Barriers to coaching

Social Styles and the coaching model 'GROW'

Last month we had a great response from you regarding our complimentary article ‘Coaching for Interpersonal Skills and Development’. I received a number of requests in relation to ideas and tips on how to break down the barriers to coaching.  Some of the comments received were:

• My people are a bit cynical when it comes to coaching
• My staff want to be told – they don’t want responsibility
• I’ll lose my authority
• I’m afraid I won’t do it well
• It takes too long - I don’t have time to coach – (the most common barrier mentioned)

Let’s set the foundations for this discussion, I believe that expressions such   as ‘our people are our greatest asset’, ‘we must empower our staff’ and  ‘getting the best out of our people’ have become clichés in recent years. These are often talked about more than acted on.

In business, we coach for performance.  Coaching for performance is just  what is says – a means of obtaining the highest performance from our people.  Coaching for performance demands fundamental changes in attitude, in managerial behavior and organisational structure.

Many of our Progress clients have adopted a coaching based management style within their organisations. These innovative companies have already identified that the coaching based management style has enabled a positive and productive transformation of their culture through a less directing and more coaching style. For these clients, their staff have become more involved and willing to share ideas and try new ways of approaching tasks. As an example, a team member started sending a ‘Thought for the Day’ out to their team to create collaboration and learning amongst themselves. A recent thought reminded everyone in the team about Choice, Awareness and Responsibility.  It read -  ‘If you are not willing to learn, no one can help you. If you are determined to learn, no one can stop you.’

Start to break those barriers to coaching and improve staff performance

Reflect on your management style and on your thoughts on coaching, what do you really think about coaching? Do you see it as another task? Is it just too difficult to find the time? Remember, the pace of the pack is determined by the speed of the leader.  What messages are you sending to your people about your approach to coaching?

I will be continuing with this topic over the coming editions of Progress Matters and sharing tips on coaching and breaking the barriers to coaching. I would value feedback and any ideas you may have regarding what you have done   to break down the barriers to coaching and how adopting a coaching based management style has improved your team’s performance.

I look forward to receiving your feedback and ideas and will ensure you receive our next complimentary whitepaper by TRACOM  ‘Social Style and GROW’ as a thank you for your participation.

If you would like to find out about our BEST Performance Coaching or 'Coaching with Style' workshops simply go to our website www.progress.com.au email janelle@progress.com.au or call 0411 358 333.

You can’t stop Progress!

Janelle Nisbet
Managing Director