Coaching is a skill I have been perfecting for more years than I am willing to admit. Here is what I promise you, as a business leader . . . coaching will change your life and the lives of those you share it with.
The better you are at coaching, the more everyone benefits. The outcome of coaching is more fully actualized individuals who have pushed past their “roadblocks”, overcome their fears and lack of confidence, and are accessing more of their full potential.
What Does Coaching in Business Mean?
As a professional business and executive coach, I often get the question, “What is coaching anyway?”
Coaching in business is a relationship between an expert (the coach) and a professional (the client or employee) who work together to reach a goal that has been set by the client or employee.
The Process for Coaching Employees
In the process of working together in this way, the client or employee must reveal their raw talent, strengths, and weaknesses to the coach and be willing to accept feedback and resources, practice new skills, and develop new abilities until they reach their goals. They must be willing to be vulnerable.
Through a relationship built on trust and understanding, the coach helps them set a course to try something new, make corrections, push through old boundaries, and modify old behaviors to get what they want . . . not what you or your company wants, but what they want.
The coach is firm but understanding. They have agreed to join with the individual they are coaching to reach their goals. The coach takes responsibility for motivation, resources, honest feedback, and holding the employee accountable for their stated goals. Once achieved, the coach joins in celebrating the outcome.
Coaching in Business Benefits
Many of you may think coaching is all about getting the top performance out of your employees for your own benefit. That may be a primary motivation for some who learn the coaching skill, but the true purpose of coaching is to help the “coachee” get what they want and need.
The side effect is the positive impact they have on everything they do, including participation as a member of a work team. If the focus of coaching is not on what they want, it is viewed as punishment, corrective action, or an attempt by an employer to change their true nature.
Improve How You Coach Employees
So, what is your role as a coach? How do you participate with another individual to get what they want and “what’s in it for you?”
Are you ready to coach? Start by having a clear understanding of the goals of your employees and, in particular, those that overlap with your goals and your company goals. Help them to identify actions that will help them to achieve their goals. Decide and communicate how much support you can and will offer and get their agreement to be accountable to the goals they set and actions they agree to.
If it is a formal relationship, set up a regular meeting to review progress and reset actions. If it is less formal, create private space to talk about what you are “seeing” and allow them to self-correct and set a new course.
Expect to see progress immediately, but it takes time for real change to occur. Be patient. The outcome can be everyone’s gain.
Sherry Jordan Business Coaching
Just as it is important for business leaders to effectively coach their employees, business owners themselves can benefit greatly from coaching!
When it comes to leading and motivating your team, providing constructive feedback, and developing the future leaders of your company, you want to make sure your leadership skills are as good as they can be!
Sherry Jordan is an experienced business coach that can help you improve your leadership skills, as well as develop strategic business plans for your overall goals. Reach out to Sherry Jordan today!