Competent leadership

When evaluating team performance, choosing the right leader can lead to improved performance.


In studies evaluating the effectiveness of three different groups: competent leader, random leader, and self managed democratic groups, the teams that had the leader with competence in the field and understanding of the technical aspects of the business outperformed the other groups. Even self managed groups outperformed the teams that had a randomly assigned leader.


I think that the key point is not trying to find the best leader, but to avoid choosing someone who does not understand the business. There are plenty of ways to improve management and leadership skills; formal education, reading, attending seminars, certifications, but that will not matter if that person does not understand enough about what the work actually is. Teams routinely choose leaders that display confidence and physical attributes, but may not possess the technical skill or understanding. These teams then lag behind because they are not able to make the best decisions. In turn, look to people that have excellent technical understanding and leverage their knowledge.


This is in line with other research that demonstrated that teams preferred leaders who had similar backgrounds to them. They felt these leaders understood them, and their role, better and were then able to be more effective in their leadership.


Take the time to understand the business and the technical aspects of what is needed to be successful. This will improve your ability to create strategy and become successful. When in a hiring position, do not just hire someone who has a degree, make sure they know the business.


"Leadership qualities" vs. competence: which matters more? Harvard Business Review, 11/5/15

Recommendations on Tackling in Youth Football

 

The American Academy of Pediatrics released a study looking at tackling in football. The authors of the study performed a literature review looking at the mechanisms of head, neck and catastrophic injury in football.

 

Not surprisingly, the act of performing a tackle, or being tackled, is a leading mechanism of injury in football for head and neck injuries, catastrophic injuries and other serious injuries. One of the leading causes of concussion in youth and high school sports is head to head contact. The main recommendation in this area is to continually stress proper tackling technique and educating players and coaches on the importance of keeping their heads up and making contact with their shoulder pads, thus reducing the mechanism of head to head contact.

 

The authors summarize their findings of tackling in football by exploring the idea of limiting contact in practice to reduce the overall occurrence of head contact throughout the season, but do point out that it is not fully known how much of an impact this will make. They also discuss increasing the age at which players initiate contact and the possibility of non-contact leagues. This would allow those that are interested in playing, but are concerned for head injuries, an outlet to enjoy the game with a decreased injury risk.

 

As athletic trainers, we play a key role in the recommendations made by the authors. The last two points that they recommend on tackling in youth football are to institute neck strengthening programs and have an athletic trainer on hand for contests. We have the ability to educate coaches, athletes and administrations on the risk of head injury in football (and sports in general) and the implementation of programs to reduce to the risk, including strengthening and skills based technical training. Having an athletic trainer available to athletes allows injuries to be detected and treated earlier.

 

While the risk of injury will not be eliminated in sports, we can hopefully continue to make progress with our educational material to keep all of our athletes healthy and active.

http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/pediatrics/early/2015/10/20/peds.2015-3282.full.pdf

Management questions

When you think of management, what comes to mind? How is your manager working to meet the company and your individual needs? If you are like a lot of Americans, the answers are not encouraging.

 

This article is trying to change that. If you are a manager, take a step back and look at your role, how you fulfill your responsibilities and how you interact and lead the people that work for you. Do you actively listen and engage to your staff and listen to what they tell you? Do you take an interest in them and their career and want to see them succeed? If not, then start to implement some of these questions and solutions into your daily activities. They can really help you gain a better understanding of your staff and your time. By empowering them and encouraging them they will be more likely to put in the extra effort for you and the company.

 

On the flip side, if you work for someone else, see what aspects of these you can implement for your own career success. Do you touch base with your manager on a consistent basis to stay up to date so there are no surprises? Do you offer to take on more tasks that are in line with what you want to do in the future? If not, then start having a conversation with your manager about your skills and how you can be better utilized to reach personal, department and corporate goals. You can’t expect someone else to care about your career growth if you don’t.

