Are you social distancing, when it comes to coaching?
Posted on April 09, 2021 by Diego Pinto, One of Thousands of Business Coaches on Noomii.
The article helps provide perspective on how coaching which is a powerful developmental tool is neglected in todays scenario.
Do you remember being asked or perhaps you asking this question during one of your interviews “So, how many people were promoted, when they reported to you?”.
If you struggle to answer this authentically, this is what it may imply.
A recent study quoted that in today’s rapidly changing scenario, 45% of managers did not feel confident in their ability to coach. In addition to a lack of confidence, the research also found that managers lack time to coach, on an average they spent only 9% of their time coaching their direct reports.
I am sure if you ask them, they would promptly reply that Coaching is a powerful tool to build their teams potential. Then what keeps them away from investing time in such a fulfilling task. The other concern is, even if they venture into coaching, they might not have the skill or patience and may resort to counselling and turn into a therapist.
Most managers may also fail to realize that coaching is not just for developing capability or improving performance. Their direct reports may lack confidence; they may be struggling with professional or personal issues or dilemma. They may be longing for external support in hardwiring of a skill or behaviour.
Perhaps we need to understand why managers resort to social distancing, when it concerns coaching. Managers or business leaders cannot be blamed either; they may have their own business responsibilities and challenges to face.
So whose responsibility is coaching then?
I bet that we all know the answer; it is just that the knowledge needs to translate into action. As a coach myself, I can share few tenets which could be much known, but seldom practised.
- Only if senior leaders can be a ‘Role model’ and set the right example by coaching these coaches, to coach.
- Only if organization could coach more than just the ‘Problem child’ or for ‘Succession planning’.
- So far, we have rewarded performance, why not reward people who undertake developmental initiatives like coaching.
People will surely perform better, if their managers devoted some more percentage of their time and coached them through their impasse.
It is important to note that millennials are more demanding when it comes to job satisfaction. They are the growing segment of employees, it is said that by 2025 they will represent 75% of the global workforce. It is therefore imperative that as managers we invest time in Coaching, because if you cannot be a good coach, you cannot be a great manager.
So next time someone asks you in an interview, you can proudly say, “Yes, I did make a difference to their lives”.
