The Coaching Manager Tweddle Group

How effective is your approach to coaching? We invite you take a coaching evaluation to see where you stand in comparison to outstanding business coaches. It will measure the how strongly you prefer to behave collaboratively or dictatorially, how prone you are to giving advice or enabling other people to discover answers for themselves, and how apt you are to exert your expertise or treat everyone as equals. While certainly the best coaches adjust their style to the particular person and situation at hand, we have found that there are ideal ranges on the scores for all six of these dimensions.

This was a thought provoking survey,that helped confirm an area of my own leadership that I wish to evolve - wanting to solve everyone's problems for them rather than engaging them in helping to find solutions.

Through coaching - a.k.a. collaborative development discussions - with their managers, direct reports can learn and grow in key ways. Coaching can help people gain greater self-awareness, increase their autonomy, reinforce strengths and skills, and take more responsibility for their own development and career path. Direct reports will also be more likely to agree with and implement their individual development plans and be more engaged in their work.

With this shift, there is still a "me" in the picture, but it's not front and center. The "me" involves finding one's own personal motivation, enjoyment and engagement in learning the skills of leadership beyond their individual performance.

"Starting today, you can be significantly more effective as a manager - and enjoy your job more - by engaging in regular coaching conversations with your team members. As you resolve to support their ongoing learning and development, here are five key tips to get you started."

A servant-leader focuses primarily on the growth and well-being of people and the communities to which they belong. While traditional leadership generally involves the accumulation and exercise of power by one at the "top of the pyramid," servant leadership is different. The servant-leader shares power, puts the needs of others first, and helps people develop and perform as highly as possible.

Instead, leaders need to start by really caring about what other people have to say about an issue.  Research also shows that active listening, combined with empathy or trying to understand others' perspectives and points of view is the most effective form of listening.  Henry Ford once said that if there is any great secret of success in life, it lies in the ability to put oneself in another person's place and to see things from his or her point of view -as well as from one's own.

Skilled managers have never been more critical to the success of firms than they are today.  Not because employees can't function without direction, but because managers play a vital role in talent management. Gone are the comprehensive career management systems and expectations of long-term employment that once functioned as the glue in the employer-employee contract.  In their place, the manager-employee dyad is the new building block of learning and development in firms.

You have an employee who is disrespectful-perhaps even belligerent-but he's a top performer. Management has put up with his antics because it's not sure the organization can win without him. You are caught in the middle. What do you do?

If you're a manager of managers, or otherwise leading in the middle zone of the organization, pay particular attention to these six factors:

Great list! In my opinion, it is very accurate.

As a manager, you may be tempted to overlook employee conflicts when they occur in the workplace, hoping they go away on their own. But ignoring employee problems does not make them disappear-In fact, over time, unresolved conflicts often escalate into negative workplace environments that lower morale, increase turnover, and harm productivity.  What should you do about this? How can you coach your employees through conflict? Here are five tips to keep in mind.

I think being outside of the box enables one to trust and be trusted. Trust will make it very easy to stop doing these things and for people to excel.

Well said Cassie! Thank you!

If you want to become a leader, don't wait for the fancy title or the corner office. You can begin to act, think, and communicate like a leader long before that promotion. Even if you're still several levels down and someone else is calling all the shots, there are numerous ways to demonstrate your potential and carve your path to the role you want.

Excellent advice!

The collaborative and engaging style of a "Coach" enables leaders to be a "manager-coach". This approach focuses on developing employees in order to achieve business results rather than managing their every move. The mindset of the manager-coach is to create an environment that fosters learning, independent thinking and opportunities to contribute. The manager-coach doesn't want to be seen as a solution provider. Rather, they want to be seen as a facilitator, paving the way for the employee to achieve their results. Manager-Coaches are a role model for others. They are excellent listeners and communicators, providing perspective and encouragement while also setting high standards and expectations.

Interesting conversation on the differences between a Supervisor & a Manager.

But I am suggesting that piling on praise is a more effective motivator for the rookie than the pro. And I'm saying, point blank, that you shouldn't worry so much when it comes to pointing out mistakes to someone experienced. Negative feedback won't crush their confidence, but it just might give them the information they need to take

Coaching, however, deserves careful thought and practice. Here are some specific opportunities to improve our daily coaching efforts.

Getting honest, useful feedback is an important part of any project or career. Of course, positive feedback is awesome because it motivates you to keep up the good work. Negative feedback can be painful to hear, but if you can swallow your pride, it presents the opportunity to improve what you're working on.

If you want to improve as a Coach­ing Leader, ask more questions. Our team­mates are always more likely to make dif­fi­cult changes and improve­ments if they are the ones that cre­ate their own solu­tions and plans. We lead­ers will become more effec­tive as coaches if we give more thought to the ques­tions we ask than the answers we give. Here is a great rule of thumb for you as you go into your one-on-ones with your direct reports: Your speak­ing to lis­ten­ing ratio should be 25/75. Focus your 25 per­cent on ask­ing chal­leng­ing and clar­i­fy­ing ques­tions that help your team­mate to come up with their own answers - which should take up 75 per­cent of the coach­ing session. When we lead­ers mas­ter this, our team­mates per­for­mance is guar­an­teed to improve.

I tried, but, apparently, we cannot like something twice (double like?)!