Courtesy of its ironic origins and associations with discredited political ideologies and enemies of the free market and liberty, the expression “power to the people” has a somewhat notorious reputation.

Ah, but leave it to coaching and mentoring to clean up the slogan. This managerial art believes in ceding power to the people (employees) by highly respecting their individuality and celebrating their initiative. And that's the real thing — genuine power to the people. People are unique individuals with special talents who need to be set free both at home and at work.

When people look for jobs in the corporate world, they want to work in places that fulfill them. That is, they want to do important things and have some power over their destinies. People want to be in roles that unleash their full possibilities as worker commodities and, as seen in prior examples in this book, as more thoughtful and wise human beings, too.

An important personal attribute that coaches must always embrace is humility. As a coach, you should not view your position and role as the be-all and end-all. In order for coaching to connect with employees, the coach can never be perceived as being imperiously above the fray. Good coaches never patronize employees.