Leaders Know How to Coach

From the book "Campaign to be a BETTER LEADER" by Gary Bergenske

“Coaching and Mentoring are both processes that bring out the best in people, allowing them to accomplish their full potential.” - Gary Bergenske

The ability of a leader to coach his or her team is an essential key for success in any setting. Whether it be in the sports world or the business world, having the ability to inspire individuals to achieve their personal best and to play as a team builds winners. A good leader will coach others using a variety of methods to stimulate and motivate them to set goals and then achieve them. Keep in mind, authority in itself does not make you a leader; it gives you the opportunity to be one. Good coaches get average people to accomplish the extraordinary.

Vince Lombardi, famed coach of the Green Bay Packers, ranks as one of the greatest coaches of all time by winning 2 Super Bowls and 5 NFL Championships. He once said this: “A man can be as great as he wants to be. If you believe in yourself and have the courage, the determination, the dedication, the competitive drive and if you are willing to sacrifice the little things in life and pay the price for the things that are worthwhile, it can be done.” This great quote from Lombardi applies to all aspects of life and plainly says to give up the little things, for what matters is the big things in life. Coach Lombardi also said, “If winning isn’t everything, why do they keep score.” They do because it’s important to know where you are, how you measure up to others, and what you have to do to improve or win.

As printed in my previous book, “Campaign for a Better Life,” performing as a great coach requires unconditional commitment to your team. Today, someone who leads in the business world can be viewed as a coach within his or her area of expertise. Being a coach in the work place puts you in the position of helping others achieve their personal best. Coaches not only must teach but also lead, inspire, and motivate the group to become a cohesive unit in order for the team to perform at a high level. Coaching is a full-time job, whether you are involved in a sports team, business group, or a volunteer organization.

The ability to coach others is essential to becoming a great leader. Hard work and dedication are required to inspire others to follow. I want to list some of the characteristics needed to become a good coach within your area of expertise:

Be Persistent

Communicate

Be Committed

Believe in Others

Empower Others

Motivate & Inspire

Be a Good Listener

Coach, Don’t Control

Guide to Independence

Be Understanding of Others

To be a good leader, you have to understand the meaning of the word “limitation.” As a coach you must have the ability to adjust and place individuals into positions that will stretch them, but not embarrass them. When you accomplish this, you will begin maximizing your coaching skills. True coaching is taking an individual to a level he can’t reach alone. Most people who have never been coached will never reach their maximum potential. Coaching will develop leadership skills, build character, and clarify your core values, thereby making you a better person. Coach Lou Holtz is a former NCAA football head coach, and is currently an author, motivational speaker, and works as a college football analyst for the cable network, ESPN. He had this to say: “Life is ten percent what happens to you and ninety percent how you respond to it.”

Coaching in the business world has been taking on a new meaning. Companies strive to get the best out of their employees by providing seminars and coaching clinics to develop people’s skills and increase their productivity. To inspire employees, a good work place coach takes on the role of therapist, consultant, and confidant, as well as leader. Coaching certainly helps to reinforce your sense of self-worth, also allowing you to concentrate on your goals, and ultimately making it possible to operate at the top of your game. You might ask yourself, “Who wants a coach in the work environment?”  The answer is “Winners who want the best out of life, and any organization that wants to go beyond where it would normally be.” Effective leaders find their way, others find an excuse.

A coach earns the respect and trust of those he instructs, trains, and directs. As a trusted advisor, the coach becomes a consultant and/or counselor. Reaching the status of “Trusted Advisor” puts the coach in an exalted position in which he is regarded as a true leader and guide. In this position, the coach trains those under him to focus on improving themselves, not focusing on their competition. It is believed if you do your personal best, and each team member does the same, then your combined strengths will take care of the competition naturally. 

This strengthens the relationship between the coach and the individual, which in turn causes the individual to be more invested in the group. A coach is always truthful. He instructs from knowledge and prior proven personal experiences that will build solid relationships. Coaches who have done tremendous jobs take special interest in individual’s personal performances, pushing them to be their best. This in turn spreads into the entire team or group. Emotions and commitments are cultivated, providing outstanding results and winners. It seems to me the coaches who concentrate on improving and individual’s performance are the ones who receive extraordinary results. Keep in mind that you listen to the advice of people you trust and respect; so, if you want your team to listen to you, give them every reason to trust and respect you. If you do this, you will become a trusted advisor, giving you the opportunity to see incredible results as you develop as a coach and leader.

Choosing a Coach

Coaches in life are selected by the proven skills they have in given arenas. If you are looking for a coach in a specific area, it is imperative to match up with someone who not only is an authority in his area of expertise, but one who will fit in with you or the group you are selecting him or her to coach. Successful companies spend big money hiring coaches to train and inspire their employees. Just as a school would hire a football coach they believe will make their team better, so must companies hire coaches in their given area of expertise, such as business, sales, technical, human resources, etc. These coaches can be occasional visitors for seminars, or full-time leaders within the organization. Either way, coaching will take you to the next plateau. Successful leaders realize this and promote the coaching of team members to bring out the personal best in each.

