Enhance Business Success by Building A Deep Bench

Cathie Leimbach • June 27, 2023

People often talk about the merits of sports teams having deep benches. Ensuring the teams’ players have a breadth and depth of skills is seen as preparing for a successful sports season, but many businesses aren’t following suit. Let’s consider how workplace managers could benefit from adopting some common practices of sports team coaches.


Sports coaches build deep benches by recruiting talented individuals, focusing on further development of their abilities, fostering a winning attitude, and instilling accountability. They prioritize enhancing individual skills and strategically rotating players to determine their best-fit position. Open communication and constructive feedback are emphasized, creating a collaborative environment where athletes feel valued and motivated. Coaches also encourage teamwork and learning from one another, promoting healthy competition and pushing everyone to excel.


When business leaders and managers follow suit, their organizations tend to flourish.  They hire people with potential and provide training and coaching to prepare them for success. They give them a variety of opportunities and monitor their performance to determine the best fit position for each position within the company. As a result, employees feel supported and are positioned to be successful, increasing employee loyalty and the company’s bottom line. 


When managers invest in developing people around them, they are ensuring operational continuity by having employees prepared to address unexpected challenges or promptly fill a vacant position. This mitigates the risk of spikes in workload or long vacancies in key positions. Development of a deep bench also fosters a culture of growth and development. People are equipped to be flexible, adaptable, and resilient allowing the company to quickly respond to market changes and seize emerging opportunities.


What is one thing you can do to build a deeper bench that will enhance your organization’s  success in our ever-changing business environment?

Inspiring Positivity Through Trust

By Cathie Leimbach • August 12, 2025
In leadership, hope may spark positivity—but trust is what sustains it. Trust means your team believes you’re honest, reliable, and truly have their best interests in mind. Without it, people hesitate to share ideas, take risks, or fully engage. Great leaders build trust through consistent actions. They follow through on promises, admit mistakes, and lead with transparency. They listen without judgment, treat everyone with respect, and make decisions that are fair and thoughtful. When leaders communicate clearly and regularly—even when the news is tough—they create a culture of openness. When they give credit generously and support their team both publicly and privately, trust grows even deeper. Over time, trust becomes the foundation for loyalty, collaboration, and high performance. People feel safer, more motivated, and more willing to contribute at their best.  Trust doesn’t happen overnight. But with patience, consistency, and care, leaders can build it—and with it, a stronger, more positive workplace.

Inspire Positivity Through Hope

By Cathie Leimbach • August 5, 2025
Leadership isn't just about solving problems—it's about fostering a culture of hope. Hope is a powerful force that can transform workplaces, especially during challenging times. When leaders embody hope, they inspire their teams to believe in a brighter future and persevere through adversity. A hopeful leader sees beyond obstacles and focuses on opportunities. They set clear goals, celebrate small victories, and maintain a positive outlook even in the face of uncertainty. By nurturing hope, they empower their team to stay motivated and resilient. Imagine a workplace where every challenge is met with optimism and every setback is seen as a learning opportunity. That's the environment a hopeful leader cultivates—one where individuals feel supported, valued, and capable of achieving great things together.  Let's embrace hope as a cornerstone of leadership. Together, we can create workplaces where positivity thrives, challenges are conquered, and success is a shared journey.