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    A Manager's Guide to Coaching: Simple and Effective Ways to Get the Best Out of Your Employees

    A Manager's Guide to Coaching: Simple and Effective Ways to Get the Best Out of Your Employees

    by Brian Emerson, Anne Loehr


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      ISBN-13: 9780814410813
    • Publisher: AMACOM
    • Publication date: 04/02/2008
    • Sold by: Barnes & Noble
    • Format: eBook
    • Pages: 240
    • Sales rank: 141,689
    • File size: 503 KB

    Brian Emerson and Anne Loehr are certified executive coaches and cofounders of Safaris for the Soul, leadership development retreats in Kenya, Patagonia, and Iceland.

    Read an Excerpt

    CHAPTER 1

    Getting the Best from Employees

    If you’re not growing, you’re dying.

    It’s a basic rule of life here on earth and in the business world today. It’s what drives most of us to be better at what we do and who we are. It’s the desire to “be more.” Because of this desire, the term “coaching” has caught the attention of both the personal-growth and business worlds, creating a multibillion-dollar-a-year industry and a situation in which everyone wants a coach. More than ever, employees are asking for developmental opportunities and managers are being told they need to “coach” their employees on a regular basis. We’ve even worked with managers who say they’ve been told to “stop managing and start coaching.” This all sounds great in theory—managers coaching employees to grow and be more effective—but there’s one problem. Although many people agree that having a coach is a great way to move toward success, very few people know what a coach actually is or what a coach actually does. This leaves many managers scratching their heads as they try to fit one more ambiguous task into their already over-busy schedules.

    So what is a coach, and what is coaching? This is our definition: A coach is someone who helps another person reach higher effectiveness by creating a dialogue that leads to awareness and action. By creating the space to step back, look in the mirror, and grapple with the tough questions, a coach helps a person examine and deal with their reactions to obstacles and, in a sense, “get out of their own way” as they achieve better results, in a more efficient manner.

    But why is this important? Why is helping a person deal with their own personal obstacles so necessary? Why can’t people just focus on the task at hand and put all that other emotional stuff to the side? The answer, much to the chagrin of many people and managers, is that as humans, we don’t have a choice. If we are going to grow, be more, and reach higher levels of effectiveness, we have to spend time learning how to clear one of the biggest hurdles of success—our own emotional baggage.

    THE SUCCESS EQUATION

    When we are faced with a task (in business, or any aspect of life), there are three things that we need to be as successful as possible:

    *Aptitude—the know-how, skills, and capacity to complete the task at hand

    *Attitude—the drive, confidence, focus, and determination to complete the task at hand

    *Available Resources—the tools, equipment, and time needed to complete the task at hand

    Without these three components, we cannot be at the top of our game. The degree to which each of them does or does not exist directly contributes or detracts from our ultimate level of success. It can be thought of as an equation with variable components.

    Start with Aptitude, the most obvious component of the equation. Without the proper skills and know-how (Aptitude) to complete a task, we are left scratching our head and frustrated. Think of a kid on her birthday receiving her first shiny, new bike. She has the determination and excitement (Attitude) to ride her new wheels (Available Resources), but she lacks the skill and ability (Aptitude) to go whizzing down the street as she envisions. After two or three wipeouts, you end up with a frustrated little birthday girl.

    Just as crucial to the equation is having the Available Resources to complete the task. Think of the last time your team at work had a great idea or new approach to accomplishing success—but you lacked the budget, time, or people power to execute it. You had the capacity to figure out a new solution (Aptitude), the drive and confidence to make it a reality (Attitude), but lacked the money or people (Available Resources) to pull it off. Not a fun place to be in, by any stretch of the imagination.

