Page 10 - Demo

COUNTY COMMENT %u2022 March 2025 10Getting back to the football analogy, let%u2019s say we call the right play. The coach on the sidelines has made the correct decision for the situation. Now we must communicate that play call accurately and successfully to the players on the field. Any communication failure, whether it be getting the wrong personnel on the field, getting into the wrong formation, or any single player not knowing their assignment on the play could lead to a disaster. If you watch football you will see coaches and players sometimes holding signs or making hand signals and gestures. All of this is a chain of communication that has to be 100% right 100% of the time in order to succeed. Any misunderstanding could have a player going the wrong direction, or simply not doing their job. Sometimes we will see teams call timeout because the communication has broken down. In football, timeouts are a precious commodity. In leadership, however, you are not limited to three timeouts per half. If there is a communication breakdown, do not be afraid to call timeout and make sure everyone is on the same page. Remember, even if you call the right play, if that is not communicated well, you could still wind up being wrong.So how do we know if we made a strategic mistake? We enter the perfect world and, assuming everything went the way we hoped, we ask if that would have resulted in the outcome we desired. If we called a quarterback sneak on 4th and 10, the answer is probably not. What about a communications mistake? For that, we have to ask everyone if they knew what we intended to do. We have to allow ourselves to be vulnerable and open to criticism. A major part of leadership is communication, so if there was a communication breakdown as leaders we must own that responsibility. Next month we finish up our diagnosis with Resource problems and, of course, Execution problems. nKCAMP is a member-owned risk retention pool providing property and liability coverage to 75 of Kansas%u2019 105 counties. Formed in 1991 as an alternative to commercial insurance, KCAMP offers broad coverage at low stable rates.Membership in KCAMP includes risk management services such as human resources consulting, legal advice, model policies, risk management grants and tuition reimbursement.Contact us to find out why nearly 3 out of 4 Kansas counties have chosen KCAMP over commercial insurance.David Luke, Administrator/CEOdavidluke@kcamp.org(800) 240-9828www.kcamp.org