adopting a coaching style
Coaching: an essential management skill for astounding business results in 2011
By Chris Halward, Managing Director, True North
Asked to name the key skills you'd want from a manager, you'd probably come up with a list that included 'soft' skills such as good communication, vision, integrity, and enthusiasm, teamed with hard attributes such as a surefire ability to get things done.
Coaching is well recognised as an effective way to unlock the potential in individuals and teams. Learning how to coach others certainly equips managers with valuable 'people skills'. It is undoubtedly a powerful personal development tool that will boost staff retention and make the work place a happier one.
What is less well recognised is the value of coaching as a mechanism for achieving outstanding business results. Completing tasks, hitting deadlines, motivating their teams to reach their objectives - coaching improves the basic nuts and bolts of business performance.
At True North we know that coaching is not just a 'soft' personal development technique: it's a hard-hitting tool to help managers get better at achieving things done.
Coaching as an effective approach to get things done
So how does a manager get a team to get things done? There are two schools of thought:
1. Tell - the more times and louder you ask it the more likely it is to happen.
2. Coach - highly effective managers take a leaf out of the coach's handbook
The 'telling people loudly and regularly' approach has many disadvantages, not least that it doesn't really work. It's frustrating for both the managers who feel they're being ignored, and teams who feel they're being nagged.
Coaching is a far more effective way to get people to get things done. If managers adopt a coaching style their people will feel more empowered, motivated, clearer, able to ask questions, more self-reliant, responsible, independent - and more able to get things done.
For managers, this means less time supervising/minute managing, more time to move things forward.
Highly effective managers take a leaf out of the coach's playbook. If you equip your managers with coaching skills you'll improve team performance (and make for a happier workplace).
True North: the management people www.truenorthgb.co.uk
Find out more about True North's Coaching Skills for Managers programme starting in March
Contact: Sandra Halward
Tel: 0845 130 5500
Email:sandrah@truenorthgb.com