Employee Retention
Managers with a Growth Mindset are Better Coaches
Making managers better coaches may come down to knowing whether or not they have a growth mindset.
Effective coaching comes down to connecting with the coachee. There's one tool many coaches don't take advantage of that could make all the difference.
If you are involved in coaching in the workplace, chances are that your end goal is improvement. That could be improvement in performance, improvement in attitude, improvement in a specific skill or aptitude, but your goal is to help your employee become better at something.
In my experience as a professional coach, there is one key tool that many coaches don’t take advantage of.
In a previous post, I talked about the importance of having a strong foundation to build your coaching ability on and shared a simple, four-step process you can follow. In this post I want to share with you a specific tool that can make a world of difference in your coaching outcomes.
In my years of experience of coaching individuals, I have found that coaching helps people clarify what they want from life and work; set specific and attainable goals; it helps in tracking progress along the way; keeps the person focused on the end target; helps them face and overcome challenges; and it provides the opportunity to reassess the person’s plans, goals and strategies.
It’s a way to clear the slate, identify where the employee is today, and paint a picture of where they want to be in the future. Develop your skills in coaching and you will see an improvement with your employees’ performance.
In order to coach effectively, it’s imperative that you connect with your coachee.
To do this, I favor the use of behavior assessments (or personality assessments) in conjunction with coaching in the workplace because they provide additional insight into the true nature of the employee, which can assist you, as the coach, in identifying key areas to focus on. I have come across numerous self-development assessments over the years and always find that they work well hand-in-hand with a coaching approach, because coaching is about creating positive change and personal growth.
Understanding a person’s natural temperament, or behavioral traits, will enable you to:
- understand why they behave the way they do;
- how they prefer to be communicated with; and
- how you can adapt your approach to make your message more likely to be received.
Here at McQuaig, we offer the Self-Development Assessment which provides you with coaching guidelines to assist an employee on their path of employment with your company. It pin points the persons areas of strengths and opportunities for development. You can download a copy of our Coaching Cheat Sheet for Managers for an at-a-glance look at how to use behavioral insights to adapt your coaching style.
Whichever tool you use, as long as it’s scientifically validated, the insights provided will equip you with a wealth of information you can use to customize and fine tune your approach to coaching.
If you have questions or comments about how to be a more effective coach, or tips that you’ve seen work, please post them below.