|
Hey coach,
I was on a coaching call recently with a coach who was trying to figure out how to get the most out of his assistant coach.
He wasn't complaining about effort. His assistant was working hard. Really hard.
Things were being checked off the to-do list every day.
The problem was that despite all that activity, neither of them felt like they were making the progress they wanted.
That's when the coach said something I hear all the time:
"Mandy, we're both busy, but I'm not sure we're actually moving the program forward."
Maybe you've felt that way too.
You hire an assistant hoping you'll create more momentum. Instead, it sometimes feels like you've simply added another person completing tasks.
That's when I shared a lesson that completely changed how I think about productivity, delegation, and leadership.
I asked the coach, "Are you assigning goals or projects?"
He looked at me the same way my German Shepherd looks at me when I'm trying to explain something he doesn't quite understand.
So I explained.
It's a lesson I teach inside High Performance Coach & Recruiter and The Assistant Coach Accelerator because it's one of the simplest ways I know to help a coach win the day.
The lesson is this:
Goals and projects are not the same thing.
In fact, they can look almost identical on paper.
For example:
"Run a summer ID camp."
That's a project.
"Run a summer ID camp that brings 100 prospects into our recruiting funnel."
That's a goal.
"Hire a new assistant coach."
That's a project.
"Hire a new assistant coach and reduce my workload by 20%."
That's a goal.
"Build a recruiting database."
That's a project.
"Build a recruiting database that improves our follow-up consistency by 30%."
That's a goal.
Do you see the difference?
Projects tell you what you're doing.
Goals tell you why you're doing it.
That's important because coaches spend most of their days working on projects.
Recruiting boards.
Visit schedules.
Practice plans.
Social media.
Camps.
Staff meetings.
None of those things are bad.
But if you're not careful, you can spend all day completing projects without ever creating the result you actually want.
The same thing happens with assistant coaches.
Many assistants are given projects.
Update the database.
Organize the visit.
Build the spreadsheet.
Create the social media content.
But they aren't always given the goal behind the project.
When people understand the goal, they make better decisions. They become more proactive. They start solving problems instead of waiting for instructions.
That's why I encourage the coaches I work with to ask one simple question whenever they're starting a new project:
"So that..."
I'm updating this spreadsheet...
So that...
I'm creating this recruiting plan...
So that...
I'm holding this staff meeting...
So that...
That question forces you to connect the work to the result.
And when you connect your projects to meaningful results, something interesting happens.
You become more focused.
You become more intentional.
You stop doing work just because it feels productive.
One of the slides in the training says something I love:
Goals are accountable to a result. Projects are accountable to a deadline.
That's why some coaches can spend an entire season checking things off a list and still feel stuck.
They completed the projects.
But they never defined the result.
By the end of our coaching call, the coach realized his assistant didn't have an effort problem.
He had a clarity problem.
And honestly, most coaching staffs do.
So here's your challenge this week.
Look at the top three projects on your desk right now.
For each one, finish this sentence:
"I'm doing this so that..."
If you can't clearly explain the result you're trying to create, you may have a project without a goal.
And that's usually where busy starts to replace progress.
Your Coach,
Mandy Green
P.S. One of the biggest shifts in my own career happened when I stopped asking, "What do I need to do today?" and started asking, "What result am I trying to create?" That one question changed how I recruit, lead staff, and plan my time.
If you'd like help identifying what's slowing you down, tightening up your systems, or creating a plan for next year, I'd love to help. You can book a free call with me here: https://calendly.com/busy-coach
|
