Today’s employees want a manager who is invested in their personal and professional development. They want frequent feedback, opportunities to do more of what they do best, and opportunities to grow as they pursue a compelling purpose. Coaching is the key to excellence, yet many managers resist it
What is coaching, really?
Organizations are spending billions of dollars annually on manager training to upskill managers into coaches
- Transactional trainings don’t prepare managers because they lack real-world applications and practical coaching behaviors
- They lengthen managers’ to-do lists and leave them perplexed about what great coaching looks like
- Many managers have misconceptions about coaching, such as it is like therapy
- Coaching is time consuming
Focusing on performance, strengths and engagement
Coaches set clear expectations and performance goals, and they hold employees accountable for those targets
- They are future focused when it comes to performance
- Great coaches also focus on each worker’s unique strengths to cultivate employees’ natural abilities and position teams for excellence
- The best coaches prioritize individual and team engagement
The leader’s role
Preparing managers to coach requires more than asking them to start coaching
- Leaders must create buy-in by providing the resources, development and accountability managers need
- Three actions leaders should take today
- Be a coach for managers
- Change managers’ job expectations
- Give managers the development they need
Being more curious
Coaching starts with asking more and telling less — becoming more inquisitive about employees as human beings
- The best coaches display genuine interest in the individual by asking coach-like questions
- Listen to understand, truly comprehend employees’ circumstances, goals, challenges and needs
Adopting a “coach” mindset after operating from a “boss” mindset doesn’t have to be complicated
Check out the Boss to Coach Journey for more on coaching employees and leading teams to greater achievements
Showing support through natural conversations
Coaches are curious for a reason: They use discoveries about employees’ motivations, concerns, and aspirations to demonstrate care and dismantle barriers to performance and engagement
- Meaningful coaching conversations are often informal and flow naturally depending on the employee’s needs
- Have an authentic, ongoing dialogue with the individual to identify their top concerns and show support accordingly
