Coaches are essential for motivating teams to reach their peak performance. Our research has revealed that teams are mainly driven by having a trusting relationship with their coach, who must provide ongoing support, encouragement, reinforcement, and feedback. Safety and security are the most important needs of teams. The traditional “carrot and stick” approach to motivation is no longer effective in the 21st century.
Instead, coaches should focus on intrinsic motivation.The Pitchero Sports Coach Bible '17 e-book is full of advice for coaches on a variety of topics, from motivating your team to preparation. Coaches should arrive early to the office and let their team know what skills they will be focusing on in each practice session and why. They should also set small goals for each practice and provide positive challenges. Intrinsic motivation coaching focuses on helping people find their own motivation and use it to reach their objectives.
The main goal of this type of coaching in a business context is to help employees overcome their own obstacles and achieve their goals. Getting closer to your team can also help motivate them to fight for each other on the field. Wayne Goldsmith is a performance-focused professional coach with more than 25 years of experience working with some of the world's top athletes, coaches, and teams. He believes that the key to motivation lies in constantly talking, “cheering up” and providing a training environment full of energy and enthusiasm. As a coach, it is generally your responsibility to present solutions to your team that they are then expected to implement. Coaches can also increase the autonomy of their athletes by encouraging self-control, reflection on performance, and the honest evaluation of physical and emotional well-being.
Motivational coaching is the method that will help you achieve this, by identifying objectives and taking the necessary actions to achieve them. Coaches who adopt an authoritarian or hardline stance have been shown to have a negative effect on player performance.
