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BUILDING A PRACTICE ON PURPOSE SERIES PART #5 - Develop a Championship Team by Creating a Coaching Climate (Part 1)
"Words do not label things already there. Words are like the
knife of the carver; they free the idea, the thing from the
general formlessness of the outside. As a man speaks, not only
is his language in a state of birth, but also the very...
How Effective is Your Leadership Style?
How Effective is Your Leadership Style? Motivating employees according to their needs. by Dr. Marilyn Manning Would your staff say that you are easy to work with? Would they call you picky, overly analytical? Do they accuse you of dropping the ball...
On the Path: Life Coaching for Small Business Owners
O ne of the distinctions that sets coaching apart from
other types of consulting is that coaching specifically
addresses the client's sense of who they are in the world, and
helps the client make life choices that are aligned with...
Should You Write Your Own Business Plan?
If you are just starting a company and looking for funding, or looking for additional funding for growth, you will need to develop a traditional business plan. Creating a business plan is a business hurdle that entrepreneurs seem to dread. ...
Why Aren't You Making a Ton of Cash as an Affiliate?
5 keys to you becoming a successful affiliate:
1) HAS THE OWNER OF THE PROGRAM DONE HIS OR HER RESEARCH?
Before you become an affiliate for someone, you want to know one major thing. You want to be very sure they've taken the time to...
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Coaching Skills and Positive Motivation
There is one important point that is often missed in the discussion of Coaching Skills: Effective coaching is a great deal more than just problem solving. Many people misinterpret coaching as only a corrective process aimed at specific error and deficiencies of an individual. Actually, the use of coaching skills doesn’t always have to be driven by problems. Challenges, opportunities, and obstacles that transcend any one member of the organization can be the motivating force. This type of coaching is very exciting to do. It is less personalized in nature and therefore not as stressful or tense. Although it does require certain skills, mindset, and approaches used in problem solving, it can be applied to positive coaching, which is designed to empower employees to go farther and contribute in new ways.
We have found it hard to motivate some leaders to take responsibility for positive coaching seriously. Many leaders tell us, “I don’t have any problems with my employees. They are all good people, they work hard and pull their own weight, and frankly I can’t think of a thing I would change or talk to them about.”
If I had a dollar for every time I have heard this comment, I would be basking in the sun on an exotic beach rather than writing this article. Managers think they are “off the hook” because they see nothing to change, correct, or improve upon. They couldn’t be further from the truth. In reality, these fortunate leaders need to be as active in their coaching role as in the leader who is beset with enormous problems. In fact, wise leaders are extremely active when things are going well. They coach and confer with employee on how to maintain and sustain the current state of affairs or develop strategies on how to move closer to their visions and values.
In short, good leaders are not satisfied with acceptable performance.
Leaders cannot be silent. To achieve the full potential and maximize employee contributions, leaders need some restless dissatisfaction with the status quo, to encourage others to reach new heights. Whatever leaders and their units achieve will be the product of the behavior of those who work for them.
The fact of the matter is organizations are downsizing. There are fewer promotional opportunities and more career plateaus with increasing numbers of professional employees. Still many organizations have many good performers with no specific performance problems. These are all realities of modern organization life that contributes to the need for positive coaching skills. Since problem-solving coaching sessions produce a certain amount of stress, it is easy to think that most of the manager’s time will be spent in this type of session. This is not necessarily the case at all.
To put the two types of session into proper perspective, we believe effective mangers will spend 75% of their coaching time in positives session. The reason we emphasize the problem-solving session in our writing and coaching skills workshop is because this area is more challenging, confronting, and will tax the leader’s skills and patience heavily.
About the author:
Steven J. Stowell, PhD is the co-founder of the Center for Management and Organization Effectiveness (CMOE),
To learn more about the 25 years of research CMOE has conducted around coaching skills, visit http://www.cmoe.com/coaching-skills.htmor contact our Regional Manager at (801) 569-3444.
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