“Is your rate of improvement less than, equal to, or greater than that of the competition or opposition?”

This is a question that I hate to think how many times I have asked. However, I have always requested it for a specific reason and with the best intentions. The key reason I continue to ask this question as often as I do is because if all we look at is the fact that all we are doing is improving, then we will be blindsided somewhere along the journey of success.

Blindsided because the usual line of thinking is that if we are improving, then there should be a corresponding level of success for that improvement. Which in some ways is understandable, but unfortunately isn’t true.

If we are improving, but the opposition/competition is improving at a rate greater than our rate of improvement, then we are, in real terms, going backwards. When we meet in a competitive environment, chances are we will come off as second best.

The elite athletes, successful business executives, high flyers of the corporate world, and the education leaders that I have worked with all understand this principle and, because of that understanding, pretty much live to the philosophy of:

“Good is only OK if better isn’t available. And better is always available! “

These people don’t want to be good. They want to be the best that they can be. They work hard daily to reach a goal, a milestone, and a level of achievement that makes them proud.

When I hear leaders, coaches, managers, etc. say things like, “They’re a natural, not much I can do to help them”, or “They are so good there is not much else I can teach them”, I want to scream.

I know sport isn’t the insight into everything, but I want to use it as an example. Take the best sports people. They have a coach or someone with another title looking at what they do and how they can do it better.

That someone who analyses training, rest, recovery, competition, technique, mental approach, skill development, competitive understanding, awareness, etc. I know this because I did it, and I know many people who still do it. The coaches do it because they want to help people get better, and the people use these mentors to get better.

If you are a leader, your crucial role is to help the people you lead improve. You don’t have to be better than them. You don’t have to have achieved the same level or higher than the people you are trying to help. You need experience, desire, skill, awareness, and preparedness to work with people.

Coaching, in my opinion, is not simply about telling someone what to do or how to do it better. Coaching is an act of faith. You can’t coach someone until they permit you to do so. Your Character and Competence will go a long way in determining if they have faith in you to allow you to coach them. When they do place that faith in you, above all else, respect the opportunity you have been given.

The coach-student/athlete/coachee relationship is extraordinary and should be respected and worked on by both parties. Coaching isn’t something you do to someone. It is something you do with them.

However, when I go over to the other side, I often hear this: “You can’t coach someone to be better unless they want to be better”.

Is it that they don’t want to be better through you? Or is it a finality that they simply don’t want to be better?

Question 1 – They don’t want to be better because of you. Find out why.

Question 2 – They just don’t want to be better. Find out why.

Really? You have someone looking you dead in the eye, hand on heart, and saying, “I don’t want to be better”. I don’t want to sound too harsh here, but if that is true, you have to consider what it is they bring to the team and the performance of the organisation. Anyone who doesn’t, honestly, desire to be better, well, perhaps there is no place for them. Perhaps it is time to move them on?

Because if you don’t, it is going to cost you and cost you big time somewhere down the track.

Remember my opening question:
“Is your rate of improvement less than, equal to, or greater than the competition or opposition?”

If someone in a position within your organisation isn’t constantly improving their skill set, understanding, communication, techniques, etc., then you and they will pay for that. And pay in a big way. The fact is simple: someone in a similar position is working hard to improve themselves and improve what they bring to the table. When the two parties meet, which one do you think will have the upper hand?

The one doing the same thing they have been doing for twenty years because they don’t want to be better?

Or the one working every day to make sure they are getting the absolute best out of themselves and, in the process, staying one step ahead of the opposition/competition?

Oh yeah, that’s right; sorry, I forgot that the one who has been doing the same thing for twenty years has twenty years of experience. Well, actually, no, that’s not right; all they have is one year of experience twenty times.

So, as a leader, work out how to help those you lead be better today than they were yesterday. Help them find a reason to invest in their development and improvement. Create an environment and culture where everyone wants to be better, and in the process, they help and encourage those around them to improve.

And as they do watch as…

The Journey Continues!