Coaching, Autonomy, and 5 Good Questions

Managers tell me they sometimes shy away from coaching because they're concerned about not having "all the answers." Be honest: we all like to feel "in control" to some degree when we're the boss.

The good news: employees say they don't want answers. They want probing questions that make them explore solutions on their own and probe more deeply into situations facing them.

A solid coaching relationship flows from the right combination of autonomy, shared responsibility, and building new skills. Here are some quick tips for managers who coach (and I hope there are many out there):

Autonomy: Let the employee decide on the best options in a situation, then be there for coaching support when it's needed.

Responsibility: Encourage your employee to make decisions by using a give-and-take dialogue that includes questions, personal experiences, and an "I believe you can do this" approach.

Nurture Learning: Coaching conversations highlight areas for skill-building. Identify what those are, help find the best way to develop the skills, and set new standards once they are learned.

Ask Yourself These 5 Questions

1. If I'm honest with myself, is fear stopping me from delegating more?

2. Does each of my people have a project from which they can learn something new?

3. Do I support the ambitions of each of my people?

4. Who is ready, now, to move up to a new level?

5. Is there a project that I really could be handing over to one of the team?

Coaching is a key part of treating employees as partners. It fosters commitment rather than compliance. And, it reflects a trust in the potential of each employee for bigger things. 

___________________________

Winning Workplaces

Chances are, if your organization has a coaching and collaborative approach to business, you also have a "Winning Workplace." 

My friend Mark Harbeke at Winning Workplaces has an opportunity for small companies to be recognized in a big way. Here goes:

Apply Now to be Recognized as a 2011 Top Small Company Workplace in Inc. Magazine

Winning Workplaces is collaborating with Inc. to recognize "Top Small Company Workplaces" that have built corporate cultures that foster a productive work environment and satisfied employees. The winners will be featured in the June 2011 issue of Inc. Magazine, the premier publication for entrepreneurs and business owners. In addition winners will be featured on Inc.'s and Winning Workplaces' websites and will gain additional exposure through a nationally distributed press release.

To see if your company qualifies for the award please visit: https://tsw.winningworkplaces.org/

 

Comments

[twitter.com/patmcgraw]

Steve,

Great post!

My philosophy has always been that my co-workers were selected for their knowledge, experience and personality - that all these things make them a valuable asset to the organization. I work hard on asking them for solutions and then asking them questions about "...what would that mean for us in 6 months or a year?" That way they go beyond fixing today's problems and focus on building for a better tomorrow.

I think today's greatest challenge is that so many organizations are lean and mean - which means opportunities for advancement are limited but opportunities for getting more responsibilities without rewards (beyond continued employment) are more common.

After a while, a new challenge loses some of its luster and other rewards are critical.

Looking forward to comments from others!

[Phil Bowermaster]

Those are five great questions.

About question 4, what about the issue of whether there is anyplace to move someone who is ready? Just because that individual is ready to move doesn't mean the company has a slot for them.

[Kristal Sidener]

Steve,

I enjoyed reading your post!

The biggest issue I've noticed with employers is number 5.It is not so much the delegating of others' work when they acknowledge that their employees can take on added responsibility, it is employers who do do not trust enough to delegate their own work to others. I think there is a common stereotype that most managers are great at never doing anything for themselves, but I've found the exact opposite to be true in small businesses. Saying you trust your employees is very different when your personal brand is being placed on their work performance, and a lot of managers trust only to the point of relinquishing the control from between others, and not from themselves.

Thanks for your insight!

http://bit.ly/e2gsCd ~Kristal

[Chuck Hebert]

Steve,

Thanks for the post. One of the challenges that I've found is that managers will may give a direct report a task to take on, then they proceed to tell them how to do every aspect of that task - not really coaching, as much as dictating. Really like the notion of giving the responsibility and autonomy. That is a important point to truly letting people grow! Thanks again!

[Maria Payroll]

Great post. Those are good questions to ask one's self and those are very helpful tips. Being a manager is full of challenges and if a person is offered this position, s/he must make sure that s/he would be able to endure this. If you are good to your employees, then your employees would reciprocate the goodness you show them. You must give them tasks that can help them learn more or something new and would add to their skills.

[Steve Roesler]

Pat,

The "more responsibility without rewards" is, in my travels, reaching epidemic proportions. The results aren't pretty. Although my post is designed to bring out the best in people, that's not going to happen under sweatshop-like conditions. At one client location I discovered that 3 of the 8 managers had had a heart attack in the past year. Each was under the age of 50 and quite athletic.

Quite simply, you can't do more with less. It's a clever catch-phrase that has been adopted as truth. Such pseudo rallying cries sell lots of books and workshops before anyone challenges their validity. It's one thing to operate as efficiently as possible. It's another to kill your employees in the process.

No, I don't have any strong feelings about that.

[Tom]

Great post

I think it has alot to do with mutual respect. If there is respect between the boss and the worker, goood thinks will happen almost by it self.

Keep up the good posts