The Forum: Athletic Coaching Techniques Work in Business

NAPERVILLE, Ill., Aug. 31, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Just in time for football season and Labor Day, which celebrates American workers, The Forum: Business Results Through People acknowledges in its new white paper that athletic "coaching" techniques are often used as part of the shift to a more "team" approach in human resource management. This new research methodically analyzes the parallels between successful sports coaching concepts and people coaching approaches for business results.

In "Parallels Between Athletic Coaching and People Performance:  An Exploration of Shared Concepts", The Forum's Academic Director, Dr. Frank Mulhern of Northwestern University, analyzes the key dimensions of successful athletic team coaching in light of the people performance concepts studied and advocated by The Forum in order to provide some pragmatic insights for today's business leaders.

"This newest analysis seems particularly relevant as we mark the beginning of a new athletic season with the passing of Labor Day," says Forum President Keith Fenhaus, who is also president of Hallmark Business Connections. "Fall is a time when we re-focus our energy on business, school projects and team performance so this analysis seems particularly appropriate as business leaders chart their course for the remainder of 2011," he continued.  

The Forum's Research Director Dr. Jennifer Rosenzweig underscores Mulhern's contribution in identifying six pragmatic dimensions of successful coaching that can benefit people performance efforts:

• Knowing the whole person
• Promoting a culture of respect
• Individual attention
• Superior communication
• Pride and a sense of belonging
• Responsiveness to needs.

Rosenzweig explained that the paper is centered on the fact that the single most important aspect of successful coaching in sports is building and maintaining the personal relationships between players and their coaches and that the "people first" approach of successful coaches is readily transferable to the "employee enrichment" philosophy advocated by The Forum.  

"Just like successful sports team players, people perform best in their roles when their organizations support all aspects of their lives," she concluded.

To read the paper, go to: http://tinyurl.com/447c75c.

About The Forum
The Forum (www.BusinessResultsThroughPeople.org), affiliated with Northwestern University, is an organization for thought leadership advocating the most effective way business leaders create and sustain organizational value is through partnership with people. Scheduled for Wed., Oct. 26, 2011, The Forum's Fourth Annual Think Tank, entitled "The Enrichment Experience: Engaging Great Minds and the Power of People in the Workplace," will offer a unique discovery experience focusing on the enrichment of people in the workplace.  

Press Contacts:
Susan Peterson (630) 369-7780
Sue(at)BusinessResultsThroughPeople.org
Sue Voyles (734) 667-2005
Sue(at)logos-communications.com

SOURCE The Forum