New Managers Can Be Better Coaches
We know from people manager assessment data that to be successful, managers must develop the ability to effectively lead, manage, and coach others. If new managers do not become skilled at coaching, they will struggle to create high performance individuals and teams. Learning how new managers can be better coaches is a key behavior of the best managers.
What Effective Coaches Do
If you think new managers can be better coaches, then start by knowing that effective coaches at work:
Five Ways New Managers Can Be Better Coaches
The sooner new managers can be better coaches, the faster they will create higher performance. Here are five ways to fine tune your role as a coach to help your employees to continuously improve:
Effective new managers help their employees to find their own answers rather than providing the solution. Similar to a project postmortem, your goal is to help people understand why their efforts aren’t getting the results that they want.
If they are impatient and often interrupt people during meetings, for example, try to find a time when they were treated similarly. How did they feel? Discounted? Ignored? Angry?
Ask how they might share their comments in meetings in a more acceptable and positive way. Your role as a manager and coach is to provide the context to increase awareness and perspective. Try to stay focused on the problem you are trying to solve, and their key concerns.
Your role as a manager and coach is to adapt your leadership style to the situation and style of your team member in a way that helps them to succeed.
The Bottom Line
New managers who (1) learn how to give effective feedback, (2) provide development opportunities for their team members, and (3) are interested in them as individuals are well on the way to gaining the trust, loyalty and commitment required to create a high performing team.
To learn more about getting the most from your team as a new leader, download How Hard Should a Leader Push to Get Results
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