Ringside Coaching

I woke to a wet Allen County Fairgrounds. Rain came overnight, though nothing like the forecast predicted. The moisture coupled with cool air makes it almost chilly as I step out of our camper and wrap both hands around my coffee.

As I sip, I'm thinking about something controversial I observed at one of our shows this week.

If you attend just about any county fair or junior livestock show throughout the USA, you see it: parents and others surrounding the show ring, giving instructions to a showman still in the ring. Sometimes the instruction is a subtle hand gesture or a nod of the head. In other cases, it's extreme arm waves that would make a third-base coach jealous.

The youth show world is split. Many dislike it. Many others don't see an issue. Some justify it with the baseball analogy — a base coach giving a sign to a batter. Those in disagreement counter that the work and training should have taken place at home before entering the ring. Personally, I'm not a fan, even though I've done it myself a time or two.

As I thought it through, I tried to apply the same logic to the business world.

How would a sales call be perceived if a sales manager stood in the back of the room giving signals to the rep during the presentation? What about a speaker at a business conference with a team stationed around the arena passing silent cues? Someone could argue that a teleprompter is ringside coaching, I suppose. But we don't let a teleprompter follow a salesperson into a prospect's office.

There's a question underneath all of this worth sitting with: are we so invested in the success of our children that we can't let them do their thing after we've trained them?

The ring is where the work shows up. Or it doesn't. Either way, that moment belongs to the kid.