Raise the Volume, Make Adjustments

Some people are great at making a game plan. I think I am probably average at it. In my opinion there are two types of people when it comes to being great at game planning, those who can adjust and those who can’t. On a day-to-day basis you can make a solid game plan and you don’t really have to make that many adjustments, so if you aren’t that good at making adjustments, it might go unknown for a long time. The truly great ones have five different game plans, but they usually only need one. But, when things get crazy, it seems like they are making really quick decisions, but what they are really doing is just going to the next option on their list. That means that they have already put the fire out while someone else is still running around trying to figure out what to do next. Why does all that matter? Mostly because I think it brings confidence to everyone around you. Last week we talked about athletes, some athletes have the reputation of being a winner, others have a reputation of choking. The crazy part is that a coach on the sidelines is usually the one picking the play.  That means that someone else is making a decision, but you have to execute it. If it works, you are a winner, if it doesn’t, you are a bust. So, what separates the two? I think it’s the volume in the huddle. One guy comes in and tells everyone the play. But his voice sounds like he’s not sure if the team can make the play. Maybe he is worried that he can’t make the throw or even if he does make the throw, they will probably just drop it anyway. Maybe he sounds like he disagrees with the call, so his voice brings doubt to everyone. No matter what, something is happening in those few minutes before the play where everyone including the leader himself thinks its all going to fail. On the other hand, some guy’s strut into that huddle and they demand performance. They yell out the play as if they wrote it themselves or it came from God on a stone tablet. They look everyone in the eyes, and they tell them what is about to happen. Then magically it all happens just like he said it would. Same play, way different results. But why? I think you can have power in volume. I think you can show confidence in volume. I think you can convince yourself with volume.  What I am trying to say is that in most cases you don’t have to make a lot of adjustments and you don’t need to change your volume. But when the time comes, can you? One tone and one plan just doesn’t work anymore. We live in a world where everything can change in a moment. What was true on March 1st, isn’t true on April 1st. People change, products change, management changes. Working nights is weird, what is crazy at midnight, is boring by seven in the morning. What seemed like a potential hiccup at midnight is now a full-fledged issue. When this is all happening, you should be able to look back at the other options you thought of at the start of the shift. You should always be able to make adjustments so quickly that some people didn’t even know that an adjustment just took place. You should be able to communicate in such a way that the people who do see an adjustment realize that they need to move quickly and that it’s the right call. I may not know all of the information, but I know when I can hear urgency and confidence. People who yell all the time lose all respect. Not everything is an emergency or an “Oh Crap!”  moment. Stay calm most of the time, but when the times comes to change the tone, change the tone.