The Weekly Coaching Conversation by Brian Souza

Author:Brian Souza [Souza, Brian]
Language: eng
Format: mobi, azw3
ISBN: 9780984762514
Publisher: BookMasters
Published: 2012-10-10T14:00:00+00:00

Coaching is not merely something that you, as a manager, must do. A Coach is someone that you, as a leader, must become.

“They may be bad managers, but they’re not bad people,” Coach said. “And the reason most of them are bad managers isn’t actually even their fault. They’ve never been trained on the single most important skill set they need to know–coaching. It’s amazing. People wonder why most teams in most organizations are so dysfunctional. It’s pretty simple: There’s no coach! How can you expect managers to coach and develop their team when they haven’t even received any coaching themselves?”

Brad nodded. “Good point. At least that makes me feel a little better.”

Coach cracked open another peanut and waited patiently for the sales manager’s next question.

“Okay, so let me ask you something else,” Brad said. “Based on your experience, what would you say is the single most important thing I need to know about becoming a world-class leader or a coach?”

“Simple,” Coach said without hesitation. “At its core, leadership isn’t a head issue; it’s a heart issue. Most managers today have it all wrong. They’re so wrapped up in their damn spreadsheets, PowerPoint slides, and Six Sigma BS that somewhere along the line they forgot these aren’t machines we’re dealing with–they’re people. They don’t realize that as a coach, the more you give, the more you’ll get. The more you care, the more they’ll contribute.”

Coach paused to take a sip from his pint and then added, “If you want to become a coach, here’s my advice: Get your heart right first and your head will follow.”

Brad was furiously taking notes, trying to capture what he was hearing and process it so he could ask follow-up questions.

“Okay, I hear what you’re saying, but if my role as a coach is to constantly evaluate, coach, and develop my team,” he said, “don’t tactics and strategies–or, as you put it, ‘head issues’–play a pretty important part in that process?”

“Absolutely. Listen, I’m not saying that teaching your people the fundamentals isn’t important. It is,” Coach said. “It just shouldn’t be your very first priority. That’s because change cannot be imposed; it must be chosen. In order to get people to improve, they first have to want to improve.”

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