The Winning Coach

by Steve Wilders

How difficult can coaching be? We’ve all seen many coaches at live sporting events and on television and know that they exhort, cajole, praise, impart skills, correct, and address problems. It certainly appears that it would be easy to perform such a job, as long as one has technical expertise in the required area.

However, of all the coaches with whom we are familiar, how many have consistently enabled individuals to perform at their highest levels and also have produced outstanding teams? Not too many. So, perhaps coaching is not as easy a task as we think.

The list of common traits among successful coaches is extensive:

· creating excitement in people
· establishing trust
· developing and relating expectations
· providing feedback
· listening
· creating learning experiences
· providing positive reinforcement
· developing improvement plans
· confronting poor performance
· encouraging people to take a risk
· demonstrating patience
· facilitating change

Additionally, successful coaches vary communication tactics and utilize a specific coaching process. With such a comprehensive list of necessary traits, it is obvious that being a “winning coach” is not as easy as first appears.

In the business world, good coaches believe in their employees and serve as teachers, facilitators, advisors, cheerleaders, and leaders in order to help their people “win.” And in an organization, when people win, quality improves and the organization prospers. When coaches apply their skills in a consistent and effective manner, they can expect:

· improved morale
· employee growth and development
· early identification of problems
· increased commitment
· specific, measurable results

A clearly defined coaching process is imperative for success. It provides a framework to begin the job of coaching, to measure results, and to respond to changing conditions, needs and skills. The process is:

Understand the employee/situation

Clarify performance

Obtain & maintain information

Give feedback

Correct/recognize, as appropriate

This process is a simple one but must be utilized with a balance of structure and flexibility in order to perform consistently while accommodating individual styles. Although the process is straightforward, coaching is certainly not an easy task. It is, however, a very rewarding one.