May 2009

REACH! – How Do You Improve your Coaching?


Dear Reader

Before the arrival of a coach and mentor the young Da Vinci felt that his job was somehow unfulfilling.

Quite often, you probably hear how important it is to coach. At least I hope you do. As an effective coach you can help members of your team identify opportunities to improve their own performance. By providing direction and focus on goal achievement, action plans can be developed that deliver results. By asking questions that provide insights into your team members' situations, you facilitate their ability to find their own solutions and become more self-directed. Coaching is a learning process for a coach and a coachee; a journey of discovery to determine potential outcomes or possibilities.

In a healthy coaching organisation, sales managers and salespeople learn together. We believe this is one of the most fundamental characteristics of high-performance organisations.

This issue of REACH! is about coaching, its behaviours, its benefits and a simple coaching model that you can apply in many, if not most situations.

Best wishes,

Trese

Reaching Your Potential

Let's first take a look at the characteristics of a coaching organisation.

Within coaching organisations the three questions:

  • What's expected? (Goal setting)
  • How am I doing? (Feedback)
  • What can I do to improve? (Coaching)

are answered day in day out. This is not an ad hoc kind of activity. Clear and measurable objectives are set, areas of performance improvement/growth are identified, and levels of responsibility and awareness are developed.

So, successful coaching organisations are those where managers and salespeople learn together; where it's easy to get answers to the three questions and finally, let's not forget that progress is made and efforts are recognised and rewarded.

"A good coach will make his players see what they can be rather than what they are."

Ara Parseghian

Renowned American Football Coach

Or in other words, coaching is about helping people realise their potential.

There are 6 key behaviours that underpin successful and effective coaching:

  1. Enquiring Asking questions and listening to obtain information, opinions and feelings.
  2. Supporting Giving praise where due, or complimenting and encouraging.
  3. Informing Giving new information or facts (or non-negotiable details).
  4. Advising Offering recommendations or suggestions for change.
  5. Confronting Challenging behaviours and attitudes, but in a positive way.
  6. Releasing Tension Doing something to calm any anxiety.

A simple approach to most situations is to apply the GROW model. Following this process facilitates a goal-driven dialogue which provides a positive basis for performance improvement.

So, just a few insights and tips on coaching. Build this activity into the way you work and you and your people will reap the benefits. The capability of your people will grow, freeing you to lead and sustain high performance.

Reaching Further

Who else do you know who would benefit from reading REACH! every month? Please forward this issue to anyone who will find it useful. You can subscribe and receive your own, free copy by clicking here and sending us your details.

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info@amplia.co.uk

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