COACHING, MENTORING AND COUNSELLING

As a manager, isn't your role much like that of a coach? Your team members all have different talents and skills, they are all human with strengths, shortcomings and personal lines that sometimes affect their ability to perform at work. You are responsible for winning with that special mix of people for keeping your people inspired, motivated and working together forward team goals.

VALUES OF A SUCCESSFUL COACH

Clarity: A strong sense of direction and purpose.

Supportiveness: A commitment to stand with and behind the team.

Confidence building: A personal commitment to build and sustain self-image of each team member.

Mutuality: Partnership orientation.

Perspective: An unflappable focus on the entire business perspective.

Risk: Encouraging effort that reduces punishment for mistakes and encourages learning.

Patience: A view that equitably balances learning and business demands.

Involvement: Sincere and genuine commitment to allow team members to control their work.

Confidentiality: An ability to protect information of all team business.

Respect: A true commitment to value and see the treasure in your people.

TEST YOURSELF

Give 'Yes' or 'No' responses to the given situations:
  1. When two employees in my department do not get along, and one of them asks me to intervene, I say, "Why should I get involved? You work it out, or come to me together".
  2. When assigning work responsibilities and identifying a major conflict in the work priorities of an employee of my team I say, "I really respect your thoughts and feelings on this. Lets talk about the priorities?
  3. When called by my manager and asked to give opinion on an employee who is not in my department. I say, "I'm really glad you are checking but our employees, let me tell you what I think".
  4. Every person in my unit has complained about the work of one person. In a team meeting I have asked for feedback that would help the team, but no one speaks up. I say, light heartedly, "I guess there are no problems. I'll move on if no one says anything.
  5. Over the past few weeks, it seems that employees have consistently ganged up on one worker. Every staff meeting is attack time. I say to the employee, "I think you need to develop a strategy for getting through those attacks."
SCORING AND INTERPRETATION:

If the response is 'yes' it indicates that you deal with the situation as a 'coach'.

Remember all the coaching in the world will fall short if the behaviour you expect is not honoured and recognized success is not established by how high we climb as mangers but by how many people we take with us as are climb.

We all have our own style of responding to the situation. One might be a coach, mentor or counsellor. Mentoring and counselling will be covered in the subsequent issues.

This column is contributed by Dr. Seema Sanghi, Director, FORE School of Management and Head, Centre for Psychometric Testing at FORE School of Management. She has conducted Psychometric Testing, Organizational Surveys for both publicand private sectors. Recently she has completed consultancy assignment on 'Competency Mapping' for Maruti Udyog Ltd. Also her book 'Towards Personal Excellence' after success in English speaking countries has been translated into Chinese and released. She has been awarded a Mother Teresa Excellence Award. She can be contacted on seema@fsm.ac.in or 011-26969765.