Coaching Like a Leader!

An important part of leading is knowing how to mentor your team and coach them through situations. A leader should spend time coaching the team as a group and as individuals in order to keep the team constantly growing and improving in their performance and ability to develop as leaders. 

                  “Coaching focuses on helping another person learn in ways that let him or her keep growing afterward.                It is based on asking rather than telling, on provoking thought rather than giving directions and on                      holding a person accountable for his or her goals.” ~ Candice Frankovelgia

The ability to effectively coach your team starts with a strong foundation. Coaching is more than just drawing a few X's and O's on a dry erase board and giving out attaboy's. (I highly discourage the later as funny as it may have been on that episode of "Friends", attaboy's don't go over well in the office.) Coaching is also not limited to managers and supervisors. A strong team will naturally start to coach each other to success..

Building a strong foundation means you have already developed mutual respect. You have already been consistent, reliable, and professional. Through intentional attention you have developed a strong relationship with the team. Both good and poor performance have been addressed consistently and equally. Coaching also requires knowing each team member's personality, history, and performance level. You would not coach a team captain the same way you would coach the H2O delivery coordinator. 

Instead of X's and O's, use the "B's". When coaching a team member on performance improvement you should be:

*Kind      *Professional     *Calm     *Encouraging     *Respectful     *Predictable     *Honest     *Consistent

*Intentional                          *Clear     *Timely

We should also be stern when it is appropriate. We spend a lot of time being positive and encouraging. It is important however to be stern when necessary to express the importance of the situation. Otherwise you are doing your team a disservice by not communicating clearly. The change in tone can help clear up the communication and set the expectations. Being stern should still follow the other "B's" and does not have to come across in a demeaning way. Coaching a team member is meant to build them up, not tear them down. We should never coach in front of others when it can cause harm or embarrass someone. 

Be Specific

One of the most important "B's" is be specific! Explain clearly what goal the team member needs to reach. Make it measurable and give them a deadline. Define what the next step is if they do not meet the expectations set and if they do meet or exceed them. The foundation for this communication should have been set from day one in the KRA (Key Results Areas) or by sitting down and discussing the job description with the team member. 

Coaching should not stop when they have meet a goal. It should be a continuous process to help them achieve new goals and reach higher performance. When you stop setting new goals and stop looking for new ways to improve and perform at the next level you will find your team will become disengaged because you are disengaged. Leaders continuously look for opportunities to grow and improve for themselves and for their team. Only a disengaged leader would stop that process, and would in turn not be performing as a leader.

Don't forget the follow through!

All of the great coaches will tell you that teaching technique is important, but will mean nothing without good follow through. In sports terms this means the difference between a good player and a pro. Pros always follow through. In business terms the same applies but the follow through is as much the coaches responsibility as it is the team members. Let your team member know how they are doing throughout the process. Give them course correction when they need it. When a team member does not met the expectations that were set by the deadline you have to follow through with consequences. Lack of consistency in that aspect sends a confusing message to the team member and the team as a whole. You have to set your team up to succeed by showing them what success looks like and following through! 

Scriptures:

2 Timothy 3:16        Proverbs 15:32             Proverbs 8:33                

Get Engaged!

After weeks and weeks of talking about leadership we have to remind ourselves to not just talk about it, but to jump in and apply this to what we do every day. We have to be intentional about getting engaged! Leadership is not just a concept, it is actively engaging in moving things in the company. It is solution-seeking, communication driven, focused-attention on fire!
It can be difficult as a leader to be engaged when we allow ourselves to get caught in crisis mode, always putting out fires, and reacting to our day instead of interacting with it. We should be intentional and strategic with our time. This takes practicing all of the skills we have discussed up to this point including:

Communicate

We must continue to communicate the vision through our actions and words to the team, to our patients, and to our referrals. We can say it all day, but if we are not living it those words are empty.

Know your team

We have to be intentional about spending time with our team. We should know details about our team member's lives like: Spouses' names, Kids' names, pets' names, and the big events going on in their personal lives. We should get to know who they are and who they want to be so we can help mentor them and encourage them as they grow into that person. If we are their peer or their manager, we should be intentional about being their biggest cheerleader and the one that helps them course correct when they need it.
Imagine how well a team would work together if they were all so engaged that they knew each other's hopes and goals and were encouraging each other daily! It is exciting to imagine the possibilities with such a strong team working together to accomplish their goals!

Did I mention Communicate?!!
Successful leaders know that communication is vital to every business. Utilize your weekly reports to communicate what is going on in your world. This report should express your highs, lows, and what you are looking forward to each week. This should not replace communication with your manager about problems that are interfering with your ability to work. Those problems should be communicated immediately and in person.
You should be having at least one meeting a week with your manager and team to discuss what is going on , what needs to be done, and progress on important goals. This communication is important and should not be seen as inconvenient. Businesses find themselves in trouble when they do not set weekly meetings and commit to them. Even if there is nothing new to discuss, it is an opportunity to sit or stand as a group and acknowledge that all is good. Lack of communication creates division and is a quick way to see your team become disengaged.

Solution-seek

There is a danger zone for a team where people fall into the habit of just doing the work at their j-o-b. It is in this ugly place that team members become workers or employees, and everyone focuses on problems and issues. EEeeek! Leaders make leaders, so as we improve our habits of solution-seeking, so will our team. This starts with actively seeking better ways to do things and not just accepting "the way it has always been done."
It also means asking "why do we do it?" Sometimes we keep doing things that we no longer have to do just because we forgot why we did it and kept doing it because we always did it. The best leaders are always asking "why?" and "how can we do it better?".
Most importantly, do not be afraid to think outside the box...or even better lose the box all together! Be willing to reinvent things and explore different possibilities outside your comfort zone.

Oh, yea! Communicate!

Look for opportunities to praise your team and team members. Discuss areas you need to course correct and get them back on track. Be intentional about stopping gossip! Gossip blooms in teams that are disengaged. Engaged teams do not have time for gossip and are so focused on improving things that gossip is an obstacle they will not tolerate.

Do not be afraid to get excited, talk about what you learn, talk about new ideas, and put them all into action!  Being engaged  is like being a lit match. Your excitement becomes a light. Use that light to spread the fire and get your team engaged!

Scriptures:

Exodus 18:21               Galatians 6:9                  Ecclesiastes 3:1              2 Timothy 2:2