Coaching Your Staff to Success

“Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire.”

~ William Butler Yeats

5 Coaching Strategies:

Forge a Partnership

Inspire Commitment

Grow Skills

Promote Persistence

Shape the Environment

1. Forge a PartnershipForge a Partnership

Build Trust and Understanding so people want to work with you.

Forging a Partnership

Most Important when:The person does not know much about youYou don’t know what motivates them or what they really care aboutThe person is skeptical or cynical about your leadershipThe person risks losing something they value because of change

To Strengthen your partnership:Listen carefully to understand the person’s interests, opinions, and concernsClarify your expectations of each otherProvide candid, yet tactful feedbackShow the person how you have their best interests in mind… and that those coincide with the center’s best interest

2. Inspire CommitmentInspire Commitment

Build insight and motivation so people focus their energy

on goals that matter.

Inspiring Commitment

Most important when:

People seem content with current level of skill and expertisePeople lose focus or get stuck in just getting through the day

To inspire commitment:

Make sure people get specific, relevant information about performanceHelp people clarify their goals and values

3. Grow SkillsGrow Skills

Build new competencies to ensure people know how

to do what is required.

Growing Skills

Most important when people:

Have never had the chance to acquire a needed skillNeed to upgrade their skillsAre motivated but performance is still below expectations

To Grow skills:

Let them observe the skill being used effectively Connect people with training and resourcesCreate opportunities that stretch people to learn something new

4. Promote PersistencePromote Persistence

Build stamina and discipline to make sure learning

lasts on the job.

Promoting Persistence:

Most important when people:

Stay stuck in old habitsMake initial changes but slip back into old behaviorsAre reluctant to take risks or try something new

To promote persistence:

Review people’s goals and ask about progressSet realistic expectations for progressProvide ongoing feedback that recognizes and rewards progress and efforts

5. Shape the EnvironmentShape the Environment

Build organizational support to reward learning

and remove barriers.

Shaping the Environment:

Most important when people:Complain that management does not support themDo not share learning or resources with othersExpress frustration about how difficult it is to learnComplain about lack of incentives to learn

To shape the environment:Publicly recognize and reward those who learnDemonstrate your personal involvement in their growthEstablish processes or activities that promote learning from each otherProvide rewards and incentives for learning and teamwork

“Leadership is not so much theexercise of power itself as the

empowerment of others.

 Successful leaders lead by pulling

rather than pushing; by inspiring

rather than ordering; by creating achievable –

expectations though challenging –

and rewarding progress toward them.”

 by Warren Bennis and Burt Nanus