If you are a sports fan then you’ll likely agree that one of the best times of the year is Spring March madness in basketball. It is during this time that we often get to know the head coaches that live and die by the teams they put on the court. I picture the locker room celebration by Roy Williams after the University of North Carolina took home the men’s crown. There’s a reason you see the same names consistently bringing different teams to compete among the best in any given year. The best of the best when it comes to coaches may very well have great skills and game plan mastery, but the real difference is in their ability to recruit. Not once, but forever.
For a business owner that can only exist through employees, the true task becomes much clearer when you stop thinking of yourself as a boss and begin thinking of yourself as a head coach.
The greatest coaches in the world can only take so much time to bask in the glory of winning a title, or even completing the season with a winning record. Their real work is year round and mostly outside of the game itself. It’s all about tomorrow, and you have already lost if you wait until today to start thinking about that. Do you think there is coach out there who looks at their starting line up now and says, “I’m good…don’t think I’m gonna go visit that 5 star recruit.” Your greatest mistake in business is to think that your team is any different regardless of what you do or sell. You may have a great team now, but you will not have them forever.
Here are a few “steals” from the world of college basketball coaches that apply to business owners when it comes to hiring. If you prefer a college football analogy instead, the same applies so think of it that way.
- At best a college coach may have a player for about four years and if they are really good maybe only 1-2. Love what they do for you while you have them, but you should be preparing to replace them tomorrow. A smart coach understands and accepts that a player begins to leave them the day they play their first game.
- A good bench is essential for winning. Some people play that role well, and others just start there on their way to greatness. You have to have a bench to win though.
- When the game is over your job begins. The off season does not apply to recruiting. It. Never. Ends.
- Recruiting and team building is a relationship game, and relationships cannot be built overnight. You get what you give either way.
- Some recruits will not work out, and that’s okay because you weren’t relying on just that one. Were you?
- A coach may go into a season ranked in the top ten with a great looking team. What you don’t automatically consider though is any team you look at today was being put together 3-4 years ago. Want to know how you will look in 1-3 years? Look no further than your recruiting, hiring, and team building effort RIGHT NOW.
