Practicing what we preach to be the best at getting better

At SCP, we're passionate about practice. You have to get the reps in so that when challenge gets hard, you're prepared to persevere.

As coaches, we focus on simple ingredients or steps in the process so that clients (students and executives both) can apply the steps or ingredients to their given context or circumstance. And we practice them among our team to get our reps in.

One of the key ingredients that we practice is the debrief - reflections or after-action review are key to understanding our process to inform how we show up the next time.

The debrief is the good stuff and when we put words to our learning, it puts effective communication into practice too. The debrief  encourages collaboration and facilitates the safe space that's so critical to effective teamwork. As team coaches, it’s a key practice that we facilitate with teams to enable their high-performance work.

A key insight shared at a recent team debrief came from Coach Mike when he shared an experience from a recent Reach Alliance team kick off meeting - Training Camp #1. Coach Mike applied the language of his domain (rowing) to his team’s Training Camp #1 meeting to help set the expectations for their group. A few simple words - ‘No off strokes' - were a reminder of the power of story.

No off strokes, meaning push hard every stroke, remain consistent, push a little bit all the time is a simple directive rowers hear on the water. For Reach researchers, no off strokes, is a reminder to maintain early discipline so that they can deliver consistent effort and work, enduring for a strong finish. The phrase, when applied to the scope of the newly assembled Reach research team, helps to literally set the pace for the team beginning their work together. No off strokes is a simple story brought to life by the seasoned rower and Coach (Coach Mike’s Guelph Gryphons earned three medals at the recent OUA Championships). And the reflection offered the SCP team of coaches fresh perspective, new language and the invitation to bring their relevant stories to the work of guiding our clients.

Practicing the debrief encourages communication that drives connection and offers us learning to inform future actions. At SCP, we practice what we preach so that we continue to be the best at getting better. What about you?

What are you reflecting on? How are you sharing your reflections to inform greater work tomorrow?