Are you tough enough to be a Coaching Manager? Toughness, or focus if you prefer, is one of the top qualities a Coach, and a Coaching Manager needs to have to be successful. On the other end of the spectrum, a Coaching Manager needs to be patient. Especially patient as a listener in coaching sessions. Your client (your direct report) may start the session with an agenda to talk about weekly updates, but in the course of the session, a bigger issue may be discovered – for example tensions between departments, or frustration with a particular client. A good coach, and a good coaching manager will be patient and let the session play out to best advantage. A great coach will set good guardrails, but be patient, flexible, and smart enough to let the direction of the session change if a more pressing, or more important topic surfaces. A great coach, and in turn a great coaching manager is a unique mix of caring, empathy, focus, flexibility, and firmness. Below are the characteristics that a coach, and a coaching manger must have, and exhibit in the coach and client relationship.
- Sensitivity: Based on my experience as a career, and business coach, one of the most important qualities a coach, or coaching manager needs to have is sensitivity to the client. A great coach will do a quick read of the client’s disposition, emotional state, and demeanor. The direction of a coaching session often changes based on the state of the client at the time of the coaching session. Be aware I mean “session” loosely here, as a five-minute touch point between coaching manager and direct report can be considered an informal session.
- Empathy: Closely related to sensitivity is the quality of empathy. There needs to be a very human connection between coach and client. By establishing empathy, a coach acknowledges the emotional, and psychological state of the client, and also establishes that the coach relates to the here and now state of the Client. A couple examples of common phrases that help establish empathy are: “I can relate to how you feel…”, and “I can understand where you are coming from. I had a similar situation in my life.”
- Focus: A great coach, and a great coaching manager has the ability to focus the conversation. In short, the great coach sets good guardrails. If the dialogue leads to areas that are best put in a parking lot for discussion at a different time, or venue, the coach, and the coaching manager calls this out. The coach recognizes when the conversation has wandered into territory that will not be productive, or is inappropriate for the coaching manager and client relationship. Examples are when the client (direct report) continues to dive into relationships outside work, such as the relationship with their significant other, or family. In this case the coaching manger can best help by defining and capturing the issue, and helping to identify the correct resources to bring into play – such as a family therapist, or a relationship coach. Conversation that lingers in topics outside of work need to be called out, and the coaching manager needs to refocus the session to setting goals, monitoring progress on agreed upon issues, or milestones, and identifying and removing block to achieving a goal. Other topics that need to be kept in check are sports, hobbies, religion, and fraternal organizations or clubs that are not related to the client (direct report) development, problems, plans, and/or goals.
- Flexibility: The client, the direct report, may have sent an agenda to the coaching manager to discuss personal development, but when the client shows up at the designated session, the direct report (the client) may say that something important has come up, and they want to change the session agenda. A smart, and patient coach, or coaching manager will let the client take 5 to 10 minutes to discuss this new pressing issue or situation. The coaching manager will then capture, and repeat back to the direct report what they understand this new issue, or situation to be. Once the two agree on what the pressing issue is, a flexible coach will state back to the direct report the original agenda, and also the new issue. The coaching manager will then work with the direct report to decide which topic or more important and timely to work on in the session. An inflexible coach will make the mistake to press on with the original agenda and may end up discussing the right topics, but at the wrong time. A skilled coach will understand, and keep in place good guardrails, but at the same time be flexible to use the session time to best advantage.
- Knowledgeable: A great coaching manager is knowledgeable. They have experience in how to be successful. They have a working knowledge of the mission critical processes of the company, or organization. The have techniques to use the coaching manager and direct report’s one on one’s to best advantage. They have insights to share with their direct reports to give them the best chance of being successful. Coaching manager’s also have people knowledge – they understand that the world is made up of unique personalities, and respect and work with people of many different backgrounds, values, cultures, and personality types.
- Organized: A coach is organized – this holds true for the coaching manager as well. They ask their client to create an Agenda to use the session time to best advantage. The coach has an organized format in mind for every session, and the format is always on the back of the coach, and the coaching manager’s mind. If the agenda requires additional resources, or research on the part of the direct report, the coach calls this out in advance of the session. In the next segment we will discuss the format of the session, but for our current discussion we recognize that it is the coach, and the coaching manager’s job to provide structure for the coaching sessions, and to keep the direct report (the client) responsible and on task.
- Nurturing: Is the word “nurturing” out of place in the business or work environment? Absolutely not. When we nurture our direct reports, our team, we put them in a better position to be successful. We build their confidence, and we empower them to take on more responsibility, and be more productive. The more productive our team is, the lower our costs are to produce. In this way we indirectly increase profits, or in the case of not for profits, we reduce our costs so we are able to provide more services to more clients with fewer resources. When we are successful in nurturing, we see more success in our team, with the added benefit that the coaching manager is liberated from managing minute details, and daily processes, and problems, so they can focus on the more important efforts of building relationships, improving processes, and mapping out better business strategy.
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