Leaders Must Be Coaches and Mentors

Leaders Focus on Long-Term Initiatives and the Development of People

In order to develop the skills and talents of your people, you must become a good coach. A good coach will unleash the often hidden talents in a person, while also retaining the capability to provide counsel on wrong decisions and advice on fixing problematic performance issues.

Anyone can become a good coach; yet it takes a very special person to be a good coach.

Both of these seemingly contradictory statements are true.

You certainly already possess some of the attributes of a dynamic coach, and those characteristics that do not come naturally can be learned.

First and foremost, as is true with all teachers, coaches must themselves be active learners. The successful coach takes on the mindset that he or she will never stop learning, no matter how "far they have come." This means developing one’s specific work related skills, and increasing knowledge of general skills and talents through reading, taking formal classes and seminars, and by thoughtful discussion with peers.

When you enter a coaching relationship, you are taking on an individual with a package of talents, weaknesses, pluses, minuses, and probably contradictions. Your job is to nurture and develop that package to the point at which it produces maximum benefit for the organization and the individual himself. 

The aim of all coaching is personal growth so that the subordinate staff member can contribute maximum effort to the organization. Problems and confrontations can be major character builders. Part of the coach’s role is to help the staff member understand how a problem or a failed effort can be turned into a positive learning situation and experience. 

In world-class organizations, we have seen that the coaching function is capable of accomplishing some major organizational objectives. Successful coaching can:

• Fully orient a new employee to the company and its culture.
• Instill confidence through teaching general and specific knowledge about the company.
• Confront troublesome situations.
• Counsel an employee through rough and uncertain waters on a personal or professional basis.

Coaching accomplishes all of this through the power of the one-on-one relationship. The key is for your own subordinates to catch the excitement of learning when they see that excitement in you.

Here are a couple of questions to ask yourself:

How much of your time is spent on getting things done or focusing on ensuring results?

How much of your time is spent in meetings, on conference calls and answering email?

Add the percentages together. If your answer is greater than 85%, you may have a problem on your hands, because the time remaining is all that you have left to develop your people. 

This answer may also provide you with insights into how you can better prioritize your work activities, perhaps by delegating some of the "doing" work so that you can focus on long-term initiatives and the development of your people.

This article is partially excerpted from our top-ranked personal development book Project You: Living A Determined Life, which is available in Kindle and paperback formats at Amazon.