It takes time to create excellence. If it could be done quickly, more people would do it

~John Wooden

As a leader, when you look out at your team and recognize that they are responsible for your success, it should create one of two thoughts. Comfort: if you have a great team that is talented, trained with a plan in place. Or panic if you are an advisor with lots of talent in place, very little planning and limited training. The important step is the next thought – it’s your leadership and coaching that will help create and guide their success.

Whether you are developing a 3 person support team , planning a 100 person seminar , or handling the day-to-day management of your team, are you thinking: “How the heck can I motivate and manage this group every day? How can I do my business and train this team and build a system for my office? Are we really a team, or do we come in, work hard and collect our paycheck?”

Look at the some of great athletic coaches our times, Mike Kryzewski of Duke, or the classics John Wooden of UCLA or Vince Lombardi of the Green Bay Packers. You will find practical and inspirational ways to motivate and coach our business teams to success. In creating a successful team, each of these coaches recognized some internal motivational aspects of their players to keep them driven. They knew and understood the individual player to keep them motivated. They motivated each player differently and kept them a contributing member of the team.

There are Five Coaching habits that great coaches like the ones mentioned above or others at any level, any sport or profession follow. These are some basic tenets for you to use and incorporate as you build you Advisory Team.

1. Explain your Expectations Align your expectations ,your goals and your team in their proper positions. As a Coach does with his players , each member of your team should know exactly what their role requires, receive the proper training and then allow them to use their talents to be successful. Trust them until you are proven wrong.
2. Ask Questions Engage with your team. As the Coach and leader of the team it is important to ask questions of your team and make sure they are comfortable in their roles and understand what is required and expected. Are they engaged and ready to play? This is a team game and make sure everyone is ready to play, has the proper tools and feels good about their roles.
3. Involve your Team in the Ownership Each one of the Advisory team needs to feel ownership in the team. Without ownership there will be a breakdown in the success of the team. The buy in is critical. One negative voice on the bench can lead to many problems. A successful program can turn south very fast with missed assignments and disgruntled customers.
4. Measure Results for Accountability Measuring activity results other than revenue numbers is vital. There needs to be other key indicators that you decide are important to your business. It could be thank you notes sent out. New contacts made. Your “A” customer meetings per week. Pick 4 or 5 key indicators to measure that you will keep you on track and 3 or 4 for each of the individuals on your team. Everyone needs to be accountable.
5. Appreciate Your People and their Commitment Celebrate and appreciate your team successes. This is the one that successful advisors often forget. It is far more than handing out bonus checks. Make sure that you create the Recognition and Appreciate events for your team. Too often we believe that money is the end all for everyone. Recognition goes a long way.

Define what you want from each of your team roles. Start the planning and communication process. Use the 5 Steps above as an outline. At the same time you need to understand your team, you’re “Why” and be able to communicate it and listen to their “Why’s” and what are their motivators.

As business leaders, we need to know and recognize those same aspects of every member of our team. Your people may know “What we do,” such as “Sell stuff, Make stuff, or Service stuff.” They may even know “How we do it,” – with the lowest price, the best product, and/or the best service. We can have the best Service yet our clients not even recognize that service if the team does not have the passion.

If you want to have a team that works and thrives together, they must know “why we do what we do” with all the care and precision we use. For example; “Our “Why” is because we are of Service and this is OPM, Other People’s Money. Our clients are trusting us with their financial future. Their investments, their savings, their children’s and grandchildren’s future. That trust very serious. That is “why we perform to our best each day.” We have earned their trust. We owe clients our best managing the relationship and keeping their trust.”

Great leaders motivate their people to achieve something more than a paycheck. they give their team a reason to do their best, and they give them a reason to go above and beyond for the client. It is the individuals on the team and their pride and skills that creates the winning team.

As a leader, building camaraderie and passion is an art and will take effort. It will take getting involved with your people, in and out of the office. Good leaders and coaches and provide true support that the team need to be successful. . Good coaches mentor and teach while allowing each member to create and be themselves. Good coaches acknowledge the good work and effort of each team member. Good coaches motivate people to their highest capacity because they know a motivated team is a successful team. Be that Coach and enjoy those wins!