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Building Shareholder Value Through Your People
By using your best asset, your people, really well, it helps you and your shareholders benefit. Your people have wonderful skills and leveraging this is what makes good businesses truly great. Increasing shareholder value is the most important...
How To Realistically Set Your Fees - Part 3
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Once upon at time, when we were employed, we received a benefits...
Juggling The Day With A Deal
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Leadership Lessons Learned The Hard Way, Part I
This widely circulated after-action report prepared by a 1stSgt Paul Berry, USMC following Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2003 offers priceless leadership advice for business owners and managers. While much of this may seem obscure or even irrelevant...
On the Path: Life Coaching for Small Business Owners
O ne of the distinctions that sets coaching apart from
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addresses the client's sense of who they are in the world, and
helps the client make life choices that are aligned with...
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BUILDING A PRACTICE ON PURPOSE SERIES PART #5 - Develop a Championship Team by Creating a Coaching Climate (Part 1)
"Words do not label things already there. Words are like the
knife of the carver; they free the idea, the thing from the
general formlessness of the outside. As a man speaks, not only
is his language in a state of birth, but also the very thing
about which he is talking."
In the top of my coat closet I keep a number of different hats,
but when I go for a walk I most frequently put on the black felt
one. In the same way, I recommend that you think of team
coaching as just one more hat that you wear at work, a tool that
complements the other management styles and approaches you may
use.
As a coach, you'll empower your staff member and help them
improve their job performance. And it's not that hard to get
started, even if you've never really seen yourself as a coach
before. One of the most effective ways to begin the process of
creating a climate of coaching is to explain your new goal to
your team--you're a problem solver, a friend, and the owner of
the business; essentially, a business coach.
One of the most effective ways to begin the process of creating
a climate of coaching is to explain your new goal to your team.
"At various times I may wear the hat of the business owner,
other times as a problem solver, and at other times, as your
friend. Another new hat or relationship I'd like to also
introduce is that of being a coach.
You don't need to claim to be an excellent coach, especially if
you're new. In fact, I've found that it's far better to elicit
assistance from your staff, so together you learn how to be both
a good coach and coachable players. The key is to communicate,
which means everyone takes turns talking and listening.
Introducing the role of a coach to your staff might go like
this: "First, I want you to know that it's my goal and desire to
manage this practice as well as I can. I've recently been
introduced to coaching, and feel strongly that developing my
abilities as a coach will enhance the quality of our practice
and create an environment where we'll all enjoy working.
"As a coach, my job is to help you be the best you can be at
your job. Of course, it's in my self-interest to have you be
great at your job, and I trust it's also in yours. While I don't
claim to be a masterful coach yet, I'm sure together we
can
learn to create a relationship that helps everyone win."
Handling personnel issues makes up a good chunk of your job as a
coach. And I'm not denying that you'll continue to face some
difficult moments. These strategies from my playbook may help:
Call time out on staff conflicts
While conflicts are a normal part of almost any situation
involving human beings, it's possible to transform a conflict
between two staff members into an occasion that will deepen the
level of cooperation and collaboration in the future. Conflicts
arise when one or more of the people involved become upset.
Upsets stem from an undelivered communication (or
miscommunication), a thwarted intention or commitment, or an
unfulfilled expectation.
Interestingly, these are all internal states. The problem is
occurring at an emotional level with the person who's
upset--although most of us think we're upset about something
outside ourselves, that someone else has done something to make
us upset. Start by sharing this new perspective with your staff
members and ask them to work with it for a few weeks. Tell your
team that you hope this perspective will help lessen conflicts
and encourage cooperation. Then check in periodically to monitor
the results. Remember, when introducing a new concept like this,
use a coaching approach of "try this on and see how it fits."
Encourage people to keep an open mind, and not let their old
beliefs get in the way. You can both check in individually, with
a "What are you learning about yourself from that coaching
conversation we had the other day about upsets," as well as
checking in collectively during a staff meeting.
©2005 Brad Swift of Life On Purpose Institute, Inc. This article
can be reprinted freely online, as long as the entire article
and this resource box are included.
About the author:
Dr. Brad Swift founded Life On Purpose Institute in 1996 with
the vision of creating a World On Purpose by assisting people
like yourself to clarify their life purpose & live true to it.
Determine how on or off purpose your life is with the fun &
insightful Self Test at:
http://lifeonpurpose.com/_forms/self-test.php?source=ezart
Inspire yourself with a fr.ee subscription to Purposeful
Pondering Ezine: http://lifeonpurpose.com/
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