Hear ye, hear ye! The 2024 Paris Olympics are upon us! Opening ceremonies commence tomorrow – July 26 – and the anticipation is high for all of us sports fans who gravitate to the spectacle of the summer events.
While I have always been drawn to Olympic events of all kinds, my recent work with Coachability Consultants, Inc. has given me a new perspective when it comes to team events in particular. I’m not just watching the plays on the field and the points on the scoreboard, but also the dynamics among the teammates. I’m wondering how what is happening on the sidelines affects the group’s performance on the pitch.
I’m confident that, when gold medal teams are eventually interviewed, they will share stories of coachability. As these elite athletes clutch the new hardware hanging from their necks, tears running down their faces, they’ll credit teammates or coaches as their inspiration. They will speak of individuals with a deep, nearly pathological commitment to self-improvement and growth, and they’ll say these attitudes were the key to their team’s victory.
How do I know this? How am I so sure that these are the stories that will be told? Because I work for an organizational psychologist, and I have read the research (see “Sources” below). Teams and companies with strong coaching and coachability cultures are more than twice as likely to achieve high levels of performance relative to other organizations.
Simply put, if a team is full of highly coachable people, they’re more likely to find themselves on the medal stand.
Likewise, if a company is full of highly coachable people, they’re more likely to find themselves with a more robust bottom line.
So why is a coachability culture such a potent driver of success? That’s simple – a coachability culture enables an organization to “build their bench.”
What is a “deep bench”?
The term “deep bench” comes from the sports world; it refers to a team where there is an impressive array of quality athletes. Typically, the strongest athletes on the team are the starters – they start the game on the court or field to gain an early advantage in the game, while their lesser-skilled counterparts sit on the bench until the starters need a break. But a team with a deep bench has athletes who are just as high-quality on the bench, fully ready and fully capable to take over for the starters at any moment.
To illustrate my point, let’s look to a great Olympic team of the past.
Spain, Tenerife, September 25, 2018: American female basketball player Diana Taurasi in action during the FIBA Women's Basketball World Cup — Photo by Michele_Morrone
The 2012 United States Women's Basketball Team
The 2012 United States Women's Basketball Team is an excellent example of the power of a deep bench.
Led by stars like Sue Bird, Tamika Catchings, and Diana Taurasi, the gold-medal team was stacked with talent. However, it was the team's overall depth that truly set them apart. Players like Maya Moore and Tina Charles provided consistent scoring and playmaking, while the bench, including players like Candace Parker and Angel McCoughtry, offered size, athleticism, and defensive prowess.
This incredible depth allowed the team to maintain a high level of intensity throughout the entire tournament, overwhelming opponents with their talent and versatility.
In 2012, Justin Peters of Slate wrote, “In the qualifying rounds, Team USA beat their opponents by a combined 183 points; the next highest point differential was 37. They played one close game in the entire Olympics, against Australia, and it wasn’t even that close: They won by 13.”
The 2012 U.S. women's basketball team's dominance was a testament to the importance of a deep bench.
How a Coachability Culture Builds Bench Depth
Similarly, in the corporate world, “talent bench strength” refers to the amount and readiness of qualified individuals within an organization to fill key positions. If you have a deep bench, you have your own “gold-meal team” – a group with many skilled, experienced, and qualified individuals available to fill open roles at a moment’s notice.
A strong coachability culture enables companies to “build their benches” in two ways – they can (1) develop their existing players and (2) better retain existing talent. And ultimately, these two factors result in big gains for the business.
Develop Your Coachability Culture With CCI
In the coming weeks, we’ll expand on exactly how a coachability culture deepens your bench with our three-part series – Build Your Bench Strength, Build Your Bottom Line: Why Coachability Matters for Organizations. Stay tuned to our blog for more!
If you are ready to look inward at your company’s coachability needs, explore the services we offer at Coachability Consultants, Inc. or sign up for our newsletter.
At Coachability Consultants, we believe that everyone can elevate to the level of highly coachable, and we are on a mission to help as many people as possible achieve that milestone.
We look forward to getting in touch and getting you started on your coachability journey.
Sources:
- Sources
- International Coaching Federation. (2023b, December 12). 2023 ICF Defining New Coaching Cultures – Final Report. International Coaching Federation. https://coachingfederation.org/research/building-a-coaching-culture
- Milner, J., Milner, T., & McCarthy, G. (2020). A Coaching Culture Definition: An Industry-Based Perspective From Managers as Coaches. The Journal of Applied Behavioral Science, 56(2), 237-254. https://doi.org/10.1177/0021886320905126
- History of the U.S. Women’s National Team. WNBA. (2016a, April 27). https://www.wnba.com/news/olympic-history
- Peters, J. (2012, August 12). Team USA wins women’s Basketball Gold, again. America yawns and flips to wrestling, again. Slate Magazine. https://slate.com/culture/2012/08/u-s-women-s-basketball-2012-olympics-the-real-reason-nobody-cares-about-the-dominant-u-s-women-s-basketball-team.html
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