According to the International Coaching Federation, the benefits of coaching are many; 80% of people who receive coaching report increased self-confidence, and over 70% benefit from improved work performance, relationships, and more effective communication skills.
Many frustrated managers today are seeing that over-direction drives dependence. How does the controlling manager expect to capture the hearts and minds of employees? The transformation, for both leader and team member, happens in a coaching environment.
Qualities of an excellent coach at work
- Listening is a good quality of a great coach. Without listening, you miss an opportunity to engage with new ideas.
- The coach understands how to phrase goals in a way that drives action without over-explaining.
- A coach reminds people who they are, not by referring to titles and experience, but by pointing out the human resourcefulness that’s inside all of us.
- Pointing out new possibilities because he or she knows that every human being everywhere can do what employees often forget: namely, figure things out.
- Seek to eliminate doubts. Not by directing or prescribing, but by outlining team members’ expertise – and removing performance barriers. As John Maxwell says, a leader “knows the way, shows the way, and goes the way.”
- Coaches don’t deal in expectations. Those expectations are just directions; old-school command and control orders. Coaches expect personal accountability, and create an atmosphere of ownership for the team.
In order to be a better coach at work, you have to understand self-leadership. If you can’t find a way to be more effective and consistent in your career, how can you help others to do the same? According to the Centre for Creative Leadership, coaching can help you to answer questions like, “How do I want to “show up” as a leader during this crisis?
Coach your team from a place of encouragement, and catch people doing something right. Identify what it is that you like about each individual on your team, right now. Finding their strengths doesn’t fix their weaknesses. And start every conversation by reminding people who they are.
Find the agreements that transfer ownership to your team, get them to own the results, and you’re on your way to seeing beyond command and control. You’re coaching people to reach for their potential.
Looking for Executive Coaching Services?
Trust Cornerstone China! Cornerstone offers personalized corporate coaching services for executives and managers in China and around the world. https://cornerstone-china.com/
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