Selecting the right person for the right job is a huge part of choosing a coach. Effective coaching can take place in the classroom, on the field, or in a boardroom. Coaching has no boundaries as to where it can take place; its limits are boundless. A good coach must be able to give constructive criticism without causing resentment and to work within his personal area of competence. His agenda has to be pure, and his goal set on improvement. A coach changes the way things look, creating an inspiring environment of achievement within the team. Vince Lombardi once said, “Coaches who can outline plays on a blackboard are a dime a dozen. The ones who win get inside their players and motivate.” Great leaders have the ability to coach, the ability to recognize great coaches, and the wherewithal to bring these two abilities together for the betterment of the team. Over the years I have known men and women who, at times even unknown to themselves, are coaching others. This is a great quality found in leaders who aspire to help others.

Recent studies show coaching and executive coaching to be the most effective means for achieving measurable growth and development in individuals, groups, and organizations. The Washington Post says, “…in the next few years, coaching will become the norm in the business world.” According to Fortune Magazine, “Today’s managers, professionals and entrepreneurs are hiring coaches to help them with time management, a change in career or balancing their work and personal lives.” Great coaches have the capacity to inspire others with a glance. Coaching can certainly help you to attain your personal best.

Mentoring -

The Art of Helping Others

Another approach to coaching encompasses finding mentors who make personal contact with others within the organization to guide and assist them. A mentor’s role is similar to that of a coach’s; however, the coach is usually involved with a group or team. Mentors, on the other hand, usually work one-on-one, with the more experienced mentor guiding a new colleague or protégé along the way. Mentors check progress from time to time, avail themselves to instruct or answer questions, and help to find opportunities. A good mentor will help an individual to find success.

Mentors are found in civic, church, and fraternal organizations as well as in the business world. Organizations use mentors to help in the orientation of new members. A good mentoring relationship will build a comfort zone and set good examples for the new associate, making him eager to become involved in new activities. Mentoring focuses on the individual and thereby enhances morale, motivation, and participation in organizational programs.

Although mentoring has been coming into its own in the business world the past few years, it has been around for centuries. The word itself was inspired by the character of Mentor in Homer’s Odyssey. In the story, Mentor is an ineffective old man. Athena, the goddess, takes on his appearance in order to guide the young Telemachus during his difficult times. Throughout the years of history, famous mentor-protégé match-ups include;

Socrates and Plato

Plato and Aristotle

Aristotle and Alexander the Great

Andrew Carnegie and Napoleon Hill

Today in the work place, mentoring is used to groom employees who are deemed to have the potential to be a leader within the organization in the future. The employee, or protégé, is paired up with a senior level leader who will begin coaching him for a future position. Sometimes it is called shadowing if they are mentoring for a specific job. Other times, if the employee is being groomed for a managerial position, he may spend small amounts of time in many different areas of the company in an effort to familiarize himself with the overall structure of the organization. This allows the protégé to learn about the company’s methods, principals, and values quickly under the direction and supervision of the mentor or senior trusted advisor. 

Successful pairing up of the two is important. The mentor must be knowledgeable, informative, and motivating, yet understanding, giving the protégé the needed time to learn and fit in. The mentor is required to be confident in his own abilities and sincerely interested in someone else’s growth. This guidance is not done for personal gain. It is imperative the mentor allow the protégé time not to just learn, but to absorb information, as it will prove more beneficial down the road and provide better leadership results. Mentors receive the reward of self-satisfaction for sharing their experiences to help others. Mentoring stimulates individual growth and development by helping others. A successful mentor should have the following qualities:

Has Knowledge

A Good Listener

A Positive Person

Has Time Needed

Adapts to Change

Experienced Leader

Takes Interest in Others

Can Stimulate & Motivate

Is Willing to Help & Facilitate

Believes in Goals & Strategies

In an effort to be helpful, some mentors go too far. It is imperative you give others the chance to learn and to become involved as you guide them. You can not afford to damage the relationship by hurrying it along, or by over instructing, causing resentment or separation. This developmental process takes people who are willing to listen and help their colleagues. Remember, one of the most valuable assets someone’s career can have is a good mentor. If you are assigned that duty, you must perform in high fashion as you take the protégé on this journey.

In the volunteer world of churches, civic groups and fraternal organizations, mentoring takes on the important role of helping to orientate new members. Mentoring becomes an essential link in getting new members involved in a position they enjoy and to keep them returning. It is important to get them into the mix of things in order to pique their interest. There are no paychecks to keep them coming back in a volunteer organization; they only come back if it’s enjoyable. This is why mentors are so important in these organizations. They must be sure to keep in contact with the new members to answer questions, to keep them informed, and to make them comfortable. Mentors should make them feel as though they are not on their own, but rather a part of the group. Simply just being available for a phone call, advice, guidance and a laugh or two can keep someone coming back. Mentoring is encouraging, supporting, and helping them to keep going, and also helping them to deal with problems. If done properly, before you know it your protégé will become a mentor for some other new member.

In reality, we all have had mentors and coaches in our lives in some form or fashion. Both coaching and mentoring enable individuals and groups to achieve their full potential in due time. I’m sure each of us can think of someone who made a difference in the way we turned out. We are better for having learned from others. Now, as people who desire to be leaders, coaching becomes an essential key to our development and to the development of our followers. Your concentrated effort on improving yourself and those around you will build the 12 essential keys for leadership.

From the book "Campaign to be a BETTER LEADER" by Gary Bergenske

Copyright - Gary Bergenske