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Achieve Excellence

May 18, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Peter Drucker once said, “The best way to predict the future is to create it,” and if you think about it, it’s true. In order to take control of our lives and business we must act. That’s where a coach can help. A coach helps you correct your back swing, helps develop a game plan for winning, and encourages us as we struggle through the learning curve. Just as athletes benefit from a coach so can you benefit from this relationship in business and everyday life, someone to guide you through professional and personal development. A coach will guide you through the thinking process to help you understand what changes must be made to succeed. This process helps you outline steps toward positive change. Their role may be part detective and part trusted confidant.

What are the most common reasons people hire a coach?

  • Clarity of outcome/vision
  • Held accountable on specific action plan
  • Managing change
  • Specific planning strategy and tactics
  • Improve interpersonal relationships
  • Courage to take action and follow through on bold ideas
  • Provide a format for “out of the box” thinking
  • Alignment of decisions with core strengths and values
  • A neutral party to provide insight and honest feedback

You may want an Executive Coach if…

  1. Is your organization is not performing at the level you expect?
  2. You are not achieving your outcomes?
  3. You are having a hard time hiring or retaining people who are “good enough” to do the job?
  4. Your employees do not share your vision for the future of the organization?
  5. You do not have a clear, measurable action plan and a structure to fulfill your goals?
  6. You do not receive personal satisfaction from your work and/or time with family and friends?
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Building Bridges of Motivation

March 23, 2011 By Leave a Comment

What are your thoughts about this statement: “We cannot be motivated by others….only influenced.”

Hmm, so many times we look to our supervisor, various leaders in the community, coaches to motivate us into action. Yet if we think about it, are they really getting us to move? Who decides whether we put in extra hours at work to meet deadlines, or go into the office when we are not feeling 100%? I do! Individually,  I decide if I will put in the time or not. I decide if the reward is worth the effort, not my supervisor, community leader, coach, or professor. I decide.

The organization/supervisor’s job is to influence the individual to respond with the desired behavior. An effective supervisor builds bridges but will not carry the individual across. How do you accomplish this?

Like in any project you must start with the foundation. Trust & Empathy while addressing the person’s & organization’s beliefs, attitudes, and barriers that exist.

Next develop the pillars of Communication & Coaching. Trust is the foundation to communication while empathy is the foundation to coaching.

There are six keys to motivating others:

  1. Ask for performance
  2. Use lots of positive reinforcement—personalize it
  3. Build relationships
  4. Understand the other person’s point of view
  5. Model what you want
  6. Refuse to accept poor performance

Lastly……

GIVE THEM RESPONSIBILITY*

  • Give your people the feeling that if they don’t do the job, it won’t get done.
  • Let them know that when they accomplish something, they will share in the accolades.

LET THEM KNOW YOU CARE*

  • Have enough involvement with your people so they know that you are interested in each of them individually and that you are supportive and loyal.

GUIDE THEM TO MAKE GOOD DECISIONS*

  • Give people enough guidance to make the decisions you want them to make.
  • Don’t tell them what to do, but encourage them to do what is best.

*Jimmy Johnson the football coach

 

 

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Coaching for Improved Performance

February 16, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Coaching is all about encouraging, and challenging others to perform at their best.  It is as simple as noticing how an employee is performing and then letting them know you noticed.  It is about letting people know that, “What they do Matters.” The key is knowing the people you work with and knowing the best way of presenting them with rewards and challenges.

Coaches perform four tasks coaches in the work place. They are:

Confronting, Counseling, Mentoring, & Tutoring.

You can think of the functions in this way:

  1. Confronting – When you see behavior good or bad, Say it! Don’t accept poor performance.
  2. Counseling – Great coaches rarely give direct advice. They ask questions so the individual can get clarification.
  3. Mentoring – Has the tribal knowledge, let’s people know the politics, the ins & outs of the organization.
  4. Tutoring – Teaches the technical knowledge/skill of how to perform.

There are three different times, and three different ways to let others know they matter:

  • When they are doing great work – See it, Say it!
  • When they are doing poor work – Make it private, make it positive, & be gentle yet direct.
  • When they are on a dead-end road (Performance is heading south) – State what you observed, wait for a response, remind them of the goal, ask for a specific solution, & agree together

Great Coaching is a disciplined conversation, using concrete performance information between a supervisor and an individual…that results in continuous improvement of performance.

Following these steps consistently and positively will increase employees performance, accountability, & dedication.

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