Warrior Coaching

  Here we are at the start of a new week already and I’m continuing the series detailing what ‘Warrior Coaching’ is and what it stands for through an acrostic word.

Already we have covered W which stands for Winning Mentality:
http://www.warriorcoaching.co.uk/1/post/2010/07/w-is-for-winning-mentality.html

And A which was all about Attitude
http://www.warriorcoaching.co.uk/1/post/2010/07/a-is-for-attitude.html

Today we talk about the first R which is all about Responsibility.

Responsibility is all about taking full control of your situation.  Responsibility is what binds you to the course of action that you need to undertake to succeed in your goals.  And nothing and no one is responsible for your success more than you are.

Now one thing you will learn about Warrior Coaching is that it is never about re-inventing the wheel.  It is only about getting clients from A to B in the most effective and efficient process.  However, no amount of advice, input and information can help the individual who refuses to accept full responsibility for their situation.  This is not a new concept and the reason I insist on continuing to bring it up is because across the board many people refuse to pay attention to it.

We appear to live in a society where we’re all thirsty for knowledge, the new killer piece of information, the shortcuts and the holy grail of expert advice.  And in truth people have never known as much as they do now.  However, many people are not living that knowledge or applying it which is why we must all take full responsibility for that right away.  The ones that do stand up and accept responsibility are the only ones that allow themselves to grow to their full potential.

All aspects of your life that you don’t particularly like are there because of choices and actions that were your responsibility.  And by the same token, all aspects of your life that you truly cherish and love are there because of choices and actions that were your responsibility.  That’s the great thing about life.  You get to claim all of the credit for everything you achieve, as well as all the credit for what you don’t.  So be responsible for your results and accept that they are in your hands.

This concept although simple in principal can be a challenge for some clients to fully take on board.  Warrior Coaching simply works in partnership with them and develops within them the skills, belief and courage to face that responsibility and take charge of their destiny.

After all we are all masters of our own destiny, and the captains of our soul.

Be Responsible for your success today.  And if you have any questions at all about aspects of your life you would like to have more control over or questions about how you can be more responsible then email me right away.  Even better, if we haven’t spoken yet then remember to book your free 1-2-1 and I’ll get you started with some tools you can use immediately.

Keep up the Intensity

Dean

Fabio Capello has had an amazing career as a Football Manager so credit where credit is due he deserves to be respected as a manager.  However, sadly his ability and experience is not coming together how he would like for the England Team right now in South Africa. 

One thing that is very different from club management to International management is the time that you get with the players and the time you have to get the team to gel.  Even if you walk into a new club you know the team have already gelled to an extent.  Whereas England have not had that cohesion for a very long time.  But don’t worry help is available and all he needs to do is call the Warrior Coach and I’ll be there!

So what would I be saying if I got his ear?

Preparation

Games are rarely won on the pitch but in the preparation and build up that precedes it.  Currently the squad are kept in the dark on team selection until the final hour and none of the players have the opportunity to mentally focus on the task at hand because they don’t know what part they will play.  So if the team selection is this up in the air how can they be able to carry out tactical orders that are not fully rehearsed?  Confidence comes from preparation and the team don’t have a full opportunity to bring it all together before the big day.  You can see in the player’s body language that this confidence is missing.  This was shown by Wayne Rooney as he expressed the pain of being booed by his own fans.  The players are so low that they need every scrap of support they can muster to rebuild their own belief.  Abuse from the fans will signal another nail in the coffin.

