The Management Bible

Chapter 5. Coaching and Development

IT'S A NEW WORLD OUT THERE ...

Coaching and ...

• How to create a high-performance organization.

• What coaches do.

• Coaching explained.

• Day-to-day coaching.

• The tools you'll need.

HIGH-PERFORMANCE COACHING

Over the past decade or two, there has been a major change in the way that managers do their jobs. While, in the past, managers were supposed to closely direct their employees' efforts, today's best managers are coaches—that is, they support and encourage the efforts of their employees. Managers who act as coaches—and not just as bosses—can help employees achieve outstanding results as their organizations perform better than ever.

But beyond supporting and encouraging the efforts of employees, coaching plays a critical part of the learning process for employees who are developing their skills, knowledge, and self-confidence. Employees will never learn to be self-sufficient when you're always telling them what to do. In fact, they usually don't learn at all, making them more reliant on you going forward, rather than less reliant.

As the old saying goes:

• Tell me ... I forget.

• Show me ... I remember.

• Involve me ... I learn.

It's difficult for employees to learn effectively when you assign new tasks with no instruction or support whatsoever. Most employees will eventually figure out what to do (assuming they don't get bored first or tired of trying), but they're going to waste a lot of time feeling their way around.

Fortunately, there is a place between the two extremes ...