 

 

http://www.forbes.com/sites#/sites/jackzenger/2015/10/14/the-shrinking-effectiveness-crisis-4-reasons-organizations-fail-to-fully-utilize-employees/?utm_campaign=Forbes&utm_source=TWITTER&utm_medium=social&utm_channel=Leadership&linkId=17970862

 

Words of wisdom

Warren Buffett is well known for his investment success and his frugality. He has crafted a life that has netted him billions of dollars and yet, he remains humble.

 

His phrases around investing are famous and he takes a very forward, simple approach to his businesses. Some of the people that he has influenced have taken the time to write about some of his phrases and applied them to everyday life. The following is a guide book for how to live your life, spend your time and make decisions. All of us could benefit from heeding this wisdom.

 

http://www.forbes.com/sites/schifrin/2015/10/04/not-for-investors-only-top-10-nuggets-of-buffett-wisdom-for-life-success/2/

 

Fitness in the digital age

It is the age of digital, and that goes for fitness, too.

Several colleges and clubs are even doing online competitions based on the number of people exercising.

This concept is a fun way to get fitness members involved and engaged. Even though the time frame for the competition may be short, it can stoke a fire for them to start coming more frequently. It also gives the staff a chance to sell other products to them based on their goals and the goals of the competition.  

As more and more digital platforms become available, we will undoubtedly see an uptick in the number of competitions, promotions, social engagement and tracking of data accumulated. As more equipment becomes digital, workout data can be stored remotely and the data can be analyzed.

The good news for clubs is that they can use data collected to identify trends in their facility and their membership. These trends may help them to ease congestion, staff during busy and slow times respectively, determine class schedules and market promotions to different segments.

http://www.athleticbusiness.com/health-fitness/how-interactive-competitions-are-driving-fitness-participation.html?eid=277204494&bid=1184820

6 steps for self-improvement

Former Navy SEAL and executive coach, Jeff Boss, discusses 6 practices that he believes help people improve their performance. The steps are:

1.       Fundamentals

2.       Accountability

3.       Add one percent

4.       Adapt faster

5.       Get a guru

6.       Make a decision

 

He believes that by working on those 6 areas, individuals can positively improve their performance over time.

The fundamentals never change and without being really good at your craft, you will never reach the top of the game. Perfect your craft first.

 

I cannot stress the importance of accountability enough. In order to improve and succeed we need to be pushed beyond our current limits so we can adapt to a higher level. This is true for physical training, as well as mental and intellectual. If you never push past where you already are, then you will never improve and meet your full potential. But, in order to get there, you need to be accountable for your actions to someone else. Ideally, this is your manager who gives you a task and then follows up to make sure you completed it satisfactorily. If you do not have a manager who can push you, try to find a colleague, mentor, partner or new job where you will be pushed. You deserve to reach your potential and if your current manager can’t get you there, try to find someone who will.

 

The more we do a job and the more we learn the closer to our intellectual and skill ceiling we get. That doesn’t mean we stop trying. That means that we have to try harder to make progress. Look at your current job and determine what skills you need to do it well. Then, create a plan to address those skills. As those skills improve, so does your job performance.  Then, look at your ideal job and determine what skills you need to do in order to do it well. Then, start improving those skills and you will eventually achieve that job.

 

This is nice article that can help you improve your performance and reach your potential and is worth the read.

 

http://www.forbes.com/sites/jeffboss/2015/09/06/6-best-practices-to-sustain-superior-performance/?utm_source=followingweekly&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=20150907

Strategy questions

When you own a business it is important to take time to work ‘on’ your business. You work ‘in’ your business every day as an employee, manager, salesperson, etc, but by taking the time to work ‘on’ your business is when you function as the leader. It is up to you to evaluate your business, identify your trends and really get an idea for the vision you have created and assess how your business is doing in terms of achieving that vision.

 

This framework gives you a structure for when you contemplate your business and form your strategy. These questions can also be used to evaluate your career, as well as your business or department. In order to be effective you need to understand what it is you are trying to achieve. Develop that vision and then see how you are doing in terms of being able to meet it.

 

https://hbr.org/2015/09/5-strategy-questions-every-leader-should-make-time-for?utm_source=Socialflow&utm_medium=Tweet&utm_campaign=Socialflow