Tactics

Fabio Capello has World Class stars at his disposal however they are only World Class in certain areas of their game.  If these areas of their game are not maximised then even the best player in the World can look very average.  One of the phrases that keeps coming up is ‘square pegs in round holes’ and I fear that is exactly what Fabio is doing.  He is taking World Class players and operating them in a system where they can not show their full capabilities.  To make matters worse not only are the players struggling and losing belief, but the media slam their individual performances which pushes the players even further down.  If confidence comes from preparation then taking a player out of his comfort zone and asking him to perform how he has never performed before will certainly create doubt in their minds.  If I was with Capello I would rapidly be running through a SWOT analysis of each player and highlighting where the weak areas of their games are as well as their strengths.  This way we can neutralise their weaknesses and play only to the positives.  Also if you insist on a stubborn set of tactics then you have to admit at some point that sometimes your star player will not feature in them.  As despite their obvious talent their abilities don’t fit the tactics.  This is how surprising stars are made in big tournaments and also how surprisingly big stars fade in tournaments.  Look at Sir Alf Ramsey when he chose not to play Jimmie Greaves in the final against West Germany in 1966.  Greaves was in many ways a much better footballer than Geoff Hurst, but despite that he wasn’t the right man for the job.  It is key decisions like this that earn managers their money.

Motivation

As the players run out of the tunnel you want to see the fire burning in their eyes.  You want to see the hunger spilling over as they can’t wait to get on the pitch and show the world what they were born to do.  The World Cup is the pinnacle of a Footballers career so if you can’t motivate them for this then what can you motivate them for?  The truth appears to be that Capello is mismanaging the pressure and offloading it on to the players.  The players are playing like they have the world on their shoulders and to be fair they have.  The level of expectation now is so high that the squad are getting concerned they don’t have what it takes to deal with it.  This is what Managers get paid for.  Managers who offload stress and pressure to those below them have no right being in that profession.  Players have to be responsible and accountable for fulfilling the roles that the manager asked them to deliver.  But the buck ALWAYS stops with the manager.  If it didn’t get done it’s because the strategy was wrong or the personnel ordered to carry out the task was wrong.  Both were selected and dictated by the manager.  This has to be made clear to the players that their responsibility is to do that task to the best they can and they then have to be empowered with all the tools required to carry out that task.  At the moment the England players appear like it is their responsibility to win in spite of their manager and that the pressure is on them to work out how it is going to be done.  Removing this pressure and blockage and playing the players in formations and roles that they are fully prepared for will allow them to play without fear.  And we need to see England play without fear against Slovenia.  A full answer to motivation should have started a long time ago with a full understanding of the values of the individual players and a common guideline of shared values adopted by the squad.  The players need to know how they personally fit into the team and be reassured that they are an integral part of that team.  At the moment I fear that every player is treading on eggshells and many don’t feel integral at all.

Belief

It costs nothing to believe in yourself and everything not to.  The players have had a rough ride so far and there is no doubt that without the appropriate measures in place it will have affected their mindset and their opinion on their chances.  The management team need to work hard at making sure each player is fully aware of their potential and instil the belief that the only ones that can stop them are themselves.  England are still in control of their own destiny here and an emphatic win in Slovenia is likely to see them progress.  It’s ugly but it doesn’t matter its results that matter.  And if they progress they have the same chance as anyone to lift the cup.  Creating the belief shouldn’t be difficult as virtually every player in the squad has experience of playing in Finals in the domestic league and even winning championships.  Most have played in the Champions League which in many ways is a much higher quality of football due to the time the teams get to prepare together.  England CAN win the World Cup and whether they do or not is simply a choice.  Do they choose to win the World Cup?  Sounds like an easy decision however they do have to be empowered to make that decision by the management in place.  And I know what you’re thinking.  What if all the teams make that choice?  Then it comes down to the team that is not just paying lip service but genuinely believe it the most.  Not as individuals but as a team.  From the guys who don’t get to play to the star of the tournament.  And even down the staff all the way to the physio and the kit manager.  Belief has to be instilled at every level and it has to be backed up by the preparation to win and the actions that show that you came to win.  No good saying that you are intent on winning the lottery someday but never buying a ticket.  Actions always outweigh the words and its what you do that speaks volumes about your belief.  The manager has a responsibility to demonstrate actions that scream the level of belief he requires from his players.  Dropping Green was one of those decisions that weakened the squad’s belief as it distinctly showed lack of belief.

I could write for another week about what I’d love to discuss with Fabio but today is not the day.  Maybe when I meet him I can go through it properly