COACHING TO HIGH PERFORMANCE-Part Two

A coaching relationship is based on several core competencies.  The coach is partnering with the client in a thought-provoking process that is creative.  Gentle challenging occurs that encourages the employee to move beyond a comfort zone and maximize his/her personal and professional potential.  Core competencies are to establish the coaching agreement, co-create the relationship, communicate effectively, and facilitate learning and results.

Communicating effectively involves active listening and powerful questioning.  Active listening is the ability to focus on what the employee is saying and not saying, and how this relates to the issues to be addressed.  It is truly focusing on the employee’s words and body language….not to reinforce a point the coach wants to make, but to truly understand where the employing is coming from.  This type of communication is accepting and reinforcing.  When in this type of safe environment, the employee is able to take risks, own his/her deficits in soft skills, and attempt new behaviors.

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COACHING FOR HIGH PERFORMANCE-Part One

Coaching is a term which describes assistance provided to an employee to help him/her improve.  Coaching does not address deficits in hard skills or technical skills.  It addresses deficits in soft skills.  Examples of soft skills are communication, conflict-resolution, self-awareness, emotional intelligence, leadership, etc.  Coaching is often provided by a consultant from outside the business.  This outside coach enters the workplace without any baggage or preconceived notions of the company.  Having a “neutral person” provide coaching services also helps create a safe environment for the employee to explore his/her necessity to make behavioral changes.

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BUILDING HIGH PERFORMING TEAMS-Part Two

Creating your team is important to ensuring whether or not it is a high performing team.  Teams are often formed by geography or calendars.  Those chosen are based on close proximity of/in the office and who can get together at the same time.  Leaders need to recognize that while high-performing teams share certain characteristics, there are some important distinctions between them.  To ignore these distinctions can lead to poor performance, frustration over difficulty of working together productively, and disillusionment with the team because relationships grow difficult.

Again, go back to your mission.  What do you want the team to accomplish?  Teams should be formed based on the need for coordination and specialization of tasks.  Your mission of the team (your final product envisioned) drives this.  Some teams will need to be made of members with different disciplines and high specialization in different areas.  Some teams need to be made of members who are highly coordinated and cross-trained.

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BUILDING HIGH PERFORMANCE TEAMS-Part One

Calling a group of people “a team” doesn't make them one.   You can’t force someone to cooperate.  Cooperation is a product of choices---choices that are made for reasons unique to each person.  Team development is a process, not an event.  A team isn't formed; it is built.

How to build that team?  Ensure the following are present:  a shared mission, autonomy for task completion, interdependence, effective processes for decision-making, conflict management, and ongoing evaluation of team effectiveness.

Surprisingly, some teams can get hung up on the first point:  a shared mission.  If all team members don’t know the destination, they will take different routes and produce dissimilar products.  The mission must be clear, relevant, and achievable.

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Interpersonal Dialogue: Core Principles-Part Two

Our society often functions in a win-lose mode.  Politics, athletic contests, and legal situations are set up this way.  When in a win-lose situation, energy is drained when one tries to win, win, win.  Granted, some situations have to have a winner.  We can’t have two presidents sharing the role.  We can’t have two teams being the NCAA Division 1 Men’s Basketball Champions of 2014.

But, it is more about the mindset.  We can enter most situations with the mindset that we will achieve synergy.  What becomes important is finding common ground, so people’s energy can go toward finding a solution to a problem….not to making sure they come out on top.  It is a valuing of people and recognizing that everyone has something to offer, something that is to be of worth and needing to be considered.  It is also about the mindset that “together, we achieve something greater than we would have if working alone”.

Inquiry and advocacy are the core to achieving synergy.  Inquire about another person’s viewpoint.  Value his/her input.  It is crucial to know where another person is at, before trying to take them to where you want them to go.  Think about a time you were talking with someone.  Maybe you went round and round.  Remember when you finally felt “heard”.  You may have relaxed physically, loosening the jaw that had been tightened and the hands that had been clenched.  Really hearing and acknowledging another person’s stance is a gift we give during conversation.  It is our responsibility to do this, on order to move the problem-solving process forward.

Advocate for your own position.  State your thoughts, don’t just sigh and give in.  Think of a time you were talking with someone.  Maybe you were just too tired to advocate for yourself.  So, you acquiesced and gave in.  How did you feel afterwards?  Did you truly support the decision that had been made?  It is our responsibility to do this, to advocate for ourselves.  Sharing our ideas brings new possibilities to the problem-solving process.

The goal is to make decisions that are the best possible, to solve a problem in a way that can’t be compromised.  This is only done by a meeting of the minds.  When we hold the mindset that all people are valuable and that we need to consider all opinions, there is no limit to what we can accomplish.  And, people have more fun doing this….because they believe their opinion was considered valuable, and that they made a contribution to the greater good.

To learn more about how to practice this understanding, contact Results Group, LLC at www.ResultsGroupLLC.com or 515-330-2866.

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