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This month our question is on coaching

A newly appointed manager receives the recommendation that they should work with a coach - a suggestion they aren't completely comfortable with.Read more to learn what advice Dr. Pam Brill has for the new manager on what to look for in a coach and the benefits of being coached.

Question:

I have been working as part of a team in the materials management function of my company for just over two years. At the end of last month, my manager informed me that I was going to be the new lead and that I would be managing the six people who have been my colleagues and my manager would be overseeing our team and others in our materials management function. The promotion was the good news. The bad news is that my new manager immediately recommended that I work with a coach. At first I was insulted. But my boss assured me that a good coach can help me on the people side of managing. My background is in engineering; I will be managing people who were my peers; some of them are more experienced than I am in this field and with this company (okay, they are older than I am too). I had never even heard of coaching besides the stuff I watch on the sidelines of when I cheer for my kids at their games or when I watch my favorite team on TV. Now I have three names of coaches recommended by my boss, but I don't have a clue about what to look for. Can you assist?

Answer:

Congratulations on your new role! It sounds like your manager has sound judgment - in promoting you and in suggesting that you consult with a coach. Having coached coaches on the competitive fields of sports and business, I want to assure you that you have got it right when you compare coaches in business to those in sports. In both fields, a good coach knows how to tap into a person's motivation to do what is right and to provide the correct feedback to enable the client to improve at those skills, attitudes and competencies that are required for getting it done. I also want to assure you that in business and in sports, investments in coaching are made with care and as a strategy to develop high potential contributors into highest potential players. So congratulations, too, on your nomination for being coached- working with a top-notch coach is an honor, not a punishment, an investment by your company in your future.

Now, let's talk about the real deal that faces you as there are some built-in challenges that will impact what you might look for in your coach.

First off, you are going to be shifting roles on your team- moving from team member to leader- and that is a significant change in what you do and in how people perceive you. There are some built-in challenges to managing the people who have been our peers, especially when some of them are more experienced and may have considered themselves to be better candidates for the role that you earned. When you consider each of the three coaches on your list, ask questions that will give you insights into their interpersonal intelligence and their knowledge of healthy communication- and unhealthy communication- how to spot it and how to remedy it. How good is each one at being able to pick up on communication styles and on the unspoken messages, including the nonverbal signals and the subtle communications that ride between the lines? Is the coach experienced- and effective- at developing strategies to manage difficult conversations? You will find the answer to a coach's communication knowledge and abilities in the interaction you have with them- from your first contact, be it email or phone or face-to-face, you have the opportunity to read how that person communicates and reads the communications of others.

There are also built-in challenges to your promotion, to moving from a contributing team member role to the role of manager and leader especially in the field of engineering where the skills that contributed to your success are considerably different from the skills that you will want to use to get the best out of the people that you will be managing. Coaching, managing, leading- you describe your new role as that of manager. I see it through a different lens- you are moving into the role of a leader as well as a manager; there is a real distinction. Managing- the word comes from the word for "hands" and handle is really what managing was about in the good old days. While your title is that of manager, you will want to shift your mindset to that of leader if you want to get the best from your team- and from yourself. The distinction is important as you will want to look for a coach who is skilled and experienced at leadership development. Ask each prospective their views on leadership- what are the skills and attitudes and competencies that it takes to lead effectively? Listen to what each coach says and what their words reflect about their points of view regarding leadership. Choose a coach whose view on leadership is aligned with your organization's view of effective leadership - and with your own.

Great coaches are great motivators- they know how to move people to action- how to get them to turn plans into actions. And since, as manager and leader, you are ultimately accountable for the work that your team will produce, you will definitely want to learn how to get the most out of the people that you manage- and to get the most out of yourself. This requires knowledge of motivation and communicating to gain buy-in. It is not One-Size-Fits-All. Choose a coach who understands motivational and communication styles and how to put them into play to lead even under pressure. Also, coaching is about change and so is leading. And, despite our claims to be lovers of change, recent investigations from brain science are proving what we thought to be true- change is stress and stress, including change, makes us stupid- we resist it tooth and nail. You will want to look for a coach who has the right stuff- the technical skills and knowledge about change- and how to override our natural resistance to it- That will enable you to learn how to engage yourself and others in strategic change- and that is a hallmark of peak performing leaders.

A good coach, in competitive sports and business, can provide you with an independent set of eyes and ears to help you sift through the challenges that face you and, then, provide you with solid information and confidential advisory services on how you can change your behaviors and attitudes to be the leader that you want to be and the leader who can bring out the best in your team members. So get out in the field and scout those three coaches so you can make your selection and run with it.

Looking forward,
Dr. Brill, not Dr. Phil.

To learn more about Dr. Brill or any of Linkage's other consultants, please visit http://www.linkageinc.com/consulting_services/our_consultants/our_consultants.aspx

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This issue of Link&Learn was published in January 2007, by Linkage, Inc. (http://www.linkageinc.com). Please direct copyright and additional questions and comments to LinkandLearn@LinkageInc.com