World Class Execution
As I write this blog, I am watching the Denver Broncos vs. the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday Night Football. It could be a record setting game for Peyton Manning. If he throws at least three touchdown passes, he will set a new NFL record for most touchdowns passes in a career. Brett Favre currently holds the record with 508 TD passes.
Watching a team execute a game plan is fascinating. While the players have to practice (i.e., perform) what they are instructed, hundreds of hours of preparation go into the game plan. It is not unusual for an NFL coach to sleep in the office during the football season. They work extraordinary hours reviewing film, creating plays, and developing an overall strategy. With unmatched intensity, passion, and attention to details, coaches control everything except the actual execution of the game plan.
One Thing Leads to Another
Let’s review a bit. Your Purpose leads to the Principles of emphasis. The Principles give birth to the Policies. Procedures are not developed or created as much as revealed.
Once the mission is agreed upon, and the research is complete, the policies and procedures become obvious. But the rubber meets the road with practices.
Practices are the execution of the game plan. If you tuned in to this blog hoping to see the list of the practices that make up Evidence Based Practices (EBP), you are likely to be disappointed. I am a big fan of the EBP movement, but nobody can identify your practices except you. The good news is that you have all of the information you need. If you have conducted the exercises listed in our previous 5 Ps blogs, you have already defined your practices. Now, execution is the key.
An Out of Control Coach
Being an administrator of a community corrections program is much like being a coach. Just like a quality coach, you do your best to inspire and prepare your team.
Coaches:
- Inspire
- Mentor
- Develop
- Train
- Support
Coaches do oodles of things for their team. Nevertheless, coaches do not play.
The mission is contagious; the research is consumed and the policy and procedure manual reflects both. Still, your team must turn the written procedures into actual practices. Once the execution begins, the coach loses a great deal of control. Coaches love control. What is a control freak to do?
Trust is the Name of the Game
Where control ends, trust must begin. Execution is always about trust. In an individual sport, the athlete must trust themselves. Exponentially more complicated is the trust involved in team sports. Does the team trust the coach? Do teammates trust each other? Does the coach trust the team?
Practicing Trust
If you think of trust as a soft, ambiguous social concept, you are not alone. Trust has long been seen as a touchy feely emotional concept. However, modern research, including Stephen M.R. Covey’s The Speed of Trust, indicates that trust is a critical part of any performance equation. Trust is an emotional and logical process. It is a judgment of the probability that someone will do as they promised. By definition, trust places control in another person.
Trust does not come easily for coaches or corrections professionals. The stakes are high and the details matter. As we discussed in our 7 Commandments of Community Corrections white paper, you do not control results. You have direct control over the people you hire and the processes that are in place. Focus your attention there.
Integrity + Preparation = Trust
Control What You Can
In other words, if you want to have peace of mind (i.e., trust) that your team will practice what is preached, focus on two things:
- The integrity of the people you hire
- The training you provide them
This is certainly easier said than done. However, when you are a detail obsessed, control freak like Peyton Manning, you never lose sight of what creates (and fails to create) the results you seek.
By the way, Mr. Manning just threw TD pass #509 to set the record for most TD passes in an NFL career. Integrity and preparation always pay off in performance.
Read more in the series of The 5Ps of Community Corrections
- Community Corrections: Leading with Purpose
- Principle Centered Community Corrections
- Turning Evidence Based Principles (EBP) into Policies
- The 5Ps of Community Corrections: Procedures
- The 5Ps of Community Corrections: Practices