    As managers, and people, we are comfortable and see the need to focus on Aptitude and Available Resources. When things aren’t working in the office, managers are often very willing to train people in new skills or throw more money at the problem. However, it’s the middle part of the Success Equation—the keystone if you will—that most people tend to overlook, forget about, or outright ignore. Attitude refers to things like the drive, confidence, focus, chutzpah, enthusiasm, grit, determination, need, desire, fortitude, and inspiration to accomplish the task at hand. Although difficult to measure and manage, without the right Attitude, having only the Aptitude and Available Resources will get you nowhere. Unfortunately, managers often say things like, “why can’t people just do their jobs and leave all that other stuff at home.” Well, people don’t “leave all that other stuff at home” because as humans, we can’t. Understandably, many managers wish that this was not the case, because managing would be immensely easier if people could really “check their emotions at the door.” We get it, and, unfortunately, it’s not possible. Think of the times your work day has been affected because you were ill, or you had a fight with a family member. This doesn’t even include the events that happen at work. When rumors of a downsizing start in an organization, how many people are able to completely check their emotional reaction to the news and focus 100% on their work? Not many. So, for better or worse, managers have to accept that our Attitude affects our Level of Success, and focusing on it is more than “a nice thing to do.” Like it or not, Attitude is hardwired into the Success Equation for humans, and not just as a variable on the periphery. Attitude is perhaps the most vital component in the entire equation, and focusing on it is a manager’s business imperative.

    Hardline business people are often most comfortable thinking of this in terms of sporting analogies. Anyone who has played sports has probably been told at one time or another to “get your head in the game,” “focus,” “get psyched up,” or “don’t think that you can’t beat these guys!” Sports coaches know that the confidence, drive, and determination (the Attitude) of their athletes can make all the difference between playing and winning.

    Table of Contents

    Acknowledgments     ix
    Getting the Best from Employees     1
    The Success Equation     2
    Using This Book to Coach Successfully     14
    The What, Why, and When of Coaching     17
    What Is the Tool of Coaching?     19
    Coaching versus Therapy     26
    When to Coach and When Not to Coach     28
    To Coach or Not to Coach-Case Studies     33
    How to Coach and W.I.N. B.I.G.!     45
    The Coaching Process     46
    Coaching Questions     49
    The W.I.N. B.I.G. Coaching Formula     58
    Coaching Frequently Asked Questions     79
    The Tenets of Coaching     85
    Coaching Mindset     88
    Coaching Actions     88
    Coaching Tricks of the Trade     89
    The Seven Tenets of Coaching Mindset     90
    The Seven Tenets of Coaching Actions     102
    The Seven Tenets of Coaching Tricks of the Trade     111
    How Do I Use This Book?     125
    Using This Book as a Resource to Coach Employees and Colleagues     127
    Using the Book as a Tool to Give to Employees to Kick-Off and/or Support Coaching     133
    Using This Book as a Tool to Coach Yourself     135
    W.I.N. B.I.G. Questions for Specific Coaching Situations     141
    Interpersonal Problems     149
    Motivation     153
    Time Management     158
    Dealing with Conflict     162
    Clarifying Goals     167
    (Lack of) Available Resources     171
    Developmental Opportunities     175
    Life Balance     180
    Conflicting Priorities     184
    Delegation     189
    Increasing Confidence     193
    W.I.N. B.I.G. Questions for Any Coaching Situation     199
    Wonder about Root Cause-Discovery     200
    Investigate Wants-Vision     203
    Name Possible Solutions-Problem Solving     207
    Build a Plan-Action     210
    Insure Action-Accountability     214
    Give Affirmation-Validate     218
    Index     223
    About the Authors     229

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    To stay on top, companies need to do more than just tread water—they need to grow. And that means that their employees need to develop and improve their skills at the same pace. More than ever, managers are being encouraged to improve employee performance through effective coaching, but so few of them have the time—or the knowledge—it takes to do it successfully. Brian Emerson and Ann Loehr have spent years showing some of the country’s top companies how to develop their most promising employees. Now in this helpful manual they guide managers through every step of the coaching process, from problem solving to developing accountability. Readers will discover: the top 10 tips every manager should know before he starts to coach • how to handle difficult conversations, conflicting priorities, and problem team members • how to hold follow-up meetings after goals and priorities have been set • sample questions they can adapt to various situations • examples of common problems and how they can use coaching to address them. Clear, practical and straightforward, this is an invaluable tool that will help all leaders coach employees, colleagues, and themselves to excellence.

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