Coaching

Coaching is the only way to keep a new skill reinforced and encouraged during the dismal period of the results dip. Without coaching, very few people can maintain a newly acquired skill. When we are in the results dip, we tend to abandon the new skill.

Without good coaching you are probably wasting over 85 percent out of every dollar you spend skill development. Coaching is the only cost-effective way to reinforce new skills until a learner is through the dangerous results dip, and the skill becomes a habit.

During this program we look at

• Leadership. Can the leadership group delegate and predict the course of the business? Can it develop other leaders?
• Systems and structures. Can sales, accounting, operational and  HR systems drive de­cision-making? Will organisational structures be set up to keep clear who’s accountable? 
• Market dynamics. Will the organization be prepared to deal with the changing competitive and economic pressures that come with growth?
• Priorities. Has the company identified its top action steps for the month or year. 
• Reporting. Does the business have sufficient data on a regular ba­sis to provide insight into how well it is running?
• Meeting Schedules. Does the business have an effective schedule of meetings to maintain alignment and accountability?

Great coaching is indispensable. The research is incontrovertible.

 Think about the world's top performers: 

•  Do they practice on a regular basis?
•  Do they do it alone?
•  Do they have professionals dedicated simply to helping them improve? 

All superstars employ coaches. Luciano Pavarotti employed four (one each for music, acting, language and voice). The world's great performers are continuously trying to improve their skills; and the means to that end is inevitably great coaching. Even Tiger Woods needs a coach. The same is true in business.

The reason we need coaches is that we simply cannot see our own swing. Humans are notoriously bad at self-analysis. Many top performers haven't a clue what it is they do that is so successful. Research has shown that there is very little relation between what top people say is effective and what they actually do. We need someone else with a critical eye to see our strengths and help us build on them; to recognise our weaknesses and help us compensate for, or control them.

Think of any skill you've tried to change, such as your golf swing, your presentation style or your methods of handling your children. Does the change bring instant success? Almost certainly not.

In learning new skills, we go through a period, where the skill doesn't feel natural and isn't bringing results. This period, sometimes called the results dip, is a bad time for most people. However, those who persevere gain the expected reward. If the learner continues with the new behaviour, the skill feels more and more natural and begins to result in better performance.

What does this have to do with coaching? Coaching is the only way to keep a new skill reinforced and encouraged during the dismal period of the results dip. Without coaching, very few people can maintain a newly acquired skill. When we are in the results dip, we tend to abandon the new skill.

Without good coaching you are probably wasting over 85 percent out of every dollar you spend skill development. Coaching is the only cost-effective way to reinforce new skills until a learner is through the dangerous results dip, and the skill becomes a habit.

Coaching falls under the same head as exercising every day. It is all that we wish we would do, and we kind of know that it is good for us, but we haven't gotten it down to the practical, measured things we do on a day-to-day basis to make it a fundamental part of our culture.

Creating a coaching culture means allocating time; it means allocating metrics; it means allocating attention.