Do Your Job

Do your job. Made famous by Belichik, applies in most team scenarios. When my players got focused on the umps, their play suffered. And let me tell you, that’s an easy distraction for a player.

All too often I’d have to remind them, it’s my job as the coach to focus on the umps. You focus on playing the game. Does that mean I’d be able to protect us from every ump who was bad at his or her job? Of course not. It simply means that was my job to handle. That’s where my focus went, when necessary. It was my job to manage the game, to see the bigger picture, to think about what was effecting the game at a high level. It was their job to think about the next play they’d make, the next pitch they’d throw, the next swing they’d take.

Same is true in the corporate setting. Big merger happening? Help your people get focused on their performance, not the bigger ramifications of the merger and who would “win” in an M&A. Stay focused on what’s within your control and influence. Watch your game level up as a result. You can and should connect them to the bigger picture, the big dream, leader…AND we all perform better when we relentlessly focus our energy where we have the greatest amount of influence.