Leaders don’t just sit in their offices and send emails, they get directly involved in their employees’ performance. It’s a coaching role, and it takes commitment—and a few other key traits:
· Presence. You’ve got to give employees your full attention when you coach them. If you’re not listening, or trying to coach them in a hurry, they’ll assume you don’t really care about their development. Eliminate distractions so you can focus on what’s important.
· Concern. Improved performance helps the organization, of course, but employees will respond better if they see that you’re also trying to help them. Concentrate on the career benefits of improving performance or learning a new skill. Show you care about your employees as people when you coach them, and they’ll be more open to your suggestions and feedback.
· Inspiration. Use your coaching sessions to get employees excited about opportunities to succeed. Encourage their creativity, and show that you value their ideas. You don’t just want them to assemble widgets faster; your ultimate goal should be to open up career possibilities for them.
· Rigor. Coaching shouldn’t be a feel-good exercise in which you overlook mistakes and reassure employees that everything is fine. Although you should always be respectful to the people you’re coaching, you should also set explicit expectations so employees know what you’re looking for and how their performance will be measured. With nothing definite to strive for, employees won’t devote themselves to the hard work of improvement.
All the success!
Peter McLees
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