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T here
is a hot topic being discussed in boardrooms today and it is
coaching. Companies like Xerox, IBM and Microsoft are training
thousands of managers to become coaches. What exactly is
coaching? Coaching aims to enhance the performance and
learning ability of others. It involves providing feedback,
but it also uses other techniques such as motivation,
effective questioning and consciously matching your management
style to the coachee's readiness to undertake a particular
task.
Managers today have to have
"soft skills" like coaching as well as the hard
skills like finance and business strategies. Coaching can be
learned, but for the autocrat, it can be a hard lesson.
Coaching is different from training where one sits in a
classroom setting and information is poured into your head.
Coaching is different than consulting which provides you with
piles of reports and often times changes the behavior, or the
way of doing things, but does not change the person. Coaching
is interacting with people in a way that produces permanent,
long-lasting change and teaches the individual to produce
often spectacular results. Coaching often requires the
development of a new mind-set.
In many instances, managers
today already have coaching skills, but do not know how to use
them. Managers learn to be coaches, not by attending a
structured workshop, but by either being coached themselves,
or participating in a session. Effective coaches, for example,
use a five-step process:
(1) Listen (2) Evoke (3) Clarify (4) Discuss (5) Support
Does coaching have to be done
face to face? According to the International Coach Federation,
this may be the most obvious way of coaching; however, using
the telephone and Email can be alternative methods when it is
not possible to be there in person. Many coaches are virtual
coaches and there are virtual teams that rely heavily on
e-mail for information sharing, they are missing opportunities
for coaching.
What are the benefits of
coaching? There are many, but one of the biggest is a stronger
more productive organization. Today, companies have to reach
new levels of performance, introduce constant change and bring
out the best in people. The complexities of today's business
environment require strong foundations, high levels of
performance, and the flexibility to deal with change and the
multiple concerns that constantly get added to the daily
agenda. Few companies can afford to depend on their past
history or performance. The years ahead will challenge us to
surpass both current and foreseeable levels of productivity
and effectiveness. To meet this challenge will require new
possibilities for organizational effectiveness. Since it is
the people in our organization who determine productivity,
generate new ideas, and push for change, it may be that how
they see themselves, their jobs and what is possible has a
great deal to do with how effective they are and may in fact
determine the success of the organization itself.
Labor markets have changed. The
most qualified, skilled individuals are searching and moving
to companies with a coaching culture. They know it is more fun
and rewarding to work in this environment. In addition,
excellent organizations are focusing on bringing out their
employees potential to retain the best performers.
If your organization is ready
to make a change, the good news is that becoming a great coach
is relatively easy, requiring the mastery of only a few simple
skills and habits. Let Personal Success Systems train your
management team to be masterful coaches.
ACTION
STEP: Call now to sign up and experience positive
results!
407-332-0554
Click
here to learn more about our coaching formats.
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