The tough work of turning around a team

Bill Parcells, one of the NFL's winningest coaches, offers business leaders three rules for reversing the fortunes of a losing team. He contends that the keys to motivating people are much the same whether they're playing on a football field or working in an office. The first rule is to make it clear from day one that you're in charge. Parcells has found that holding frank one-on-one conversations with every member of the organization is essential to success. Leaders can do everything right with their teams and still fail if they aren't able to reach each member as an individual. Rule two is that confrontation is healthy. Parcells relishes confrontation because it provides an opportunity to get things straight with people. Confrontation does not mean putting someone down. When criticizing members of the team, he puts it in a positive context. Once he sets that context, he's not afraid to be blunt about players' failings. Parcells's third rule is to identify small goals and hit them. He believes that success breeds success. Once a team gets in the habit of losing, confidence dips and success seems unreachable. To break the habit of losing, Parcells focuses on achieving goals within immediate reach. In the end, Parcells is convinced that if you get people on your team who share the same goals and the same passion, and if you push them to achieve at the highest level, you're going to come out on top.