February 18th Coaching Tip: Own it.
Today during a coaching conversation with a couple men who are buying a business, there were a bit hesitant in working proactively with the current business owner. They hadn’t done the due diligence, and lacked a process for introducing themselves to the current business owner’s clients. They had no plan. After listening for a while, I leveraged an example from outside the industry, i.e. buying 25 car washes in a different state that we had never seen. They quickly knew what to do: fly to that state, rent a car, inspect all 25 car washes regarding all of their locations, better understand the real estate values, inspect the overall care of the car wash, interview key employees, evaluate how good is the drainage, how old/new is the car wash equipment, and on and on. Then I pivoted them. I said then asked, “You’re about to buy a business. Act like you own it. What do you want to know about it, similar to the car washes?” And they got it. They quickly realized that they didn’t know what they were truly buying, and they weren’t acting like the new owners. Own it!
February 19th Coaching Tip: Been There.
We all have been on the job the very fast day. All of us, every single one of us. Tonight, we walked to dinner and had a new waiter. He was pleasant and greeted us nicely, and of course, struggled answering some basic questions: “what’s the soup of the day? is the calamari fried or not?” We could tell he was new, and we smiled and said we understand. He quickly went back to the kitchen, got the answering, wrote them on his order pad, and came back to the table with the answers. We ordered that soup of the day and the fried calamari. He checked on us without being too nosey, filled our drinks, and shared with us the gelato flavors. Of course, we ordered the mango sorbet. It was yummy, he was pleasant and learning quickly. We’ve all been there. Be a friend, help a guy out.
February 20th Coaching Tip: Void? Lead.
When there’s a void, step up and lead. I saw it today in two of my coaching conversations. A team with 5 “leaders” and 3 “staffers” had explosive growth in 2024, and are on track to do the same thing again in 2025. However, they all were complaining about workload, capacity, lack of accountability, shocked by what their “staffers” told them recently about fairness, etc. It was quite clear to me after listening to the 5 “leaders” share their insights, that they were most likely the bulk of the problem. No one was truly stepping up to lead. There was lack of clarity in compensation, roles, expectations, how to hold the “staffers” accountable, how to communicate with their leaders. There was limited to no coaching or development of their best and their worst performing “staffers.”
Another example was in my own work. I was given the opportunity to present a quick summary to my boss about a complete plan to support a growing part of our business. In one page, I laid out the short-term plan with the resources needed and the budget. She read it and quickly approved it. Bottom line: when there’s a void, step up and lead. People want to be lead with simplicity and clarity, and fairness.