Creating Experts
/Pick a sport. Any sport. Now think about the top ten teams or individuals in the world. Name one that would be on that list if they'd never been coached.
Many of us coach our kids. So tell me why so few of us coach in the workplace.
No mistake—coaching is a skill. A learnable skill. All you need is empathy, the ability to impart behaviours and techniques, and the skill you're coaching in (hitting a ball, inspiring change in an organization, running effective meetings, or running a mile quickly).
It's a form of leadership. Leading by questioning, challenging and inspiring. A coach doesn't do the task, but she can inspire a dozen coachees to get 12 jobs done at the same time. And next time, they'll all be able to do the job without the coach's help.
Sure, some managers can coach, but they are different hats. Managing is directive, coaching is not. You can't do both well at the same time.
And coaching is far more valuable than training. Training is about transferring process knowledge. Coaching is about enhancing skills and behaviour in context of a specific goal. Winning a league, achieving a personal best, leading a project, building consensus around a strategy, learning to delegate work. The more daunting the goal, the more we need a coach. Someone who's been there, done that, and provides a shoulder to lean on.
How many coaches do you have in your organization?
How would it look if you could create expertise?
Who are your Coaches?
Pick a vital skill that is in short supply in your organization:
Who's the expert?
Who in your organization needs to develop that expertise?
What's the next project or assignment that will provide an opportunity for the master to coach the student?
Trusting Technology is a book about forming ideas, exploring opportunities with customers and colleagues, and building your future together. Order you copy here . This article is also available in hardcopy as part of my 10-minute Reflections series of exercises—order volume 1 here and volume 2 here.