Lesson 64: Coaching
“I run to coaching” - Mike Tomlin
Leaders who choose coaching over comfort help their team win. Mike Tomlin has never had a losing season as head coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers. This quote comes from an interview where Coach Tomlin describes how coaches are compensated to provide strategy and develop their players. When coaches identify and close skill gaps in their players, they not only foster relationships with their players, but they also create better teams who are more likely to win.
When I first started teaching, students were not closing their learning gaps. It was more comfortable to blame the student rather than the teacher (myself). But then I looked in the mirror; the truth was my teaching was struggling. As a first-time CEO, my leadership will struggle at first. When problems arise in the business, my desire for comfort will tempt me to blame the team or the business. Rather than seeking comfort, I need to run toward coaching and inspire every manager in the organization to do the same. How do you motivate people to coach? Incentives.
This week, my course called Internal Information for Strategic Decisions discussed a case talking about incentives for managers at a firm. When you provide a manager with incentives to earn their bonus each year, that manager aims to meet and exceed those expectations. Often those incentives are tied to revenue and profits. In our case for class, a manager was evaluated for financial measures as well as people measures. His incentives required people development; this manager was required to coach to get his bonus.
Entrepreneurship Through Acquisition excites me because I get to create value in both profits and people. As CEO, investors expect me to maximize profits. This starts with coaching. How do I improve my people who will then improve customer experiences and thereby improve sales? How do I improve my people who will think critically to innovate and improve profit margin? If I resist the responsibility of coaching, the company does not need me to be the CEO. After acquiring a business, the CEO needs to paint a clear vision of how managers' incentives align with the needs of the organization because great organizations need a coaching culture to unlock its full potential.
My vision is to leverage my influence as a Black business leader to pursue economic justice. A coaching culture can help address society's need for economic justice. In 2019 , the bottom 50% of the U.S. families owned 1% of wealth, while the top 10% owned 76% of the wealth in the U.S. according to the Federal Reserve. This indicates a staggering wealth gap. My investment thesis states that skilled trade education meets both a market need and a societal need. Private equity firms, like The Vistria Group and Warren Equity Partners, have each invested in vocational training. To see the same success myself, I must run to coaching rather than comfort.
This is Lesson 64: Coaching. Next week is Lesson 65: Vulnerability.
