60 SECONDS ON BUSINESS
Unlocking the door toward perfection

By Dr. Drake Beil
President, Solutions Inc.

"Perfection is not attainable. But if we chase perfection, we can catch excellence." — Vince Lombardi

Have you ever been yelled at for making a mistake? For centuries, there was only one basic management strategy: fear. Scare them until they behave the way you want them to. Threaten and punish quickly for any mistakes. It was the basic motivational approach.

There is an alternative to management by fear. The manager can create an image of perfection, of what things look like when everyone is doing well, then praise and reward staff quickly for any successes.

If your people learn to encourage and challenge one another, if mutual risk-taking is supported, they can learn to become a team. The choice is yours, Coach.

The coach must provide the vision necessary to produce unified team spirit. Communicating where the team is headed, and how each of the players is to contribute, is a coaching function.

A note about learning is useful here. The best managers and coaches are great educators. Now some people learn best by visual strategies, seeing and reading in particular. Others need auditory approaches, like listening and talking. Others need kinesthetic techniques, like hands-on doing.

Like the combination to a safe, people have unique learning needs for optimum acquisition of information. However, once you know the combination to their safe, you can get in and put information there anytime.

Reach Dr. Drake Beil at drake@60secondsonbusiness.