(Time to read this Blog is about 4 minutes)

Before we get to the main topic, here are a few things to get you thinking or smiling:

1. My Biz Quote of the week:
   “The world doesn’t need one more mediocre anything.  To succeed, you must be remarkable.  You need to deliver something that really, really matters to your target customers…and then get famous for that.  To do that, you need to build a world-class team and create world-class operational efficiency.” 
   …Donald Cooper.
    
2. Quick Biz Tip:
   What do you spend money on…and on what do you not?
    
   In both your business and your personal life, ‘Asset Allocation’ (what you spend your money on) is a big deal.
    
   Meta’s CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, has invested a fortune to develop his Virtual Reality Division. That Division lost $19 billion last year and is expected to lose the same amount in 2026, even though it recently laid off more than 1,000 employees.
    
   So, is this a brilliant investment in the future, or an endless money pit driven by fantasy or vanity?
    
   A big part of your job as a leader or manager is to make wise choices about how you invest the businesses financial and people ‘assets’.  This is why you get the ‘big bucks’!
    
3. Fun Fact: In spite of all the hype about hockey being ‘Canada’s game’, soccer is now the #1 most popular youth sport in Canada, followed by basketball.  Depending on which Survey you read, hockey is either #5, or #8.  Affordability and accessibility are two of the main reasons for hockey’s decline.
    
4. Toronto Condo sales tanked in 2025. Only 1,599 new condos sold in Toronto last year.  The lowest total in 34 years…and down 95% from 2021.  There are about 24,000 unsold condos in Toronto in spite of their being a huge housing shortage.  Developers built a ton of tiny condos (the wrong product) and then priced them too high.  The wrong product, priced incorrectly, is a killer in any industry.
    
5. AI update. Everyone’s talking about AI, but most businesses struggle to understand what it can do for them, and how to make it happen.  So, each week I’ll bring you examples to trigger your creativity.
   1. AI sensors manage livestock feed logistics. These solar-powered bin sensors track feed levels in bins on farms, replacing manual checks with accurate, live data.
   2. Canadian tech firm, EcoPilot’s network of wireless AI sensors automatically adjust heating, ventilation and air-conditioning (HVAC) systems in real time to reduce both costs and emissions.
       
      For one big property owner, with hundreds of commercial and residential properties, this has reduced HVAC kilowatt consumption by 17% and reduced natural gas use by 15%.

Now, to this week’s important topic:

Making the difficult transition from ‘Player’ to Coach’:

The people who start and grow businesses from the ground up are generally fearless initiative takers.  Nothing stops them. They do it all and, if they’re good at it, they succeed…for a while.

Eventually, the business grows to the point that it hires supervisors and managers.  But, typically, the boss keeps taking the initiative, keeps giving people a job and then taking it away from them a little bit at a time.  And the very initiative-taking that built the business, now limits its growth and drives good people away. 

Here’s the thing. Initiative doesn’t exist in the air. It exists in people. And when we take it, we take it away from people.  Good people leave in frustration and the rest stay and take “I don’t give a damn” pills as a coping strategy.  I see this happening all the time with clients. 

One of the biggest challenges as the business grows is for the founder / boss to make that important transition from being a ‘player’ to being a ‘coach’.  Players take initiative…coaches give initiative.  That’s how it works. 

So, do you see yourself as a player or a coach?  In sports, the difference is clear.  Players play and coaches coach.  You never see a football coach run out on the field in the middle of a game, take the ball from a player and run down the field himself.  Why?  Because there are clear rules about coaching and playing…and there’s a referee who will blow their whistle if coaches try to be players. 

Sadly, in business, there are no clear rules on coaching and playing…and there’s no referee.  So, bosses (coaches) often ‘grab the ball’ and run with it while the players stand on the sidelines.  As the people in charge of the rules, the bosses are also the ones with the whistle…and they never blow that whistle on themselves! 

Being a great player and being a great coach are two very different things.  In sports, we’ve all seen great coaches who were unremarkable as players and great players who were failures as coaches. They’re completely different skill sets.

Why do so many business owners struggle with this transition from player to coach?  They’re wired to be ‘doers’.  For their entire career they’ve defined success, relevance and happiness by their ability to score goals.  Preferably the winning goal…preferably in overtime.  

To make the transition from player to coach, you must, first, learn the skills of Coaching.  And then, you need to find a new way to feel good about yourself.  It’s about getting to the point where you can proudly say, “I personally scored no goals today, but I coached our entire team to score enough goals to win!”   Remember, if there is a heaven, there’s an express lane for coaches because Coaches grow their business by growing the people in it…and that’s a wonderful thing!

To rate your ‘coaching ability’ in just 2 minutes, Click here to download our Biz Tool #A-9, ‘Rate Your Leadership Ability’.   

Making the transition.  Give your people specific tasks and projects.  Make sure they have the training, ability, resources and empowerment to succeed and that they understand why the task or project is important.  Ask them the magic 10-word question that changes everything, “By when can we agree that this will be completed?” and then negotiate a commitment.  This creates clarity, urgency and accountability. 

Document their commitment and follow up at appropriate intervals to see how it’s going.  The world is run by those who follow up.  Let them know that you’re there to help and guide (coach) them, but at all times they will they keep ‘ownership’ of the task or project.   

In addition to tasks or projects with specific deadlines, give them ongoing responsibilities and then let them do their job.  Every once in a while, ask “How’s it going?”   Look for opportunities to praise and thank…and look for opportunities to coach…without taking their initiative away. You’ll be amazed at how your good people will become ‘great’, and how non-performers will become obvious. 

For important insights on ‘How to delegate, get more done and grow your people without losing control’,  Click here to download our Biz Tool #B-26.   

So, what will you do to make the important transition from ‘player’ to ‘coach’?   If you’d like help making the important transition from ‘player’ to ‘coach’ in your business, perhaps we should chat.  I’m easy to find at donald@donaldcooper.com. 

That’s it for this week…

Live brilliantly and be kind to each other!       

Donald Cooper 

Donald Cooper speaks and coaches internationally on management, marketing, and profitability.  He can be reached by email at donald@donaldcooper.com in Toronto, Canada.