Awareness And Mastery – Two Essential Keys To A Successful Small Business
Summary:
At the heart of
it, mastery is practice. Mastery is staying on the path."
~ George Leonard
US pioneer in human potential
We often hear managers complaining that their employees aren’t productive,
don’t listen, and just can’t consistently get the job done. As a youth sports
coach, I hear coaches with similar complaints—the kids don’t listen, don’t know
where to go, and don’t try very hard. I can’t relate. The boys on my team are
usually focused, do what I ask of them, and w...
Keywords:
successful small
business, business action plan, business plan sample small
Article Body:
At the heart of
it, mastery is practice. Mastery is staying on the path."
~ George Leonard
US pioneer in human potential
We often hear managers complaining that their employees aren’t productive,
don’t listen, and just can’t consistently get the job done. As a youth sports
coach, I hear coaches with similar complaints—the kids don’t listen, don’t know
where to go, and don’t try very hard. I can’t relate. The boys on my team are
usually focused, do what I ask of them, and work hard. As a business owner, my
employees are focused, do what I ask of them, and work hard. What am I doing
that is different from the rest? And what can this teach you about running a
successful small business?
As a coach, I make my boys’ jobs very simple. I ask only two things of them. I
ask them to master one shot and I ask them to be aware of what is going on
around them. Of course, we work on defensive and offensive strategies, but both of
those revolve around the two keys that I gave them for success—awareness, and
mastery.
I teach awareness by constantly asking them to be aware of where the ball is
and at the same time to be aware of where their teammates are and where their
opponents are. I teach them how to see the ball and their opponent when he
doesn’t have the ball. Sounds simple, but for ten-year-olds this is work.
I teach mastery by assigning homework to each boy. In the second week of practice,
they have to show me a spot on the court from which they can make a shot every
time. I don’t care if it is from just two feet under the basket. I want them to
know they can make it every single time. As the season progresses, they may
gradually move their spot further and further out, but I still ask that they be
able to make their shot every time unguarded in practice.
These two simple concepts have a tremendous effect on the boys during their
games. They have incredible confidence in their ability to make shots because
they “know” that they will always make it. I don’t need to yell at them like
other coaches about where they should be on the court because they have
developed awareness of what they are doing and seeing. Now let’s see how you
can use this in your successful small business.
As a business owner, I put these two key principles to work in training my
employees. From the first day on the job, I work with them to be aware of what
tasks are needed, what I expect of them, how I want customers treated, etc. And
I ask them to master tasks and customer scripts. Once they are mastered, I open
it up for them to adlib just like with my players. When correction is needed,
it is usually in one of these two areas. They are either unaware of what is
needed or they haven’t mastered the task at hand.
Not only does following these two concepts make it easy for me to get results
with my players and employees, but it also brings incredible results. My first team
lost only one game all season and my employees rarely lose a sale. My
businesses and products win awards earned by my employees. And, as a bonus,
everyone enjoys themselves with this simple structure. I knew I was doing it
right when the father of one of my boys told me that his boy enjoyed the practice
so much that he chose to come to practice instead of going to see our
professional basketball team play one night. And I know it works with my
employees because they show up on time happy, focused, and ready to work.
Remember, awareness and mastery are two essential keys to a successful small
business.
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