Live and Let Learn
At the foundation of just about everything we've said regarding coaching has been strong communication. Employees sitting in your office and talking openly and without fear of saying something that could land them in hot water is a powerful technique that can accomplish remarkable things. Misunderstandings are often cleared up in such give-and-take atmospheres.
The better sides of people surface all the time in these aboveboard settings (and, yes, sometimes their ugly sides, too). When you confront problems and put everything on the table — the good and bad — solutions can't help but become clearer, and positive outcomes can't help but be more likely.
In order to more fully understand and appreciate this subject of productive confrontation, you need only revisit situations in your own life, both on and away from the job. Specifically, what were the confrontational moments that made you a better person in one way or another? You are in the unique position as a coach to show your team how they can benefit from the various workplace obstacles that they encounter. And this means making your employees more nimble in rebounding from those inescapable problem moments.
How do you impart to your staff the necessary tools to turn confrontation on the job into productive lessons learned? You do this by communicating from the beginning in a forthright, thorough, and free-flowing manner. You permit your people to clearly see the repercussions of their actions.
You're the catalyst, not only in detecting problems, but also in taking the guilty party or parties to task and making them see the error of their ways. Thus, you lead the way in finding the best solutions possible. You effect change and your employees learn valuable lessons in making the necessary changes and moving forward.
Respect and trust are the two features that permit you to effectively deal with disharmony and confrontation within your ranks. Wise intervention is what arms you with the leverage to attack bad attitudes and dissension and come out on top. Firmness of purpose and righteousness define strong leadership. A happy face getting happy results is nice. But a happy face getting unhappy results is detrimental and inappropriate in a business environment.
Remember those lessons learned from bad managers! If you've worked for a manager with bad methods and work habits, you're in a position to have witnessed managerial approaches in action that were counterproductive. Naturally, as a coach you don't pattern your style after these men and women.
You absorb many positive lessons from your experiences in the trenches. Coaching and mentoring are grounded in passing on these lessons to others. Profiles in success and failure show people the way to the future. It's not really surprising then that many positive lessons learned are derivatives of bad experiences. That's been the thrust of this chapter. Good coaching on your part imparts beneficial lessons from all kinds of experiences — even the bad ones. And you know what? They're not bad experiences anymore, but good ones, when they are overcome.
