sales professional themselves. England demonstrate a real understanding of the game at a tactical, practical level, bringing to their coaching a wealth of experience that will not only enable individuals to become aware of their own skills, knowledge and expertise, but also enable skill transfer to ensure excellence. Individuals are subsequently supported in building upon their strengths and addressing areas of weakness in order to excel, with the coach as the figurehead for driving performance and implementing change: guided or under the management of selectors or the board of Directors, but with the fundamental authority to implement tactical change and the incremental yet significant changes that will accumulate to make a big difference. This approach is almost identical to the 1% ‘marginal gains’ concept Sir Dave Brailsford implemented so successfully in British cycling which has just seen Chris Froome win his second Tour de France.

It is here, some have argued, that Australia has demonstrated one of two significant areas of failure that has contributed to its downfall in this Ashes series. Rather than placing the direction of the Australian team at a tactical level in the hands of the coach, many believe that decisions have been performed at a higher strategic level, taking the process of performance improvement out of the hands of those who are best placed to deliver results. The resulting programmes put in place have, in the words of Sir Woodward, been pioneered by “administrators who do not have a clue about winning and are far more comfortable with handling sports scientists than they are at handling coaches”. It’s a damning observation that perhaps reduces the situation to be too black-and-white: however, few will deny that when it comes to determining the course for the future of a sales team, there is a call for the combined partnership of tactical lower-level management or ‘coaches’ alongside the strategic input of higher-level management. Overlooking the importance of Team Leaders, Sales Managers and Sales Directors, the ‘coaches’ with real-life understanding of the workings of their team can prove dangerous and ultimately detrimental to long-term success.

THE RIGHT PERSON AT THE RIGHT TIME

It remains undeniable that in any field of expertise, any sport or profession, there are individuals who boast a natural capability, skill or talent to consistently deliver results. Some of the most significant names in Australian cricket that took the team to glory in the 2006-07 Ashes were celebrated individuals with supreme talent that undoubtedly contributed to the end result. It was an overreliance upon the experienced tried and tested players, Woodward argues, that has caused the greatest downfall for Australian cricket and has triggered the decline of the team as a whole since the retirement of many of its key players. With too much focus lying on the natural ability of individuals, coaching took a back seat.

A lack of investment and degree of complacency ensued. When issues began to seep into the team after most of the stars had retired, it was already too late to rectify them: the role of the coach in identifying problems before they arise and engaging with the athletes to prevent them taking root failed to be met and as star players left and new members joined, performance of the team suffered significantly. By failing to recognise the importance of the coach and placing too much emphasis on world-class players, Australia had started on the path to sporting decline.

Can you imagine the impact on your business if your top four Sales Executives or Sales Managers left tomorrow? In cricket, the coach is not the authority when it comes to selecting new talent: however, they are the determent in recognising, managing and placing each player in the right place and at the right time. If you are struggling to generate new business, it makes no sense having your Key Account Managers called forward to create new opportunities. Therefore coaching is not only about developing individuals and addressing issues, but managing them in relation to the desired outcomes of the business as a whole. It is also the role of the coach to recognise rising talent – take the successful promotion of Joe Root to open the batting, an unusual appointment of the 22-year old as the team injected fresh ‘entry-level’ talent to the team - and play to those strengths to ensure continued growth and development.

REBUILDING AUSTRALIA: A LONG-TERM APPROACH

While the patriotic amongst us may argue against a change in policy or approach that might steal that urn from the hands of our own cricketers, there is no denying that the shortcomings of Australian sport extend far beyond the cricket pitch alone. The London Olympics saw Australia finish a lowly 10th in the medal table, missing out on an individual swimming gold for the first time since 1976 in their poorest performance in the pool and on the track for decades.

Their resulting strategy which saw a cut in funding for athletics and swimming sparked outrage amongst sports professionals and coaches alike and is arguably detrimental to the long term recovery and growth of Australian sport as a whole. Failing? Then let us invest less rather than more! The answer calls for a long-term approach to development that places coaching at its heart, bringing grass-root level experts in to deliver tactical changes that will infiltrate team performance over the course of time. Under Brailsford’s guidance, the British Cycling team looks set to achieve world dominance for some years to come: and while it is often difficult to link coaching directly to measurable ROI, there can be no denying the importance of coaching in driving excellence.

So when it comes to building world-class sales teams, shouldn’t we be learning from Australia’s mistakes, and protecting our teams by investing in our coaching?