Early in my career I was introduced to a book called, “First Break All The Rules: What the World’s Greatest Managers Do Differently.” by my leader at the time, Jamie Wanless.
He not only introduced me to the book, but led (and leads) in alignment with the recommendations and encouraged my continued exploration. As a result of his introduction, role modeling and encouragement, First Break All The Rules, has a been mainstay since then, guiding my approach as a manager, coach, and learning and development leader.
The book was based on a study of 80,000 managers by Gallup. They found that the greatest managers approached their role with a focus on four roles; select for talent, set expectations, motivate and develop.
On the talent front it’s not about hiring for experience, but instead for talents. See my recent blog post for more on this topic.
Setting expectations is the second role of a world class manager and the example I had a chance to witness first hand on Monday night.
Our daughter Hannah is only entering 7th grade this fall although she’s joining the Tartan High School swim team. Now before anyone starts talking about her becoming the next Katie Ledecky, swimming in the school is a no cut sport so everyone who joins the team and makes the commitment is a part of the team and eligible to earn a “varsity letter,” even 7th graders.
While Hannah swims with a club team, we were a little apprehensive about her swimming on the high school team, but the vast majority of our concerns are gone because the coach and the booster club president set expectations.
They reached out via email a few times to let us know what to expect. They set expectations with Hannah during daily practice and the booster club president, who is the mom of one of the seniors, even held an evening event to make posters and let the swimmers get to know each other better, especially those that were new.
For us as parents the picnic and info session on Monday night was very helpful to hear more details from the booster club and the coach. The coach started by highlighting the importance of communication the venues he would use and his willingness to answer any all questions from swimmers and parents.
He also set expectations about how they approach ramping up the swimmers including the points in the year where they will likely be sore and tired as they increase the intensity.
The coach and booster club President demonstrated text book “First Break All The Rules” approach to setting expectations which makes me very thankful as a parent and excited for Hannah!
Now the last two components will be important to help Hannah and the rest of the team achieve their potential - Motivate and Develop!
Learn In The Flow of Life
Jason
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