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Hello, hello! Football season is just about over and only the Super Bowl left on the schedule. If you’ve been reading my books and following my blogs for a while, you’ll realize I’m a big fan of the game. I find that a lot of its principles and strategic techniques translate well in the corporate world, especially in sales.

One strategic tool is scrimmaging. Now I see a few of you already going, “Nathan, huh?” But I promise you, if you’re stuck in a tough spot as a leader, the best answer is to scrimmage! Let’s chat about what that all means, shall we?

Why It’s Important to Scrap and Scrimmage

Let me be very clear here, I’m not telling you to go in the office and pretend to be a linebacker. No, you don’t need to use your body to get a situation resolved. The scrimmage I’m referencing is the habit of practicing before the big game. So, to be clear:

• Scrimmage = Practice

Ok, let’s put this in a real-world context. In my book, The Leadership Playbook, I give an example about the usefulness of scrimmaging when dealing with a topic no leader likes to undertake — dealing with a poor performer.

Here’s the recommended play-by-play, peer scrimmage ahead of time. Brainstorm possible scenarios that might uncomfortably arise and scrimmage your response. Be prepared to scrap and scrimmage throughout the process. Scrapping means tossing aside any approaches, comments etc., that will work unfavorably (and possibly lead to some actual scratches — I kid, I hope). Now, you can’t always predict the other person’s response: you’d have to be a mind reader for that. However, after you’ve scrimmaged, you’ll feel more prepared because you’ve got some kind of gameplan when heading into the situation.

The likely outcome during the game — ermm — I mean meeting, is that you’ll be less prone to stumbles or stammering. You’ll be able to put your team member on the spot and logically approach holding them accountable

Your Leadership Coaching Guide for Scrimmaging

Scrimmaging conversations help us avoid the traps of situations by practicing the skills needed to handle them. A scrimmage can be as basic as preparing for that first greeting as someone walks into your office, store, or department. The important thing is to keep it real and focus on everyday important skills.

Here are a few scenarios that I always recommend to scrimmage when I hold workshops with senior leaders.

• Addressing conflict in the workplace.
• Talking to a client.
• Communicating with your team (it should be both good and bad news).
• One-on-ones.
• Selling.
• Presenting.
• Transferring the right energy, especially when meeting a new client (think practicing how to put potential clients/ strangers at ease enough to listen to your pitch).
• Motivating others.
• Dealing with difficult people (clients, staff, colleagues, the man on the road that cut you off earlier but now wants you to let him in further down, etc.).
• Getting team buy-in.

Approaching the Scrimmage

You can’t possibly practice all the above scenarios at the same time. I recommend picking one or two from the list of areas you personally know you need to improve on and committing to scrimmaging it at least for a week or two. Thing is though, it all boils down to how often you actually practice, the more consistently, the better.

Football teams don’t practice habits like punting or tackling daily because they don’t know how or because it’s not important. They practice them because they know that to be the best they can be, they must practice the basics all the time.

I assure you; this will make it much easier for you to surmount spotty leadership situations.

Team Scrimmages

As a leader who scrimmages before undertaking a major activity, you can identify and deal with any mistakes that could have unfortunate consequences for your team. I’m sure your team faces challenging situations, like making presentations to a big client or handling tough client calls, daily. When you scrimmage with them, they’ll be better prepared and more confident to handle each issue as they arise.

You’ll also be able to spot poor performers who can’t keep up, even when just scrimmaging. That right there will allow you to spot behavioral issues or habits early and allow you to restructure or re-strategize preemptively. Even if it means hire fast, fire faster.

Final Thoughts

Practice makes perfect, or as close to perfection as possible. So, always scrimmage. Scrimmage with yourself, your peers, and your team. Remember, you’re only as great as your last big game.

MANA welcomes your comments on this article. Write to us at [email protected].