The benefits of coaching have been long established in the sporting arena. Originally, sports coaching concentrated on improving the techniques used by the athlete but now includes substantial emphasis on mental preparation particularly after the publication of “The Inner Game of Tennis” by Timothy Gallwey in 1979. Sir John Whitmore was one of the first sportsmen to take the lessons from sports coaching and apply them in the business arena and published the ground breaking book “Coaching for Performance” in 1992. He defines coaching as
“...the unlocking of a person’s potential to maximise there own performance. It is helping them to learn rather than teaching them.”
This definition helps us distinguish between training and coaching, training invariably is a broad brush approach to teaching people new skills whereas effective coaching, combining both
action and learning, concentrates on helping the individual use the resources that they currently have more effectively.
Coaching is interactive, involving active listening, supportive questioning and open sharing of views. It seeks not only to generate new options for tackling problems but also to reinforce what is working well.
Coaching is not a quick fix solution to perceived problems, it does take time but it is both the tool and the essence of company culture change. Many organisations, particularly owner led companies, have historically been managed by people with a direct, telling style and consequently they spend much of their time fire-fighting. This in turn limits the time and energy the leader has to address the key issues that will ultimately determine the future of the company. Paradoxically, this vicious circle can be broken by investing time in coaching. By adopting a coaching style to develop their staff, the leader will find that not only do the staff shoulder more responsibility, but they will work together more effectively, be more satisfied in their work and hence more likely to stay with the organisation in the long term.
Coaching may be delivered by leaders within a company or by external consultants. External coaches may be more appropriate at very senior level, to address specific problems, or to train internal coaches but most organisations will not perform at their best without coaching being at the core of their management style. The traditional command and control style of management is a route to organisational suicide in the current climate of rapid change in both technology and attitudes to work.
Flexibility, creativity and rapid response are all key attributes for the organisation with a future. The coaching approach encourages continuous learning, stimulates creativity and builds a climate of trust and respect for the individual. Investment in coaching is enlightened self interest as a culture where individuals feel genuinely empowered and accept responsibility for their own performance can only deliver superior results.
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