BLIS makes Coaches Better
Times change, don't they? For some, watching a good 'ol western brings back memories of the days when people moved around in stagecoaches. Just look at the open air, the beautiful view sitting perched high above the passengers to make sure no ambushes were to occur. No blind spots really to contend with in that world, right?
Fast forward to driving around today. Lots of action, cars everywhere, passing at mock speed. Drivers are not sitting out in the open, on top of their cars to monitor their surroundings. What keeps them aware of their surroundings? BLIS - blindspot information systems. If a car moves into an undetectable location, the BLIS light alerts the driver and avoids trouble.
Amazing thing about the BLIS technology, drivers are not credited for demanding this kind of system to help them drive safer. They have simply benefited from engineers who had fun in their engineering ways to bring technology forward.
At Dare2Coach, we like to think we're akin to the engineers in the auto industry. Although coaches haven't asked for a new way to help them with their blinds spots, we noticed a need to help coaches increase their awareness and we've introduced TIMEOUT! 360. This survey is similar to a typical 360 concept, but it is by no means typical! It is sport specific. We spent a year researching great coaches, what makes them great and why players perform at much higher levels when coached by great coaches.
In the people business, Robert Bruce Shaw helps us understand the impact of blindspots. Most relevant to coaches is the research finding that blindspots are hardest to detect when we are overly confident, almost arrogant in our belief we have all the answers. When this happens, people dismiss feedback from others.
Do you see this tendency with coaches? Traditionally, who's giving coaches feedback? Is the feedback they're receiving from multiple perspectives? Or do coaches command their world more like the driver of the old stagecoach where they're perched by themselves trying to see everything single- handily?
We believe today's feedback mechanisms are much like the stagecoach analogy and it’s not working as well as it could for the hectic sports world. Instead, we need signals from multiple sources, much like today's BLIS technology where the sensors are located all around the vehicle.
Using our TIMEOUT! 360 survey approach is like placing "sensors" all around the head coach and sending information from multiple locations. The TIMEOUT! 360 invites participation from everyone --leading to a more complete view of the head coach. By paying attention to these different viewpoints, the head coach has a high chance to become a better coach. Try TIMEOUT! 360 today and see the benefits of BLIS for your coach. www.dare2coach.com