Very Reliable Coach example essay topic
I have known him all my life and worked for him for 3 summers. 1) Knowledge- A- (3.67) He gets an A- in the area because he has a vast knowledge of the field, he has ran this program for 11 summers, and has grown it from an idea to entertain me and my friends when we were young to a business serving over 350 daycare centers and over 2000 children. He has worked hard to become knowledgeable in this field, researching and doing actually coaching to expand his knowledge. The reason he did not get an A was because he has never played soccer seriously himself and lacks some of the technical skills, but he gets around this problem by hiring coaches like me ho have played their entire lives and sending us into the field. 2) Standards- A (4.0) He doesn't lack anything in this area, he is very clear about what is expected of a coach, and he has a set curriculum and although he doesn't expect us to run our classes directly from the book it gives us a very clear idea of the type of stuff we should be doing. Before he hires a coach he goes over all the expectations and demands of the job ahead of time so the coach knows what he / she knows what they are getting into.
This is an effective way of ensuring that the coach will enjoy the job and that they are right for it. 3) Communications- B+ (3.33) This is a little hard for me to judge because I live with him so I learn more about the inner workings of the company than most coaches. I believe from what I have seen with other coaches that he informs them about everything and anything that is pertinent to their job, but sometimes they do not seem to be informed about the overall situation. 4) Recognition- A (4.0) This is an area in which Bob excels.
Since he is not in the field with them and cannot see them in action, he has set up a great way of recognizing good work. At the end of each season, he sends in review forms for the daycare center to fill out. On this form is a review of himself as an administrator and of the coaches. Since most coaches work with 3 or 4 centers, they have about 15 sets of rankings. Technical, how they are with kids, communication and interaction with the center and the parents, and timeliness.
The coach will get reviewed in all 4 areas, and they get a rating between 1 and 5, with 1 being low and 5 being high. If the coach averages a 4 or better, they get a 2 dollar bonus per class they taught that summer. In my case I averaged above a 4 and I had taught about 120 classes that summer so I got a 240 dollar bonus. This is a great way to get his coaches to work hard. 5) Empathy- A- (3.67) Bob is very good at understanding where his coaches are coming from. If a coach is feeling ill or has a serious commitment he / she must attend.
He will not however, let it happen on a regular basis. He understands if it happens, but he excepts that it will not be a common occurrence. If a coach is absent from work on a regular basis, then penalties including possibly being fired will occur. The reason I didn't give him an A is because in some situations I tend to think he is to trusting. 6) Consultative- A (4.0) He has a system in place to get input from his coaches. At the end of the season, he gives the coaches a chance to review him as an administrator.
He also gives them a spot where they can give any input for the curriculum as far as new drills or games to play with the kids, and also a spot for their input on the program in general and ways they think it can be improved. He takes the comments seriously, and it is not uncommon for a coach to suggest a game or drill and then find it in the curriculum then next year. He is not lacking in any way in this category. 7) Visibility Access- B- (2.67) The reason I gave him a low grade on this quality, was because he runs the program through a lot of email and phone calls. I give him more credit than his grade shows however, because in many cases there is a great distance between him and the coaches. It is also not a situation where it is necessary to see him everyday.
He is however in constant communication through other forms with his coaches. He is almost always reachable if there is a problem. He does a good job being around whenever he is needed, but he doesn't have face to face contact with his coaches everyday. 8) Follow Through- A (4.0) I feel that whenever Bob says he will do something he follows through. I can't remember a situation where he said he would do something and than didn't follow through. He is good at not promising things he cannot do, and doing what he says he will.
He is very reliable in almost all cases. 9) Team Dynamics- B (3.0) He gets a B because he expects the best from himself and from his coaches, he knows that you win customers over by working hard and being attentive to their needs and he expects that from himself and his coaches. He didn't get a higher grade because he doesn't boast about the program and make the coaches feel like they are a part of something great, which in my opinion sometimes encourages letdowns. I believe if he worked a little harder to make coaches believe it is unacceptable not to be the best, then he would have less problems with coaches letting him down. 10) Consistency- A- (3.67) In almost all cases he is consistent and doesn't show favoritism. He got an A- because he expects coaches to do their job, and when they do well, he rewards them, but if they don't live up to his expectations, he will discipline them.
The reason he didn't get an A, is actually because of me. Usually he will not hire anyone that is has not yet graduated high school. Because I happen to be his son I had an advantage and when a coach quit mid season I was allowed to take over his classes. This was as a junior in high school. As a senior I had a full schedule and was a regular employee. The reason this didn't hurt his grade more was because I proved to be a very reliable coach and got good reviews from all the centers I worked with.
11) Loyalty- B (3.0) He got a B in this category because if a center has a bad director or tough children to deal with he understands and will help as much as he can from an administrative standpoint. I didn't give him a higher grade because in some situations there is not a lot he can do from his position. He will do all he can, but a coach will have to deal with tough kids and tough daycare center directors if feels like it is doable. 12) Connected to the Top- A (4.0) This is a given A because not only is he coaches direct boss, it is a small business so he is the man at the top. If a coach has a problem or a suggestion they can give it to him and he does not have to ask anyone else, just himself. He has an advantage in this category because he runs a small business, it might be a different story if there was more employees in the business.
Bob Goonin's overall average for this paper was a 3.58. This is about an A-. I believe this is a pretty accurate assessment of him as an administrator. He is overall a very good boss to work for, he is lacking in a few areas, but not many. I would love to work for bosses like him at all my jobs if I could. I have had multiple other jobs, and have seen both good and bad bosses, and all in all he ranks among the best I have worked for yet.
Categories I would need to work on to be a good administrator... 1) Recognition- Sometimes I think I get to caught up in what I am doing or busy with that I forget that others are working as hard as I am. To improve upon this I would have to take time out of my days to make sure my employees were doing there job and reward the ones who are going above and beyond the necessary. 2) Consultative- This might be a problem because sometimes I am slightly thick headed, and if I think something is right than I will live and die by my opinions. This might hurt me because I might miss out on important information my employees might be able to give me. To work on this, I would have to accept that I can't always be right and take advice from others.
This doesn't mean I would have to do what they say, I would have to make those decisions myself, but it would help to have input from others. 3) Follow Through- Sometimes I have a tendency to not follow through. This is because I get distracted, and get very involved in whatever is on my mind. This could be a problem because I can seem unreliable at times.
It also might hurt me in the way that things might not get done when they need to get done. The way I could improve this would be to be more origin ized, and to try to focus more on what needs to get done. Dan Goonin.