Coaching Employees for Success

First, ask yourself...
Do your employees keep coming back to you when faced with the same challenges, over and over?

When you, as a leader, choose to coach your employee rather than simply manage them, you are putting in time and effort to help that employee become better in the long term. The way you can have the biggest impact on the employee when coaching them is by helping them to figure things out, complete tasks, make decisions and accomplish their goals - all through their own efforts, using their own brain!

The best way to put them in a situation to do so is to first, think of all the ways you are always fixing, advising, telling, directing or rescuing them - and stop! When they come to you with a problem (one that you would like them to ultimately be able to solve on their own) or a question (one that you would like them to eventually know the answer to on their own), put the ball back in their court. Help them to figure things out by asking things like: What do you think the solution to this problem is? What resources do you have to accomplish this task? What do you think the best choice would be in this scenario? How else might you get around those obstacles? What is your plan to get it done? What experiences can you draw from in the past that will help you in this situation?

Simply asking questions like these will help you to engage employees in the decision making process, help them to be creative and think outside the box, and help them to take responsibility for getting the job done. But this process takes time, effort and patience on your end, so what are the benefits for you? Simple! You will have more capable employees who have more confidence in themselves, and best of all - the time you spend now being proactive will result in time saved putting out fires and reacting to problems in the future, making you and the team more productive!

**This tip was taken from "Growing by Coaching & Learning" which is the May session of The Compass Program. Click Here to view the schedule of all 12 sessions for The Compass Program.