You may think you have little in common with a college men’s basketball coach.
You have more in common than you would think at first glance. There are three and only three things you control in your career and in business. The same is true in life. You control you, your message, and your environment to a degree. We often spend more time and effort focusing on things we don’t control, like the weather and traffic.
Dana Altman is the Head Men’s BB coach at the University of Oregon. He addressed his success as he prepared for March Madness. A fairly young coach, he attributes much of his success to CYT: Coach Your Team. He writes it down on his clipboard during games: CYT. He writes it on his notes and in the margins: CYT.
Coach Your Team is his own reminder to focus on what he can control instead of all the things he can’t control. It is a reminder not to focus on the ref’s calls, the opponent, the fans, the media or the hundreds of others hungry outlets starved for attention from the coach. It is a reminder to concentrate on what you have some control over through your presence, what you say and don’t say and how you say it. Coach Your Team is a reminder to control you, your message, and the parts of your environment you can control.
You can control where you sit during a meeting. You can control whether you stand or sit to make a point. You can control how you thank a prospect, client or interviewer. Do you thank them with a text, an email or snail mail?
Everyone talks about the weather, yet you have no control over it. You can however control that you are dressed for it and have a scraper in your car. You may say, “I don’t control my work.” But you chose the job and you chose to come to work today.
The more you concentrate on the things you control, the more success you will have. The more you concentrate on you, the more control you have. The more you Coach Your Own Team, the more empowered you will be in your job and life. The more you concentrate on you, your message, and cultivating an environment to support your agenda, the faster you get to move forward.
You may never touch a basketball or enter post season play. But if you can remember and implement Coach Your Own Team, you will make it to your finals and beyond. Your team may be you, your division, your company, industry, or profession. This rule does not change. The more you coach your team, the less attention you pay to distractions, the higher you will go whether you are a twelve seed or a one seed.
Read more posts by Leslie Ungar, JenningsWire blogger.
