College basketball coach, the late Hal Nunnally, said “The four most important words in coaching are, ‘Shit, it ain’t working.’” He was leading a college basketball team. You’re leading a team in your practice. Same difference. Hal’s lesson is that if you want to lead, you must be able to see and adjust.

Let’s talk about adjustment. Adjustments are those subtle tweaks we have to make when the game plan may not be working as well as we though it would. For us, leading a team in an optical practice, these adjustments need to happen primarily on the ‘shop floor’ in real time day by day (in the morning huddle, throughout the day hour by hour, during second-half-thinking), as well as in weekly team meetings, and individual one-to-ones. We have to be able to adjust.

Also from the world of basketball*, The Boston Celtic’s defensive coach from the year when they last won a championship in 2008, Tom Thibodeau, had some critical distinctions about making adjustments. He said, “Before we adjust anything, we have to first make sure we are doing it the way we have taught it.”

His strategy for adjustment was to let the players know that we will have some checks before we adjust: “First we need to do it harder, then do it better.” We were going to make damn sure it was done the correct way before we were going to make an adjustment. How do we know if something truly isn’t working if we aren’t doing it right?

Here’s the takeaway: In successful teams and in successful organisations, and I’ll immodestly include Jones And Co. Styling Opticians here, we have spent many hours and years coming up with a system we know works and gives our team the best chance to be successful.

Because of the research, study, thought, and time to come up with this system, we developed a strong belief in it, that is backed up by results. Why would we change it just because it didn’t work a few times? We first have to see if we are doing it in the right way before we change.

The reality is, the most needed change is usually in the areas of effort and execution. This is true for championship teams. It’s certainly true in my practice. And I guarantee it’s true in your practice too.

This is a vital distinction. Without it, you’ll be running around like a blue-arsed fly changing systems all the time. The system works (if it’s an OSA system). Where the adjustment is needed is in the execution of the system. We’re not immune to this in my practice either. We’ve been focusing on our price guide in Jones And Co. recently and with more focus on it it’s obvious to me many, many little ways where it isn’t being executed correctly. This screws up the results. More training is needed that is what we’re doing.

Don’t allow this to become adversarial. You are responsible for your team.  You have to be on their side. They’re not doing it the wrong way on purpose. Unless you have someone who doesn’t fit or belong on your team, the rest are doing their best and genuinely want to do a good job. In my team, it’s usually not a lack of effort. It’s just imperfect execution and that’s why we need clarity, training and a strong culture. As the leader, you have the advantage of a different vantage point. When your team are battling on the front line it can become hard to see the woods for the trees. This is how you add value as a coach, manager or leader. You have to have great eyes to see what you need to adjust. You have to have great ears to hear what you may need to adjust. You have to have a great mind to know what strategic adjustments you need to make.

We might need to give one team member a pep-talk to lift their spirits and confidence. We might need to give another team member a proverbial kick in the rear-end, to tell them to take it up a level. We might have to settle a team member down and get them to relax and chill out a bit and stop stressing. Coaching and leadership are as much about resetting mindsets for an individual or an entire team as they are about making adjustments to how the team execute the exact steps of a process. But never forget, if you want to be an effective leader you must be able to see and adjust.

*I spent my teenage years obsessed with basketball, specifically following the Chicago Bulls in the Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen era. My original plan was to be 6’8’’ and play in the NBA but that didn’t work out ☹. Today, I’m obsessed with my business and figuring out how to keep reaching new heights with my team. There is so much to learn about team dynamics and effective leadership from great sports teams and great coaches and managers. It’s a high-leverage area worthy of your ongoing study and practice.