In sports, players are coached the minute they are drafted, no ifs, ands or maybes – that’s rule number 1 for being on the team - no exceptions. Regardless of how talented a player may be, he or she does not have the liberty to say, “I don’t need or I don’t want a coach”. That would be career suicide! Every team owner, sport fan and athlete knows:
• That to be on top of your game you need to have someone watching your every move, accessing your skills and providing constructive critique to help you improve or remain number one in your prospective field.
• That more often than not, athletes who develop into super stardom did so because they adhered to the advise of their coach (Tiger Woods coach is Hank Haney, Serena and Venus Williams coach is their father Richard Williams, Michael Jordan's coach for most of his career was Phil Jackson.)
• Success has a residual affect – everyone wins! Even the team members who never touched the ball all season long receive championship rings and jump up and down as if they were just voted MVP (Most Valuable Player). Fans are happy, team owners are smiling all the way to the bank, the city is making money, tourist arrivals are up, hotel are operating at 100% occupancy, merchants are selling paraphernalia like crazy!
And this could be the success story of many organizations if they would only realize the benefits of employee coaching and the residual effect of one or more superstar employees on the team. But there is little coaching going on and here is why. Managers claim that they:
• Don’t have the time (Please re-think this, because your leadership can create productive employees who can lighten your load)
• Employees don’t ask for help (They don’t need to, as a leader you make observations and create an environment that will allow employees to be successful)
• I supervise too many people (So what? Your people still need feedback more than once per year. Can you imagine what would happen if coach Phil Jackson showed up to a basketball game and said “Guys here is your job description but don’t expect me to be able to effectively coach all of you. Just go out there and play, I’ll watch from the sidelines and at the end of the game or worst at the end of the playoffs I’ll evaluate your performance!” (How many ways can you say “No championship ring is in your future!”)
• Nobody coached me; I have no role model to follow (Now you understand first hand why coaching is so important! – Get training.)
• Our standards are obvious, therefore employees should know what to do (Give me a break! Good employees will figure it out eventually, but imagine the amount of time wasted in the process. Remember the old adage – Tell me…I forget, Show me I remember… Involve me…I learn)
• Our employees are motivated and don’t need feedback. (Business Success coach John McKee, notes, "There are always areas for improvement in business, even for those at the very top who seemingly possess the secret formula for achievement.")
• Employee gets defensive and thinks something is wrong (Well sit down with them and carefully explain the process and show them how the coaching will help them in the long run!)
• I wasn’t the one to set initial goals with employee (So what you’re here now?)
• Fear of failure (This I understand, but remember the words of former lacrosse coach Whitney Burnham “Good judgment comes from experience, and experience comes from bad judgment”.)
Benefits of a coach:
A good coach will help you to:
• Identify self imposed limitations to realizing your dreams
• Create clear goals, strategies and action steps
• Identify challenges and roadblocks and help you to find solutions
• Develop work life balance
• Maintain clarity, momentum and focus
• Increase your productivity and get results
• Gain the competitive advantage
• Leverage your strengths and hone your skills
• Overcome your fears and doubt/increase confidence
• Make better decisions /Achieve success
Stop Managing & Start Coaching
• Part of being a good coach/manager is being available when you are needed by one of your team members. So make time for your team, even those on the bench realizing that if you suffer from “professionally busy” syndrome (always to busy to help) your employees may be forced to explore other avenues for assistance or may simply give up. Your team is your No.1 priority, so step down from your throne, get out of your office and manage by walking around. When you visit your employees at their workstations and offer a helping hand - you will be surprised how effective this strategy can be.
• Transfer your personal knowledge and perspective and invite feedback. Whenever I’m stuck my personal coach will say “Stacia let me tell you what I did when I was faced with a similar challenge.”
• Be a sounding board. Talk through new ideas and approaches to solving challenges with your team. Role playing a client response before trying it out “for real” on the client works wonders. It allows employees to work out issues, provide the best solutions and solve problems for themselves.
• Remember one size does not fit all. Adults learn in different ways including hands on practice, reading manuals/self study or working in groups. Therefore your coaching must be tailored to fit an individual specific learning style if you ever hope to be successful. Good Luck!
