Do you need a Captain?

Listen here:

I have been enjoying sports lately – Chicago Blackhawks winning the Stanley Cup and the start of the FIFA (Soccer) World Cup. While one is a winter sport and the other is a summer sport, they have something in common – the players choose a captain. This got me thinking – both sports have coaches who direct the team, determine strategy, and are accountable for the outcome so why do they need a captain?

Isn’t the coach the leader of the team? Aren’t they responsible for the success of failure of the team? So what does the captain do that the coach can’t? Why is the necessary?

If you do Google search on “role of team captain” you can get 12 million results. Wow! Basically it comes down to this: motivate the team, represent player concerns to management, represent the team at public events, and will take the lead during play. While these are all interesting and important, what I find the most fascinating is that the captain is picked by the other players.

Team members decide who will lead them, present them and motivate them. Think about this for a moment…how different is your business from a team sport? I would say not much.

Do you have a “captain” in your group? Do you maybe need one?

Let’s take a step back and compare business to sport in order to bring this into perspective.

A couple of differences:

• Not everyone is physically wearing the same jersey/sweater
• You probably aren’t signing up employees with elaborate contacts for several years
• You are not playing for a trophy

There are more things that make you same:

• Everyone has a role
• The organization is measured on results
• Communication is essential for success
• Coach/owner needs a vision/goal
• Everyone needs to be working towards the vision/goal
• Bonus plans (sports for winning the championship, business for achieving EBITDA)
• You both have fans (in business you call them loyal customers)
• Each has a coach/CEO (or President if you prefer)

Now that we can visualize the similarities between business and sport, let’s revisit the captain.

I would say the Owner/President of the company is the coach – they give the vision, direction, and goals for the organization.  However can this person also be the Captain? Should this person be the Captain?

Well, it depends.  I know the ultimate non-answer. Let me explain. It’s based on practicality.

If you are a large company, having a captain (and more than one) is a necessity since as the President you can not possibly be in contact with each and every employee. So by default all the managers need to be Captains.

Most of you are small companies and the truth is – it’s not practical to have a Captain but you need one. Why? Look back at to what the Captain is responsible for – motivate the team and take the lead of the field.  As the coach you provide the direction and the overall strategy, if  you are involved in the day-to-day too much – you will loose focus.  Now I am suggesting you go out and hire someone to manage for you, again not practical. Take a look at the employees that you have, if there one person that seems to be fielding all the questions, concerns, and leading naturally. You just found your Captain. The others have naturally “elected” this person to lead them.

What does this mean to you? This is the person you need to focus on, have discussions and get their buy in with what you are doing. For example, you are introducing a new product/service. Go to you Captain and explain your vision, goals, concerns, and get their feedback. Ask them – what do you see working and not working with this? Not only will this get their buy-in but it will also help you identify any possible hiccups in the execution that you may not have thought of. Double bonus. Now when you do the introduction to the rest of the team you already have an advocate on your side!

Go find you Captain, talk to them and watch the game!