Open Letter to All Leaders

Dear Leader,

I have an important question for you:

Of all the managers, supervisors, team leaders, and executives your company employs, what percentage of them do you train to be good coaches for their teams?

If your answer is anything less than 100%, it’s time to re-think your current leadership development priorities and integrate coaching skills training into your current programs.

Here’s why: in early 2009, Google asked itself a question: Do managers matter?

To answer that question, its People Analytics Team launched Project Oxygen, a multi-year research initiative. By late 2012, they had their answer: managers do indeed matter — as long as they exhibit eight specific behaviors identified by their research team as being essential in building positive and productive relationships with their teams. What do you think was the number one behavior at the top of that list?

1. A good manager is a good coach

It’s also interesting that the rest of their list of eight things that makes a good manager includes the qualities that describe good coaching:

2. Empowers the team and does not micromanage

3. Expresses interest in and concern for team members’ success and personal well-being

4. Exemplifies being productive and results-oriented

5. Communicates clearly, listens, and shares information

6. Provides guidance with career development

7. Presents a clear vision and strategy for the team

8. Possesses technical skills that assist in advising the team

This list highlights a perspective I’ve come to believe is true: regardless of what your company does or sells, as a leader, YOU are in the business of relationships. 

This is why a good manager must first be a good coach.  Workplace Coaching is a unique set of communication skills that has a dual intent:

FIRST: Build positive, respectful relationships 

SECOND:  Identify tangible results, measurable outcomes, and specific accountability

When you successfully integrate powerful coaching skills into your everyday work conversations, you will empower your team to work well together. And a team that gets along gets things done — right and on time.

By investing in coaching skills training for all your leaders, your company will see (among other benefits):

» An increase in positive, respectful communication between your leaders and their teams

» An increase in productivity because your employees will be both more engaged at work and more willing to collaborate with each other

» An increase in employee retention because when your employees respect their managers and each other, they are more committed to your company’s vision, mission, goals, and clients.

Are you ready to give all your people managers the cutting-edge skills they need to build powerful and productive relationships with their team members?   

Are you ready to start training all of your managers to be good coaches for their teams?

I invite you to check out my Coaching Culture Jumpstart™ signature program to find out how this can be a simple and budget-friendly process. 

Thank you for your time, and I look forward to our conversation!

To your collective success,