How NOT To Use Coaching As A Leader/Boss!
When coaching a client or a friend, it's important that the person being coached chooses the focus. They decide what goal they want to move forward toward and what their next steps will be.
Not so with business.
Well, not completely anyway.
Gone are the days when the "boss" tells people what to do and how to do it. No one wants to work there, but at times I have seen the pendulum swing completely the other way.
In some circles, there is a lack of clarity on how goals should be set and who should be setting them. Some leaders simply leave the work to the workers and "respect" what they choose to focus on. This is not coaching. Some would even call it distancing, or even neglect.
ENTER Patrick Lencioni and The Advantage.
The concepts he promotes in this book are over-arching if you are a leader of anything really, maybe even just your own home or your own life. He proposes every leadership team take time to make a list of their core objectives. For a business that could mean different departments like marketing, finance, production, and the like.
(You can use the same concepts in anything you lead. For a home, it could mean maintenance, cleanliness, updates, meal prep, etc. Personally, your core objectives could be spiritual connection, mental health, physical wellness, and more.)
Back to business. The way a boss, or leader, SHOULD use coaching is to evaluate each core objective with the employee or department. Lencioni recommends giving each area a color code. After assessing the health of each area then whoever is actively involved collaboratively talks through which area should become their next current specific focus.
When a boss leaves the focus entirely up to someone else, it can lead to an abdication of leadership. Sometimes that can work out, but sometimes it allows the person or team to focus on what is "shiny" or fun, rather than focus on what really needs their attention the most.
This is where good coaching comes in. Once a goal is set and specified, then the people involved can begin brainstorming possible pathways to achieve the goal and decide on specific action steps.
While coaching is not telling others what to do in a coach/client relationship. In leadership arenas, there should be a certain level of involvement in determining where the focus should be set.
If you are a leader/boss being intentional to choose goals collaboratively will make all the difference. Leaving people to choose for themselves may or may not work. Partnering through coaching will make all the difference!
If you are looking to be more intentional in your leadership, of your business or department, of your home, or your personal life, coach training will help you not only determine your goals but know how to make action steps to truly move forward.
"Save Your Seat" to find out when the next cohort will be forming.
Not ready for that level of learning, check out our book Traction to walk through the same concepts at your own pace.
Coach training is not just for those aspiring to be professional Life Coaches. Maybe it's time for you to consider it?
Want more:
Why Hermits Don't Need Coach Training?