What If The Coach Didn't Show Up?

It's game day. The football teams have arrived and have finished warming up.  The fans have filled the stadium.  The players are ready.  They've practiced all of their careers for this game.  There's a coin toss, the teams take the field, and it's "game on."  The Blue Team against the Red Team.

But the Blue Team's coach hasn't shown up.  The game begins.

In the first plays of the game, the Blue Team is flawless.  Everyone knows their role and is doing their job. All of their training and practice has prepared them for this day.  They are veterans and have run these plays a thousand times before.

But an overload of maneuvers and opposing efforts from the Red Team begin to distract the coach-less players.  They begin focusing on one thing--and their opponents do another.  They let down their guard and are overcome by moves they didn't see.  In the huddle, everyone expresses their own idea on how to make the next play.  Without a coach's view, perspective, and coaching from the sidelines, the players are constrained by their own individual agendas and blinded to the distractions which are thwarting their efforts.  They are not playing their best game.  They are not playing as a team.  They are not being led.

If he'd have been there, the coach wouldn't have played the game.  He'd have helped them play better.

One of the leader's main jobs is to help others get their work done, to grow, and become better.  The leader doesn't do the work.  In an orchestra, the conductor does not play an instrument.  In football, the coach does not kick the field goals.

Good leaders LEAD, DIRECT, and TAKE ACCOUNTABILITY for the results.  They don't assume their star players will perform music or win the game on their own, without intense coordination, guidance, and direction.

Be there for your team.