If you were to review the memories of your youth, chances
are there was a teacher, friend or family acquaintance whose name you still
remember.
There is probably one person who played a key role in
shaping the person you have become, a person who in some way acted as a coach
to support your personal growth.
This same concept, coaching for success, should be alive
and well at your company if you wish to develop a team that creates a winning
environment. But wait, isn’t that what managers do every day? Aren’t managers
also coaches?
A manager achieves day-to-day results, often relying
heavily on him or herself to figure everything out. The manager who knows how
to coach helps his staff develop the skills and talents to support the overall
mission of not just that manager but in the bigger picture, of the whole
company. Giving supervisors and managers the skills to be effective coaches
for employees who would benefit from that approach is critical to decreasing
employee turnover and increasing employee morale.
Consider these ideas for improving the coaching skills of
your management team:
Give managers the tools for the job. In a research
study conducted by InTelegy Corp., ineffective management and processes was
one of the most common reasons for people leaving a company. Employees felt
supervisors received no skills training on how to manage people. Hire a
coaching specialist who can provide your managers with the skills to be more
effective coaches. Check out www.coachu.com or online or CD-ROM learning
programs that offer those types of classes.
Understand learning styles. We all learn and
absorb information differently. A good coach understands the learning style of
the individual they’re coaching. If someone is a visual learner, they learn by
what they see or read. Auditory learners learn by listening. Kinesthetic
learners learn by feeling or experience. For most of us, one of those styles
is dominant. An individual will learn and retain more if information is
presented in the learning style that they are accustomed to.
Understand individual values. A good coach knows
that each of the players on their team is an individual and that each has
different values when it comes to motivation and encouragement. The style that
a coach uses to motivate and inspire one individual may not work for anyone
else. Managers who are good coaches make sure they invest in one-on-one dialog
with the individuals on their team. A good coach asks questions, listens to
understand what is important to each person and then incorporates that
knowledge into their coaching style for each individual.
It starts at the top. Coaching isn’t confined to
middle management. The concept of coaching for success must start at the very
top of the company. Does senior management at your company model the skills of
a good coach? Do they recognize the rest of the management team for their hard
work? Do they coach their managers on how to be more effective coaches for
their employees?
This 2-part article, written by David Saxby President of
Measure-X, recently appeared in EnergyPulse Magazine on 4/7/2006. Next week
we will have Does Your Team Have A Skilled Coach – Part 2, where you will
learn more tips on being a coach for your team.
