Business Owner as Coach

Companies grow and succeed when people work together effectively towards a common goal. If this is going to occur for your company, you ... as the business owner and leader ... must make it happen. You must become and continually improve as an effective manager and leader. Effective management, the teaching and molding of players into a productive and winning team, can be referred to as "coaching." Here are tips to help you be a better "coach" in your organization.

Be Immensely Committed and Involved

The people-development process begins with the business owner. Particularly, the business owner must clearly demonstrate his or her total commitment to leading the team to victory. He or she must clearly describe what victory is for the team and show a commitment to do his or her part to lead the group there. The appropriate attitude is "let's do it together; I'll dive in first," rather than, "you children get your room cleaned up!"

Create the Right Environment

Setting a firm goal is scary. "What if we fail?" the individual employee worries. "What if I fumble the ball and cause us to fail? Will I be fired?  Will I be publicly humiliated? What if everyone finds out I am not superman?"

The business owner must make sure every employee knows:

• All participants are going to stretch, try, change and each be held personally accountable for the execution of their important role, including the business owner.
• Every employee will gain personally from individual and collective efforts. Each person will learn, grow, gain newer and better skills and enjoy the rewards of success.
• Each person will have struggles and make mistakes. That's okay.
• It's okay, in fact necessary, to quickly voice problems and concerns. It's through open communication that problems and inefficiencies will be recognized and corrected.

Peer to Peer vs. Top Down

When you see a topic that needs to be addressed, your employees likely are already aware and have even devised solutions/resolutions and probably taken some corrective action. Most employees are uncomfortable when things are not optimal. They will be ready for change. Make this assumption and you will be received much more positively. Spot evidence of this and give recognition, appreciation and positive reinforcement. You'll be "peer-to-peer" rather than "top down" and condescending.

Help Them See Impact

Often, managers will spend their time dwelling on the problems. Consider spending more time helping them understand why it's a problem. In other words, what is the impact of the problem? For example, data is not being input consistently in the database. Instead of harping on the fact that the data is not being input correctly, help them see the impact it has on revenue, expense, profit and the reaching of team goals. Then, establish metrics that can be tracked to gauge the quality of data input. Celebrate improvement.

Teach Them to Be Change Agents

Change is more likely to last when people attribute the changes to their own efforts. Let them see the link between their actions and improved performance. In fact, give them the freedom to identify problems, develop solutions, implement the change, monitor the results and report the progress to the team.

Avoid the Dump

Many leaders open up only after the list of topics is so long that it would topple a shopping cart. When you dump a list of concerns, people react by defending and covering up. Instead, be selective and focused with conversation topics rather than comprehensive. People appreciate talking about one or two issues at a time. Don't swamp them with too many. One quality solution is more important than a lot of weak ones.

Don't Dominate

When some supervisors open up dialogue, they're unable to control the floodgates. The conversation whips into a firestorm of accusations, venting, anger and lecture. Managers inadvertently dominate discussions and do most of the talking. We mistakenly feel that we have more to say, more expertise and wisdom.

Generally, if you talk more than 50% of the time, you're overstepping boundaries. Keep in mind that a good manager spends most of her time helping define the situation and then facilitating an agreement or solution so that others feel ownership.

This is the fifth of a five-part series on Coaching.

May-June '05 issue: Executive Coach: Nonsense or Dollars and Cents?

July-Aug '05 issue: Selecting the Right Coach

Sept-Oct '05 issue: Executive Coaching: Getting the Most for Your Coaching Dollar

Nov-Dec '05 issue: Group Coaching

> This issue: Business Owner as Coach

This article was compiled from information provided by the following:

• The Center for Management and Organization Effectiveness (www.cmoe.com)
• Dr. Jay Kent-Ferraro, Empowerment Technologies. Jay@DrJayFerraro.com