Executive coaching
helps effective managers become even stronger. The same can be said of Olympic
coaches and the athletes they coach.
A recent article in
the Harvard Business Review looked at various coaching
strategies and strengths that have helped coaches produce winning athletes in
intense situations. Thinking of employees as athletes, five keys to success are
identified as:
1. Help your “athletes” understand and learn to
use their talents and skills in the work environment. Allow them to be creative. When
creativity is allowed, employees feel free to use their interest and skills to
develop a better product. Take the time to build in space for creative uses of
skills into different projects.
2. Build a strong, transparent relationship with
your mentee, to establish an open
line of communication with them. Honesty is key. Olympic athletes have usually
had the same coach since they were youngsters; even if they adopt other coaches
along the way, their original mentor and trainer is always there to support
them on game-day.
3. For athletes, training
is the most crucial part. They must
be up to date on the latest rules, techniques and competitor training habits
and performances. The workplace is similar. Push your employees to investigate
new technologies, and encourage attendance at training sessions,
industry-relevant conferences and membership organizations.
4. Athletes receive different types of support including financial,
motivational, nutritional, and more. Help steer your employees in the right
direction and make it easier for them to “win.” Steering may look like helping
your employees find grants for departmental team-building activities or building
relationships with cross-organizational teams. Steering may also look like hiring
effective managers who will appoint appropriate project leaders.
5. I found the 5th point to be the most
compelling: managing the environment for your employees.
You know your organization and industry inside and out so give your employees
the perspective needed to help them create innovative solutions they can carry
with them to future leadership positions.
Have you seen this
parallel between athletic coaches and workplace leadership? How did it impact
your team and organization?
Let’s share experiences. Leave a comment below, send
me an email,
or find me on Twitter.
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