You: God has given me a mission. Knowing my mission is important. It gives me a goal. I don’t really want to define what it takes to achieve my mission. I just want to get at it. There’s so much work to do. And yet, I’m starting to wonder, “If I don’t define mission achievement, how effectively can I work?”

Me: I’ll answer your question after you answer a question for me, OK? Here’s the scenario: You’re CAJ’s coach. The scoreboard reads: CAJ 25 • YIS 20. The clock reads: 1:00.

In this scenario, which 1 of the following 5 options is what you should say? (There is a right answer.)

1. Volleyball: We’ve got 1 minute to talk, so listen up. We won the first set. You started out strong, and they came on strong at the end. In the next set, concentrate on serve-receive. Their ace server is up. Also, vary who spikes. When too many sets went to Kim, they blocked and caught up. OK? Focus!
   
2. Golf: We’re 5 strokes behind. We’ve played 5 holes and have 13 more to go. It’s 1:00. When you finish around 3:00, our goal is to be 2 strokes behind. Then we’ll be set to catch up and beat them tomorrow. Our short game is better than theirs, so concentrate on beating them on the short holes. OK? Focus!
   
3. Cross-country: Great race. YIS has a good team. Our goal was to be within 7 points, and we were within 5. And 3 of you set personal records! Last week’s hill work paid off. We’ll continue it next week as we prepare for our race against ASIJ. Based on today’s times, we would have beaten ASIJ by 1 point. The guys’ race starts at 1:15. Be sure to cheer them on. OK? Focus!
   
4. Track: We’re ahead by 5. Long jump is the last event. And their strongest event. If we place 2nd and get 3 points, we’ll win. So, target 2nd place. Remember to count off your steps, reach for your toes, and land on your feet. Your event starts at 1:05. OK? Focus!
   
5. Basketball: The full-court press worked well. We stopped them from scoring. Great way to end the first half. Second half we need to concentrate on defensive rebounding—they scored 8 points on offensive rebounds. And we need to concentrate on making free throws—we were 1 for 5. We start the second half in 1 minute. OK? Focus!

You: This is silly. If you’d tell me what sport I’m coaching, I could pick the right answer. If you don’t tell me the sport, how do I know what to say? How can I coach effectively?

It’s not one of the options, but if you don’t tell me what sport I’m coaching, about all I can say are things like, “Focus!” “Concentrate!” “Work hard!” That helps, but not really, because it’s not specific. It doesn’t say what to focus or concentrate on. Working hard is good, but working on crucial things is better.

Get real. Tell me what sport I’m coaching, and I’ll select the most effective thing to say.

Me: You’ve answered your own question. If you don’t know the game, you can’t coach very effectively. If you don’t know what achieving your mission means, you can’t work very effectively.

You will focus, concentrate, and work hard—but you won’t know if you are focusing on, concentrating on, working hard on crucial things.

Want to coach effectively? Know the sport you are coaching. Want to work effectively? Know your organization’s definition of mission achievement.

Still want to know which option would have been best to tell your team? It’s 1 of the 5 answers you didn’t pick, but I’m not sure which.