Today’s coach has a massive blind spot.
It’s called the habit gap.
What’s the habit gap? The habit gap is the space between a person’s aspiration and their daily practices.
Tom was an average basketball player at best. He should never have even made the basketball team: he was a low-scorer, slower than most players, and vertically challenged.
But the summer preceding his freshman year, Tom ran into his soon-to-be coach, “I really want to make the team, but I know that as an incoming freshman, my chances are next to impossible.” Tom asked, “Is there anything I can do to increase my odds?”
Without missing a beat, Coach looked at Tom and said, “Work on your left-handed layup. Work on it all summer,” slowing his voice in staccato to emphasize the phrase “all summer.” And that’s all Coach said.
Tom was right-handed, not left-handed. Coach knew that as a righty, if Tom worked all summer on his left-handed layup, he would learn how to dribble, shoot, and pass with his left hand, which would make him a powerful assist player. And Tom did. All summer. When fall tryouts came, Tom was the only player on the court who was ambidextrous. That versatility made him more valuable than simply being the speediest at a fast-break or the highest scorer. Coach spotted the gap between Tom’s desire and his practice. That one small habit shift in his daily practice changed the game for Tom. Literally.
To a more applicable biz example: Sharon, a CEO, recently hired a consultant to help her focus on strategy for the team. The consultant asked, “How much time do you spend each week thinking and working on your strategy? Where do you find time to do that?”
“Next to none,” Sharon replied, “I’m too deep in the weeds.”
“That’s the first adjustment you have to make. You must set aside time in your calendar to make thinking about strategy, a priority.”
Sharon knew she needed to work on strategy, that’s why she hired a consultant. But the consultant knew that the CEO had the talent and skill to strategize but she also had a habit gap, a space between her desire and her daily practice (and because strategy is never a one-and-done exercise).
James Clear, author of Atomic Habits, in an interview with ultra-endurance athlete Rich Roll, said “People are always worried about the outcome. Everybody wants to run a marathon, earn six figures, lose 30 lbs, it’s all finish-line focused. But you have to standardize before you optimize. You have to make it the standard in your life before you have a chance to optimize it and turn it into something more.” In Habits, he continued, “Success is not a goal to reach or a finish line to cross. It is a system to improve, an endless process to refine.”
In the business world, as coaches, we spend a tiny fraction of our time goal-setting and the lion’s share of our time alongside our colleagues, running the business. But, just like a sports coach, our team needs us to help them lift their head above the fray to gain perspective. Whether it’s a sales role, a production role, or a design role, as coaches, we owe it to our top talent to help spot the gap between their goals and their daily practice.
A recent article in Sports Illustrated highlighted that even the world’s most celebrated champions still need a coach to unlock their full potential. Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant, “by their own assessment, needed Coach Phil Jackson to summon the best versions of themselves … there’s a long history of NBA stars’ finding their best selves after finding the right coach.”
We help our teams change their world, not by merely dictating lofty goals, but by closing the gap between potential, aspiration, and daily habit.
Hey, Coach: What needs to change with your team? How can you help your A-team spot the gap between their desire, their potential, and their daily practice?