This past week, I vacationed in Bermuda for the first time. I was a bit embarrassed to learn that Bermuda is NOT in the Caribbean! It is actually 650 miles due east off the coast of North Carolina.
We were there to golf for a few days (fun fact: there are more golf courses per capita than anywhere in the world), watch the Eagles win the Superbowl 
When we arrived at the hotel, I noticed a large number of athletes, in matching logoed shirts, sitting together for dinner. There were about 10 men, plus one woman.
I was curious – who were they? Were they on a team? Because it is the off season in Bermuda, the restaurant was not crowded at all, so as we were leaving dinner, I stopped at their table and asked, “Where are you from?”
Turns out, they are the referees for CONCACAF, the Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football (Soccer) and the U-17 Soccer Tournament was being played that weekend in Bermuda. The final winner of the matches, would go on to attend the World Cup. This group of young referees were from so many different countries: Antigua, Surinam, Trinidad & Tobago, Venezuela, and Honduras.
On our final morning in Bermuda, we headed to the gym. And there they were – 4 of the male referees and 1 woman. Turns out, the woman was their fitness trainer. For almost an hour, I watched and listened to her put these incredibly fit guys through a stretching routine.
They were not doing complicated exercises. However, she ensured they were all doing their stretching properly and intensely.
And that’s when the lightbulb went on for me.
Even though each of the referees had years of experience in exercising, and clearly knew how important it is to properly stretch before going out on the field, CONCACAF invested in them and their success by having a professional trainer. That trainer had a methodology, a system and process for getting the professional referees ready for game day.
The trainer did not skip steps, and when she saw an incorrect form, she worked directly with each person to help them do the routine correctly.
In business, how many times do we assume that “years of experience” is sufficient to qualify someone to do a job? Forever. What about learning new techniques and skills? How does that happen?
If you are a leader and oversee a sales team, do you let them figure out how they prospect, what their sales approach will be and what their presentations will look like? Do you ever go with them on sales calls and observe their technique and then coach them later on how they can do even better?
In sports teams, the coach/leader is expected to be there, belly to belly with them, “on the field”, working with them to perfect their form, their technique and to give them feedback.That’s how teams win!
One of my favorite sayings is “sports teams are run better than most businesses.” And why? Because sports teams have a playbook (the players can’t decide on their own, how to run plays), they practice (they spend significantly more time practicing than they do playing the game) and they work with and utilize their coach.
So, even for the soccer referees, they invest time daily in preparing themselves for the game. They do this as a team, and don’t take any shortcuts in getting ready to be on the field.
If you are leading a sales team, consider bringing in an outside professional trainer or expert to help your team perfect their skills.
If sports teams have this as a best practice – shouldn’t sales teams do the same? After all, the ultimate goal of sales teams is to win.
Onward and Upward,
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