Great Talent with Not So Great Results?

In the United States, the NFL season is upon us. Players, coaches, and fans are all preparing for opening weekend!

In preparation for the upcoming NFL season, the league holds an annual rookie seminar to welcome the newest players into the league, a fantastic ritual to incorporate into any organization. At a recent session, ex-NFL player and coach, Herm Edwards addressed the players. The video is here. Herm Edwards happened to play for my hometown team, the Philadelphia Eagles. While I recognize, I might be biased in my appreciation for him, he hits the nail on the head with his message to the incoming NFL rookies, and they translate into the board room too.

To quote Herm:

• "It's your occupation."
• "Be coachable."
• "Be available."
• "Know your role."
• "Do your job."
• "The faster you can process information, the faster you can make an impact."
• "Are you committed to your profession?"
• "Be accountable."
• "Earn the trust of your teammates"

This time each year the NFL assembles the very best in the sport. They have all the talent, yet for some reason many teams will fail to achieve the potential they have on paper. Herm's words are not about the "Xs and Os". His words are about the individual attitude and collective environment that needs to exist for each player and team to optimize their impact.

So, what are you doing to cultivate the individual attitude and collective environment that needs to exist for each employee and team in your company to optimize their impact? Are your business results equating to the talent that you have assembled? If so, congratulations! If not, I propose several potential root causes of the gap:

1. Lack of Effort by Your People
2. Lack of Process and Systems for your People to Deliver
3. Lack of Culture for Your People to Relate to Each Other

Inspired by Herm’s comments, don’t let your talent under-perform. To address these possible root causes of under-performance, I recommend as a starting point that you:

• Create a routine and repeatable way to inspire your people so that they are maximizing their effort. It's not about the Xs and Os, its about the commitment they are making to their occupation, team, company, and customers.
• Give your people structure, tools, and techniques that enables their talent. Make their job easier for them to excel!
• Create a trusting and demanding environment for your people to work with each other. Cultivate behaviors and relationships that generate trust and high expectations in each other.

Finally, maybe your talent is not what you need to succeed. If this is the case, search for the learnings therein. Are you hiring for talent or are you hiring for attitude, effort, and inspiration?

 I help organizations and their leaders capitalize on their transformations. Too many organizations struggle to implement their strategic intentions. My approach generates alignment and commitment to your strategy by your people through the most complete enterprise transformation model on the market. To learn more, message me, or email joe.rafter@businesschangeleader.com