Respect Each Person Unconditionally– Herman Boone did not treat the black players any differently than he did the white players. In fact, one of his first actions when the black athletes got on one bus and the white players got on the other bus was to pull them all off and to have them get back on the bus by teams (offense and defense).
State Your Mission: Too many managers are not able to state their corporate mission or even more importantly how their division or department mission feeds the corporate goal. Herman Boone’s mission was to win the State Championship. He communicated this effectively and everything his players and coaches did fed that goal.
Deal with (don’t deny) Conflicts: Coach Boone anticipated conflict and was prepared when the inevitable happened. His coaching style, not surprisingly, created a great deal of conflict among his coaching staff and, of course, the players. With his coaches, he dealt with conflict though informal channels while using the conflict to mold his players into a team.
Set up Employees for Success: Even when his players or coaches made bad decisions, Coach Boone used those opportunities for teaching and encouragement that led to success on the next play or strategy session.
Spend time getting to know your “peeps” One of Coach Boone’s great strategies was to room white and black players together so they would get to know one another as people. When they protested, he increased their training camp from two practices a day to three practices a day. The players soon realized that finding out about your roommates favorite music was a lot easier than running extra sprints on a hot summer afternoon.
Helping your team reach their goals means enhancing your management style to make sure you reach all your “players.” Developing coaching skills is a great way to improve your leadership skills and make sure your team members are capable of pulling together throughout all the phases of the game.]]>
