Player or coach

Are you doing what an owner should do?

Watching a televised college game recently, the announcer was interviewing the winning coach. The questions were the same repetitive questions that are asked of most all winning coaches. The answers and comments were the same as what many of us have heard over the years. Among the comments were, “The credit goes to the players. They were the ones doing the work that allowed us to win”.
I thought about the similarity of the coach and a business owner. Hence, the prompting of the question as posed in the title, “Are you a player or a coach?”.

My observation is that far too many owners of the business think and act like one of the players. They believe they have the most extensive product knowledge and the best sales skills. The employees in the business seem to agree with that view as you see them often defer questions to the owner.

Visiting a business recently, I was amazed at how paralyzed the staff was because the owner had left to go to lunch and to the bank. I observed the business owner who was visiting this commercial business as the staff struggled to address the questions from the prospective customer. What an unfortunate waste of time for the visiting individual! And how easy it would be for a competitor to take this customer’s business.

While it might sound boastful coming from the coach, we think the coach should have answered differently.

The response should have been, “Yes, I do get most of the credit for the success of this team. I have selected the assistant coaches (managers for our businesses) and if they are not successful, I replace them. With my direction, the players (salespeople and support staff) are selected. If they are not always improving (increasing sales, average line count and average ticket size), I can develop methods to teach them how to get the job done.”

“The plays selected (product lines) are there because I require my assistants (buyers) to thoroughly research the competition (the marketplace for us) to develop the best opportunities for us to be successful.

The challenge I see with business owners is that we often think that being in the game means we are to be a player. We can be a player if we work for someone else.  However when you are the owner or manager, the game has to be elevated. Sounds easy but definitely it is a challenge.

Visiting with a business owner recently I watched an employee walk past the manager and bring a concern to the owner. The owner listened; made the decision for the employee; and turned to continue our conversation. The owner was asked why the manager worked part time.

The owner responded that the manager put in 48 hours each week. “They may be here 48 hours, but when you are doing their job for them, they are working part time”, was our comment.
It is tough to make the transition from player to coach. If the business is going to grow, it requires someone to be the coach and many other people to be the players.

Someone has to call the plays; decide which players are in the game at appropriate times and what they are doing. Someone has to stand back and manage the team.

The same is with our business. It may be enjoyable to be on the front line selling and visiting with customers, vendors and staff. However, if it is your business, you have to first be the owner/coach.

You can hire people to do most everything but you cannot hire someone to do your job.

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