BE AN GOOD COACH

An effective coach should demonstrate a range of skills.  Some general behaviors/approaches that the individual should always look for in a good coach:

1. The ability to build strong relationships and build trust
• Ability

·   Communicate high expectations for individuals

·   Raise the individual’s status

• have faith in their abilities to perform well
• Avoid

·   comparing the performance of the person they are coaching to the performance of someone else

·   ‘jumping in’ to coaching until they have a relationship working with the person being coached

• Honest

·   admitting not knowing the answer to a question, find the answer and provide it at the next coaching session

·   with their own performances and using them as an opportunity for learning

·   able to ‘model’ a key component of lifelong learning by being honest

·   Relating real life experiences and stories

·   the role they should be playing whether they want to be a constant nag, a bully, a friend, a critic, a mentor, a leader, a teacher, a manager, a counselor, a disciplinarian, or a role-model

• Be available when needed by the individual and offer their time

 

2. The ability to frame the coaching process
• Believe in people’s willingness to want to do the best
• See coaching as

·   a two way process

·   a dialogue

·   a give-and-take relationship

·   a chance to share ideas and information

·   something other than therapy or training or consulting

·   the best delivered in situationally relevant ways

• consider

·   the difficulty of the task being coached

·   the skills and experience of the person they are coaching

·   the preferences in terms of how much ‘help’ should be given

• understand that mainly people do not want/ need ‘the answer’, they need a little assistance in finding out how to get the answer themselves
• able to encourage peer coaching by occasionally inviting individuals to find a partner or mentor to help in action planning or implementation activities

3. The ability to set goals and targets
• Get a solid commitment from the individual to reach her/his goal
• set stretching targets and goals

4. The ability to identify and analyze areas for coaching
• Assess the abilities and experience of the person
• Able to

·   offer three kinds of feedback

·         what people should keep doing (positive feedback)

·         stop doing (negative feedback)

·         start doing (new ideas feedback)

·   helps the individual clarify the situation and identify the critical factors that need focus and attention by identifying issue, problem or challenge

·   Adapt their managerial/coaching style to the individual

·   diagnose what style is likely to work best in the circumstances

• Coach only on real and first hand data
• Avoid

·   information on performance or behaviors that have been identified by a third party

·   information has not been checked and/or verified

• Identify Individual’s needs
• Get

·   an individual to “buy into” a performance improvement idea

·   to know about their values, attitudes, beliefs, objectives, challenges, and development targets

• Give people useful projects or ‘homework’ (write down their victories or the things that they have done well to quickly identify their own development)

·   teaches them to focus on their most important daily activities

·   allows them to see their accomplishments and successes

• invite the person to make suggestions on what they specifically want to work on and why

 

5. The ability to conduct effective coaching conversations
• Avoid

·   sitting across the table from the person they are coaching

·   coaching when they are upset or in a poor mood

·   over-planning and over-rehearsing coaching sessions

·   the temptation to ask, “Why?” too much in a coaching conversation

·   too much personal advice

·   negatives such as “I don’t think…” and “You shouldn’t…,” when speaking

• Able

·    To recognize when the person being coached is upset

·   to listen actively and attentively, only offer their ideas after the individual has completed his or her comments

·   to have a general idea of the individual’s goal and invite suggestions on the process

• Regularly ask the individual being coached for ideas
• Encourage individuals to

·   think back on their experiences

·   discuss lessons learned

·   discuss the implications of the experience for future behavior

• Acknowledge and show appreciation for the person’s contribution, no matter how small in every coaching situation
• ask the individual for feedback about their coaching performance
• readily model appropriate behaviors for receiving feedback

 

6. The ability to deal with resistance or defensiveness
• Avoid

·   assuming that the individual’s reluctant or nervous responses are merely signs of resistance and defensiveness to be simply ignored or overcome just because they are different from what they may want him or her to say

• see statements as genuine and valuable indicators of how an individual feels and may offer clues on possible future remedial actions that can be taken
• willing to “lead from example” or to be an “exemplar”

 

Shared from:

http://blog.readytomanage.com/business-coaching-training/

The Skills and Expertise of a Good Coach

January 31, 2013 by Dr. Jon Warner