Are you a Great Coach or a Firefighter?
You may have little patience when your VP isn't crisp,
but he/she is your Quarterback and you're Coach Belichik.
These are the moments to coach them and help them evolve into the player you want them to be.
The Typical Setup
* A Partner recently recounted being on a cross-country flight.
* VP emailed with alarm on a deal point.
* Partner initially felt annoyed VP was raising a seemingly immaterial point at the 11th hour.
* Partner got past his frustration, called VP, and thanked him for raising the issue.
The "Firefighter" Response: Partner then explained why it was not a problem and moved on with the day.
The "Great Coach" Response:
Partner asked "What are some ways you think we can address this," and got quiet.
Partner allowed a minute of awkward silence for the VP to think.
VP enumerated some possibilities.
Partner asked VP to think through the pros/cons of each strategy, and then added one or two other possibilities/nits in approach.
Partner empowered the VP to take action on the agreed approach.
……………..Once the dust settled, Partner invited VP to a quick chat and said "Thanks for bringing the deal point to my attention. You did a great job thinking through our potential paths forward. ***In the future, when you see a problem, I'd like you to take a few minutes before you raise it to me and think about the couple of paths you see forward. Then we can think through the possibilities together."
A great coach trains his team to shift from reacting to fear, to thinking about solutions. When a firefighter swoops in to save the day, it all happens too quick -- the fire is out. The student missed the learning opportunity and will come running to you to fix it again the next time.
While it's often expedient to extinguish the flame yourself, you're missing key moments to teach.
Next time you find yourself annoyed with a lieutenant who's not presenting a solution, arrest your desire to just do it yourself or give them the answer. Use the moment to help them get past their fear and develop their "solution-oriented" mind muscle.
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