Can I be a better Coach?

This is a question I hope most leaders ask themselves. It is one I ask myself often, and they answer is always YES!

As leaders, we get sometimes get wrapped up in our daily work, even if that work is strategic in nature, we don’t put enough focus on how our interactions influence others. It is sometimes easier to complete a task ourselves rather than coach others through that task. It is easier and faster to answer a questions directly, rather than take the time to work the person asking to question through the situation to help them understand, and then usually to answer their own question.

As a concrete, sequential thinker, a Capricorn and any other excuse I may have, coaching is not something that comes natural for me. I like to get things done quickly, efficiently and with as little “hassle” as possible.

I have learned, what I once thought of as “hassle” was, in fact, building engagement with and the loyalty of my team. It was teaching and leading. It was coaching.

I realized, I wanted to be a leader that helped, trained, taught and built others up, I didn’t simply want to get the work done. As began my journey to be a better coach, I researched, read and talked with other leaders about how to coach. I worked with an executive coach and spent a lot of time in self-reflection. I improved as a coach, but still have a long way to go to be the coach I really want to be.

In late 2018, I was fortunate enough to participate in the World Council of Credit Union’s eCOACH Session.

Over the course of 8 weeks, my cohort and I participated in webinars, participated in discussion forums and practiced what we were learning.  The ideas introduced, reinforced prior training I have, but also provided a framework to guide me through conversations with my team. The guides and models taught in the course now serve as concrete reminders on how to have coaching conversations, direct conversations and how to better build a coaching culture.

I have tied coaching to leading because it is an integral part of leadership. However, being a good coach isn’t only important for people that have a leadership position in their organization, but for anyone that is in a position to teach and train others. Learning how to coach is an important first step, however, simply learning the skill isn’t enough. The skill must be honed. eCOACH helps set the stage for this through practice with other members of the cohort in final weeks of the session, however, you must continue this practice with your team. It’s not always smooth, it’s not always comfortable, but with practice, it gets better. The old adage the practice makes perfect, may not apply here as practice will make you better but you can always grow and evolve as a leader and a coach.