By Greg Kozera
Director of Marketing for Shale Crescent USA
In 2024, our high school soccer team started the season with only one win in our first seven games. We won our last 7 games out-scoring opponents 31-1 and won the 2024 West Virginia Boys State AA-A Championship. After the first seven games, head coach Joe came to me, “Coach, I know their dream (the boys) is to win the state championship. I don’t think we have the horses to do it.” Smiling, I said, “Looks like we will have to develop them.” As a coaching staff we developed the talent. Something very important also happened that I didn’t mention in previous articles.
Coach Joe is wise beyond his years. He realized even developing our players wouldn’t bring them to the experience and skill level of our previous championship teams. Development alone wouldn’t be enough for the players to execute his style of play. Coach Joe, changed his style of play to less possession and faster attacks. He also changed our formation and the positions of some players to adapt to their strengths and skill levels. Coach Joe adapting to his players’ strengths instead of expecting the players to adapt to his style of play that had won two previous State Championships made the difference.
Coaches and business managers routinely inherit less than ideal teams with members they never would have chosen. They still need to succeed with the team members they have. Some managers and coaches will blame their lack of success on the players, or employees in business situations. Leaders know when they take responsibility, even for team members they didn’t choose, they take control. Blaming puts others in control. Leaders understand when they take control they can succeed. Leaders know they can evaluate then begin to develop the team members they have, like we did as soccer coaches. They can adapt by putting people in positions where can use their strengths to benefit the team. A leader will set their vision of what they want the team to achieve and share it with the team.
When I became a regional sales manager, the team I inherited was struggling. They were good people but lacked skills and motivation. Upper management still expected results. I had to determine their individual strengths and adapt my plan to them. There are multiple ways to achieve any goal. The team members backgrounds indicated they had all been successful at times in their career. It was important for the team to know I believed in them as individuals and as a team to achieve our goals.
One individual was uncomfortable calling on people he didn’t know in order to generate new business. He was exceptional working with existing customers. His customers liked and respected him. We let him focus on existing accounts and taught him how focusing on customers’ needs first would generate sales for him. Another individual took care of his customers but liked meeting new people and turning them in customers. We adapted and found ways to give him more time to prospect for new business. As Sales Manager, changing my plan as to HOW we were going to achieve our goal allowed us to succeed. The plan was adapted to use people’s strengths. We blew through our sales goals. That built their belief. The team became excited about success and believed they could accomplish anything. Our region became the leading revenue producer in the company. The company, our team and each individual benefited.
Children have different abilities and personalities. The greatest success is when we can adapt our parental style to each child. Parents can help their children to find, develop and use their strengths.
One of the complaints we hear about our region from site selectors is the lack of large flat sites in West Virginia, Southeast Ohio and southwest Pennsylvania. They claim places like the Carolinas have more large flat sites. The Carolinas have more flat ground than our Region. At Shale Crescent USA (SCUSA) we decided to change the narrative. It is time to adapt and focus on the advantages our region has. We have dependable, economical energy manufacturers need in the form of natural gas and electricity. The Carolinas, Georgia. Florida and other States east of the Mississippi are energy importers. The Shale Crescent USA is an energy exporter. If SCUSA were a country it would be the third largest natural gas producing country in the world behind only the rest of the USA and Russia.
Places like the Carolina’s may have flat land but must depend on others for energy. Natural gas and coal to produce electricity come from the SCUSA. Most of the electricity coming to North Carolina by wire comes from SCUSA. North Carolina wants to build a natural gas power plant. The problem is they don’t have natural gas. To get it requires crossing a state line, getting FERC approval and other Federal permits. To complete the Mountain Valley Pipeline required an act of Congress and a U.S. Supreme Court decision. That must change. If North Carolina can eventually get a pipeline built it will be filled with SCUSA natural gas with a significant transportation cost.
One lesson the Shale Crescent organization learned from years of experience is, find locations that can meet the prospect’s energy needs like natural gas and sufficient electricity then start looking for sites in the area. We are finding it is cheaper and faster to adapt the site by moving dirt than to build natural gas pipelines or get large amounts of electric power to sites that don’t already have it. The Carolinas and other eastern States can’t put natural gas under their sites. The cost to bring in natural gas and power needs to be added to the site cost. The prospect will also pay high energy and transportation costs for the life of the project. This is avoided by locating in the Shale Crescent USA. We need to tell our story.
Leaders know focusing on strengths and adapting is essential to success.
© 2026 Shale Crescent USA
Greg Kozera, [email protected] is the Director of Marketing for Shale Crescent USA. He is a professional engineer with a Masters in Environmental Engineering and over 40 years of experience in the energy industry. Greg is a leadership expert, high school soccer coach, professional speaker, author of four books and many published articles.
