Building championship teams

It’s a story Coca-Cola Tigers forward Rudy Hatfield likes to tell.

After one particularly humiliating loss, Hatfield sought out coach, Vincent Reyes, for some anger management advice. Through a series of coaching sessions with Reyes–taken during the 15 minutes after the game when players were required to place ice packs on their knees–Hatfield realized that he was more likely to get angry at the calls made by referees when the Tigers were behind. Because he knew he was not the most gifted nor the most athletic in the Philippine Basketball Association, Hatfield resorted to anger when he felt he let the team down.

These days, Hatfield is better known for his work ethics than for his hot temper, helping the Tigers reach the PBA conference finals three times and grabbing one conference championship in the span of one year.

"In its simplest terms, coaching helps take you from one place to another in the shortest time possible. We help company managers, executives, and team leaders become more effective coaches on the job through group learning sessions as well as through one-on-one coaching conversations with either myself or my four full-time associates," said Reyes, who is the founder of Coachcom.Inc., a year-and-a-half firm engaged in business coaching for leadership, teamwork and attitude change. "At a core level, lack of success is primarily a self-worth issue. Fear is the great manipulator and coaches must lead the way so that we can leave behind the conditioned fears that no longer serve us. An obvious example is making a sales call. Is not knowing how to dial the problem or is it maybe the fear of rejection or the fear of saying something inappropriate?"

In the last four years, personal coaching has become the second fastest growing industry in the United States, with about 400 registered coaches involved not only in sports but also in corporations. There are no similar data for the Philippines, although Reyes is working on being the first Filipino to undergo certification as a master coach by the Washington DC-based International Alliance of Coaching, which requires 100 hours of classroom work and 100 hours of actual coaching.

Seminars

A typical Coachcom two-day seminar, which costs P3,000 to P4,000 per person, depending on the number of participants, covers the development of 15 fundamental proficiencies.

"One of these proficiencies is the ability to engage in provocative conversation. If you are confronted with an issue, you must be able to find out what is the root cause. The formula for communication is fairly simple. Only 7% are the words you speak, 18% is body language, and the bulk is what is said by the other person. You have to learn how to be responsible for how you are heard," said Reyes.

Based on the 2004 Corporate Leadership Study conducted by Development Dimensions International, on-the-job coaching topped the list of factors needed to sustain learning and training. Coaching also ranked first among five management competencies which need to be enhanced if more Philippine companies are to succeed.

Coachcom’s coaching uses the three-circle approach. The first circle involves business or technical skills, a major requirement for corporations to hire or promote individuals.

The second circle involves coaching proficiencies, which is learned through observation and demonstration; and the third circle involves self-mastery or personal development by the coachee.

"The three circles must not only meet; they must overlap a little. Great companies are made up of individuals, each of whose lives are bigger than their respective jobs. In the same breath, these same individual workers must work as a championship team to succeed," said Reyes. "Coaching is the glue that makes training stick. The coach-manager/team leader must be both the catalyst and the accelerant."