12/15 2011
Posted in: Coaching, Leadership
It’s always important to tell your employees what is going well and to share their successes with others as well as sharing the company’s success with all of them. People are motivated by hearing what is going well and will then be prompted to continue doing well. It is always exciting to hear about great performance.
Sometimes coaches as me, “Should I still coach someone when they are doing well?” My response is always the same- “Absolutely!” I think it is important to redefine what we mean by coaching. My definition of coaching is simple -
Communicating with one person or many people for the purpose of
driving success in their performance.
With this definition in mind, coaching does mean letting employees know what you would like them to do differently in order to achieve higher success but it also means providing positive feedback to let one or more of your employees know what you like and that you want them to continue doing those behaviors.
I think it is important to change our definition of coaching and make sure that we are all on the same page as to what coaching is and what it is not. Start by asking your leaders what they think coaching is. Then ask them what it isn’t. I think you may be surprised how many people think that “coaching” is what you do when something is wrong, and “celebrating” is what you do when something is done well. Why separate the two meanings? We need to look at coaching as a positive thing in order to encourage leaders to do it and to encourage employees to view it positively. Think about a coach on a sports team. Do we change the name “coach” when he/she is providing positive feedback versus feedback for change? No, his title is always the same- he/she is a coach regardless of what is being said. As leaders, we need to recognize the value of coaching for what it is- communication that helps to drive success- not negative or positive.
In talking about celebrating success, here is a link to Brian’s presentation with BVU celebrating the successes they are having in redefining their coaching philosophy. Behavioral Expectations to Improve Performance
MOMENT OF REFLECTION
What is your company’s definition of coaching? Do we all think of coaching the same way?
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