Why your hard work and long hours are sabotaging your team and keeping you stuck

Happy Easter Coach!

A few weeks ago, I was having a call with a coaching client of mine…  

Who has been a head basketball coach for almost 2 years now and has 2 assistants to help.   

Now…  

This guy is a super hard worker, a very good up-and-coming coach.  

But…  

Like a lot of college coaches, he has a “fatal flaw” I’ve been coaching him through to help him grow to the next level. 

He tries to do everything himself.  

Even when he’s overwhelmed with more projects than anyone could reasonably handle on their own…  

…His response is always the same, “I’ve got this and I can do more.”  

For a long time…  

He thought being a high-performer meant suffering in silence, doing all of the work himself, and saying “yes” to everything that his AD (or his staff, team, recruits, or the school he is at) sent his way.  

An attitude I’m sure a lot of you can relate with…  

Anyway…  

During our call I told him point blank that he was doing too much… 

And that, if he didn’t let go of his insane work load and prioritize the things that really matter… 

…He would burn himself out and likely drop the ball on some important projects.  

At first, he fought back hard…  

“I’ve got the time!” he told me, “I just need to dial my systems in and be more productive.”  

But when I went a little bit deeper, it started to click…  

“I know you can do more…” I told him, “But I don’t want you to. I want you to focus on the 20% of tasks that will build your program and find other people who can do everything else”  

I continued… 

“There are only 20% of the tasks on your to-do list that will help you build your program. You need to do those.  The other 80% can either be delegated, automated, or deleted. They are a distraction.”   

“Don’t let yourself become the bottleneck here… if we can buy speed by delegating to other people, you’ll be more effective and you will build your program faster” 

I could almost see his eyes light up.  

In his mind…  

Delegating tasks to other people to do “his job” had meant he was failing.  

But what he missed was… it had nothing to do with him.  

It was about doing what was best for the program, the team, and for his recruits.  

Because if he delegated tasks someone else to handle the 15+ hours of work he was spending each week on things that weren’t high value/program building tasks…  

…He was able to do what we really needed him to do much more effectively.  

And that’s a big lesson that some coaches don’t learn for decades…  

If you want to build FAST…  

You need to stop asking yourself, “What do I need to do?”  

…And start asking “WHO can do this for me so I can spend 98% of my time in my area of genius?” 

I’ve noticed that the most successful clients I work with are not the ones who do the most work, work the longest hours, or are the most productive people themselves…  

…But the coaches who are willing to let go, be humble, and ask for help when they need it. 

Doing too much and working insane hours isn’t a badge of honor… it’s a sign of arrogance.  

It typically means that (subconsciously)… 

…You care more about “being a hustler” than you do about doing what’s right for the school you work for and the people on your team who depend on you.  

I know this sounds harsh…  

But I can tell you from personal experience that suffering in silence and doing everything yourself NEVER leads to sustainable success.  

The only way to stop struggling and start building the program you’ve always wanted to create…  

…Is to surround yourself with people who can help you find and implement the solutions you need to build your program.  

You might not be able to hire another assistant.  I get it.  

Be resourceful.  Whether it’s a work study… a marketing major who could do your social media… or even a current athlete who might want to experience what coaching is like.  

Get the right people in your corner.  

Stop allowing manpower to be the bottleneck to your success.  

The average person with a stellar team will outperform the genius without a team every single time.  

To Your Success, 
Mandy 

P.S. One of the best ways for you to “buy speed” in 2023 is to get objective outside eyes on your life and program from people who are not only surviving the chaos of this year… but thriving because of it.  

There are still a few spots left in one-on-one coaching program…  

And if you want to get my personal feedback on your program and recruiting and get access to the exact strategies I’m using to help other programs build their programs right now…  

I genuinely don’t know of any other offer out there that gives you this level of access and coaching for such a small fee.