Coaching Anyone

I’m asking two questions here: 1) are you coaching anyone and 2) do you enjoy coaching? Hopefully the answer is “yes” to both questions. But, if your answer to either or both questions is “no”, you’re not alone.

I rarely hear business owners tell me how much they enjoy coaching or conducting performance reviews. In fact, most list their process for either event as woefully lacking and admit that they approach performance reviews or coaching sessions with apprehension, anxiety and fear. Face it, there’s a mystery around coaching and what makes for great coaches. Look at the sidelines of any sporting venue. If you’ve watched Phil Jackson, Vince Lombardi (childhood hero) or any of the great coaches, you see a different style that seems to work for each of them. What you don’t see is the substance behind the style. They’ve done their homework and they’ve laid a solid foundation. Vince worked his magic before the game, never wore a headset and confidently paced the sidelines knowing that his team would execute well and win. They don’t call Green Bay “title town” for nothing. Phil “the Zen Master” has helped his teams win more NBA championships than any other coach.

So why the apprehension, anxiety or fear around coaching employees? You might have your own answer to this but it’s usually due to poor preparation. Here are three things that will help:

1. Define your Company’s Culture. Discover and leverage the values that define who you are as people. When you unlock your core values and ensure that everyone shares these values you create clarity about what you stand for and what you won’t stand for.
2. Clarify Roles, Responsibilities and Accountabilities. Less is more here. Forget the 9 page review. In a nutshell, what are the 4 to 6 things that summarize the person’s role and those things for which the person is responsible and accountable? Ensure that everyone has a number. Every person must have a clear expectation of what they need to produce. All great coaches measure progress and have a measurement system (scorecard) in place.
3. Assign Quarterly Priorities. Challenge each person in your organization to complete at least one key priority (we call this a rock) every 90 days. Great coaches are also focused on results.

With this foundation in place, communicate the purpose for the session - you want them to excel within the company and to help the company improve. Now you’re ready for the coaching session. Here’s how it works:

1. Discuss with them how they’re living the Values. Let them tell you specific stories about how they’ve “walked the talk”. Share your observations with them. The outcome is to ensure that you have the Right People, people who fit into your organization.
2. Discuss their job role, responsibility and accountability. Do they demonstrate that they “Get it”, “Want it” and have the “Capacity to do it”? The outcome is to ensure that they’re in the Right Seat. If they don’t “GWC” they’re spinning their wheels and your company won’t get traction. Did they deliver their number(s)?
3. Review how well they completed their key priority or “rock”. The outcome is to ensure that your people put words into action, that they do what they commit to do. This puts “GWC” to the test and gives your company tremendous traction.
You can capture the entire discussion regarding Values, Roles and Rocks on a single sheet of paper. Now, I don’t want to mislead you. This process is simple but it isn’t easy. You must work at it. Vince and Phil didn’t get there overnight and you won’t either. But, this simple approach will demystify the coaching process and yield better results.

With quarterly coaching in place the annual performance/pay review will go much smoother. One of the things that frequently derail the annual review is the correlation between performance and pay. The employee is thinking “I’ve been working hard and haven’t heard anything negative about my work so I wonder how big my raise will be”. You’re thinking “She’s been working really hard and I’m happy with her work but we’re having a tough year and I don’t know how I’m going to tell her that she won’t be getting a raise.” Sound familiar? The pay increase becomes the elephant in the room.

During tough times it’s more important than ever to communicate with everyone in the organization. The quarterly coaching session provides a good opportunity to build trust and to let people know what’s happening. Better to tell them than to have them wonder. Remember, your best people (those who share your values and who get it, who want it and who are highly capable of doing it) have the most options. If they pursue those options you’re left with a weak team and your stars will more than likely be working for your competitors.