“To create a high-performance team, we must replace typical management activities like supervising, checking, monitoring, and controlling with new behaviors like coaching and communicating.”
– Ray Smith (CEO of Bell-Atlantic)
“I would like to raise my overall happiness from a 6 to an 8.” Realistic? No.
Experienced coaches know that clients rarely, if ever, seek services to become happier. Instead, clients typically come to coaches because they want to find more satisfaction in the jobs, or they want to deal with a problem at work, or finally focus on that dream novel that has been on the back burner for so long.
The bottom line is that whether or not clients explicitly identify happiness as their ultimate goal, they do seek to be more emotionally, spiritually, and psychologically fulfilled. Even for those who claim their most pressing concern is increasing their influence or earning a larger paycheck, it is likely that these are actually stepping-stones to a deeper sense of meaning and fulfillment.
More satisfaction at work, increased time with family, and progress on that long-unwritten novel all include emotional aspects of what we know as happiness. When coaches ask powerful questions or create awareness, they often do so with the implicit assumption that their coaching is in the service of happiness.
So What is Coaching?
“I absolutely believe that people, unless coached, never reach their maximum capabilities.”
– Bob Nardelli
You’ve probably heard people talking about coaching in the workplace, and you might have even used coaching to improve a person’s performance. But what actually is coaching? And what skills do you need to be an effective coach? Why should we use it?
Coaching is a useful way of developing people’s skills and abilities, and to boost performance. A coaching session will typically focus on helping the person discover answers for themselves. After all, people are much more likely to engage with solutions that they have come up with themselves, rather than those that are forced upon them.
Coaching is a process of equipping people with the tools, knowledge, and opportunities they need to fully develop themselves to be effective in their commitment to themselves, the company, and their work.
Coaching is not management skills re-packaged, although coaching draws on certain management skills and competencies. Coaching deals with employee growth, development, and achievement by removing roadblocks to performance and enhancing creatively.
Coaching is not therapy or counseling, although some coaches use similar communication processes. Coaching is about creativity, performance and action, while therapy deals with the resolution and healing of the past.
Finally, coaching is not training. Coaches give information, but they support those they coach in developing their own skills and knowledge.
Although coaching in the workplace is just as important as coaching in a sport, the approach is different. Sports coaches mentor their athletes, using technical skills and experience. By contrast, questioning and reflection are often more important in workplace coaching.
Where Can Coaching Help?
- Managing time better to achieve what you want in life
- Deciding what to do next in your career within the organization
- Reducing the stress in your job or life
- Achieving a better balance between work life and home life
- Developing skills to grow further
- Improving your relationship with a specific colleague
Coaching has been identified by workplaces as a critical leadership and management competency. Retention is also critical, and coaching supports employee development and satisfaction, which keeps valued employees.
Successful coaching adds values to employees, who then add value to their organizations by giving their best. Employees want to be happy, productive and innovative, and coaching creates the environment where this can happen.
Research and experience shows that employees perform better when positively coached, rather than being constantly evaluated. People with more positive attitudes are more likely to succeed in their jobs and careers.
Coaching skills also builds and enhances team and work group performance, improves management and leadership, and promotes diversity awareness.
Who Are the Coaches?
Successful managers and leaders are developing their coaching skills. The best workplace coaches are those who understand and develop their own coaching style, who know how to adapt their style to coach others, and who can use the coaching process effectively through understanding and skill development.
What About Barriers?
Some organizations are reluctant or unable to implement effective internal coaching. This may be due to:
- The organizational culture
- Lack of understanding of the value of coaching
- Not seen as a priority for the business
- Resistance from senior management
- Low levels of skills and experience within the organization
- Lack of time and resources
If the organization has the majority of these barriers, you may find that attempting to use coaching will have a detrimental rather than motivational effect. But if you decide to introduce coaching as a part of your own management style, then you should think about doing it gradually. The first steps you could take include:
- Practice active listening.
- Develop effective questioning skills (to replace giving instructions and to encourage participation in meetings and discussions).
- When giving feedback, allow time to ask for the team members’ own perceptions.
“I believe that wherever there is mastery, coaching is occuring. And whenever coaching is done, mastery will be the outcome.”
– Andrea J. Lee
References
Biswas-Diener, R., & Dean, B. (2007). Positive psychology coaching: Putting the science of happiness to work for your clients. Chichester, United Kingdom: Wiley, John & Sons.
Cacioppe, R. (2012). Why Coaching In The Workplace? Retrieved here.
Organizational Barriers to Coaching. Retrieved here.
Ten Ways Coaching Can Help Your Organization. Retrieved here.
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