The Convenient Thing Is To Fire The Coach

The Convenient Thing Is Fire The Coach

                                                                   By: Brendan Magee

                                                                2/14/2011

I was saddened to hear Haverford High School chose not to renew the contract of Jorge Severini. After 22 years as the schools boys’ soccer coach he had been the longest tenured coach in the Central League. He had distinguished himself and the school by winning over two hundred games, advancing to the District One Playoffs eleven times, and capturing the 1994 Central League Championship. However, none of that seemed to matter. The School Board announced their intentions on Feb. 3^rd, 2011.

Mr.  Severini was given no indication at the end of his last season that his contract would not be renewed and said he was deeply saddened and shocked by the decision. He said that he believed the decision was prompted by digital surveys which allow parents and students to voice their feelings, positive or critical, anonymously.

Now the question is, what does any of this have to do with investing? I believe that coaching high school sports and coaching investors have a few things in common. I speak from experience because I have done both.

The first thing is they are emotionally charged activities. Student athletes put their heart and soul into playing for their teams and working men and women put their heart and souls into creating a secure financial future for themselves and their families. People are proud of their accomplishments. At the high school level, sports get a little more competitive, and it’s not just about having a good time. Not everyone is going to make the team or be the star. No one likes to hear that their best wasn’t good enough, not the student and certainly not the parents. Disappointment and hurt feelings can turn into anger and frustration, and who is an easy target? The coach.

This is similar to an investor who has taken a lot of time and effort into building a nice sized portfolio. It’s difficult to hear that what you are saving won’t be enough to retire, or that your methodology is flawed. Again, it’s easy to have our egos bruised, and if someone hurt my feelings the easiest way to get them out of your life is to fire them.

The second thing high school athletics and investing have in common is that they are the ones who will decide just how much of the coach’s wisdom they will benefit from. They both have to put their egos aside in order to benefit from the coaching.

I remember coaching a high school boys’ tennis team. Now tennis is a sport that you have to be in shape to play competitively, and I had the team doing a running drill to improve their stamina. One of the boys asked me what good it was going to do him to run down to the fence and come back. His attitude didn’t allow him to participate in running drills to the he extent he needed, and a good tennis player couldn’t perform to the level he needed in long matches.

I had a client who was very upset in 2008 as she watched her investments go down in value. It wasn’t an easy time for anybody. She told me she was getting so upset not only by the losses, but also all the news reports about how bad the economy was getting. I told her to stop watching the news, and to use that time to take a walk or get out away from the media. She kept on watching the reports and her fear got to the point that she couldn’t control her actions. After a 30% loss she took her money out of the market and moved it into cash. The impact of the loss became permanent and she missed out on the market’s rebound.

In both cases the athlete and investor had more to do with their shortcomings than the coach. They chose not to take the coaching and paid the price.

Now an investor and a high school athlete have two options here. One is easy. Dismiss the coach. You can even blame the coach for your failures. There’s no power in that decision, but doesn’t it feel good to not to have to assume the responsibility for how things have turned out. The second is put your ego to the side. Listen to the coach not as someone who is being critical of you, but rather someone who is doing you the courtesy of being completely honest with you as to what your strengths and weaknesses are. As an athlete and an investor, the biggest problems you have are the ones you can’t see. What a coach really is a set of eyes, who can see what you can’t.

If we choose not to listen and implement the coaching, where you are at now is where you will stay.

Brendan Magee is the founder and president of Inevitable Wealth Coaching in Drexel Hill, Pa. With questions or comments call 610-446-4322 or e-mail Brendan@coachgee.com. Tune into his Investor Coach’s Show every Sunday at 10:30am on AM1340 WHAT or streaming on the web at www.am1340what.com.