Everyone can be a coach (Part 1)

I originally wanted to write an article about leadership, but I think it is necessary to talk about coaching before talking about leadership. It is an important means and method in leadership development. If there is no repeated learning of coaching techniques in the training of executives, then I think it is a failure (purely a personal opinion). The more I design various training programs, the more I feel that coaching is the most important link in the entire talent training system, bar none. There is a saying from our ancestors: "If a soldier is a raging soldier, a general will be raging in a nest." Isn't this the truth?

The word "coach" first originated in the sports world and is now widely used. It can be traced back to the 1970s. Harvard educationist and tennis coach Timothy Gallwey claimed that he can teach anyone in 20 minutes. People playing tennis aroused many people's doubts at that time. The ABC TV station in the United States organized a field experiment, organized 20 people who had never played tennis, and asked Gallwey to teach them within 20 minutes, and timed it on the spot. Among them, there was a woman named Molly who weighed over 140 pounds, wore a long skirt and had not exercised for many years. Among all the people, she became the first person to be coached in Galway. The result was beyond everyone's expectation. Gallwey taught Molly how to play ball freely.

In an interview, Gallwey said: I did not teach her the professional skills of playing tennis. I just helped her overcome the mental obstacle of never attending the meeting, simplifying every step and constantly asking her about the current situation. Let Molly experience the feelings and perceive the changes.

What is a coach?

Simply put, coaching is to stimulate personal potential through effective dialogue and help people find solutions to problems.

There is a very important premise before using coaching techniques: it is to believe that everyone has potential, which is very important.

I don’t know if you have noticed that there are always people among your subordinates, colleagues, and friends who have potential. For example, she is very good at playing mahjong. She can tell by just pressing her hand that it is 3 cylinders and 5 cylinders, especially It's amazing that there are people who, although they can't work well, are great at karaoke, sing well, or cook very delicious food. In short, there are things he does very well outside of work. If a person can do one thing very well, it means that he has potential, but he does not use this potential at work.

Let me share with you a video about stimulating potential. The coach is to act as the motivator. Isn't this the responsibility of the manager?

2. The most effective coaching process is timely feedback.

Nowadays, companies often talk about building a learning organization? So what exactly is a learning organization?

Personally, it seems that the company has not given timely feedback to employees on problems! This feedback includes performance, work status, and working methods. Many managers only give this kind of feedback once a year. When to give it is during the year-end evaluation or during the promotion interview. After all, only a few people can be promoted. Even if they want to give constructive feedback during the year-end evaluation, employees will not be willing to listen, and they will be more inclined to leave after the year. At this time, managers should not be surprised. This kind of feedback is often devastating to employees. From an early age, every coach’s feedback on behavior results during the guidance process of students is a process of building a learning organization.

3. Fear of conflict is an important reason that hinders the results of coaching

Chinese people are face-saving and hope that they have high emotional intelligence. They are worried that once constructive feedback is given to employees, they will Therefore I don't like you. Speaking from my own experience, as a small employee, I really like leaders who can provide me with feedback (the leaders themselves are coaches). From the beginning to the end of the year, the more this kind of coaching is, the more timely the feedback is and the better you can feel the changes in yourself during the self-summary at the end of the year. Or use another concept to explain: review, which can be understood as the coach taking the students to review the project together after completing a project: reviewing the goals, evaluating the results, analyzing the reasons, and summarizing the rules.

Brave confrontation is an essential quality for a qualified coach.

Suggestions for next steps:

1. Write down 3-5 strengths about the coachee. In addition, write down 2-3 skills or work content that you think they can improve. , this improvement can help improve their overall performance and advance their entire career, not just their current role.

2. Arrange time to discuss your observations with each coachee and take action steps that can help them improve and address each other's development needs and opportunities. Note that during the discussion, you do not make suggestions directly, because 70's suggestions are ineffective, but use coaching techniques to guide the coachees to express their own action plans. The next article will explain coaching techniques in detail, that is, how to guide students.