Test Your Coaching Skills

Matt M. Starcevich, Ph. D.
(For individual use only, not to be reproduced or used in any way without permission)
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Published in Spirit, the magazine of Southwest Airlines

Being less of a boss and more of a coach is the cornerstone for most Employee Involvement/Empowerment efforts. In sports as in business, the coaching role favors the facilitator. What we stand for, or our values, drive the type of coaching relationship we strive to create and maintain. The basic values you bring to coaching situations can be determined by picking the response that best describes you.

Your employees' performances vary from the superstar to the substandard. When coaching your employees do you:

Get around to it when and if you can find the time.

Only spend time coaching your problem employees.

Try to divide your coaching time equally between your problem and average employees.

Concentrate on coaching your problem and average employees, coaching you high performers if time allows.

Devote equal time to employees because everyone can benefit from coaching sessions.

One of your employees is really struggling with a difficult and new assignment. You are fairly confident that he has the capability to perform well on this task, but believe that he is lacking in self-confidence. Do you:

Stay out of the assignment but work with the employee to develop independence and meet his/her responsibilities.

Work on the assignment only when requested by the employee.

Take responsibility for the critical aspects of the assignment.

Take the lead on the assignment and allow the employee to play a supporting role.

Jump in and take over the assignment, letting the employee observe and learn how it should be done

During a coaching discussion your employee asks for a performance assessment. You believe any discussion about another person's strengths and weaknesses should be:

Avoided.

Only about the other person's strengths.

Predominantly about strengths, with a few weaknesses interspersed along the way.

A balance between strengths and weaknesses.

Done with clarity, candor and support.

Both you and the employee seem to have different agendas during a coaching discussion. Do you:

Take the employee's concerns under advisement

Subordinate your agenda then listen, accept some responsibility for the present situation, and work to understand the employee's concerns.

Debate over whose agenda should be the focus of the meeting.

Listen to the employee but keep to your agenda.

Tell the employee you would be willing to discuss his concerns in a later meeting and focus the present discussion on your agenda.

It has come to you through the grapevine that one of your supervisors is insensitive, abrasive and pushy. You don't particularly like this employee. Do you:

Accept what others have said until proven wrong by the supervisor while conducting your own secret investigation.

Attempt to listen to the supervisor knowing full well that he cannot be objective.

Seek to empathize with the supervisor, understand his perspective, support him, and reserve judgment ,

Give the supervisor the benefit of the doubt, but remain cautions.

Accept what others have said and concentrate on rectifying the situation.

You and your employee are planning some changes in his/ her client approach. You can't seem to agree, do you:

Quit focusing on the method; seek a common goal, then allow the employee to develop the alternative approaches.

Present the benefits and costs of your approach, then let the employee decide on the course of action.

Let the employee know that you favor your approach, but will try to be objective in your final decision.

Let your experience dictate and mandate your approach.

Stick with your approach until the employee can prove you wrong.

During a discussion with one of your employees it becomes painfully obvious to you that through negligence you have contributed, in part, to the present situation. Do you:

Ignore the role you have played, the focus of the discussion is the employee, not you.

Pass the buck,; the employee can't possibly understand the pressures you face.

Justify your behavior with reason and logic.

Seek to understand the employee's viewpoint without making any commitments.

Verbally acknowledge your responsibility.

When you think about coaching your employees, you feel that:

Every interaction you have with your employees presents a coaching opportunity

Coaching should be reserved for only dealing with problem situations.

Coaching should be reserved for your formal performance-review meetings.

Coaching is for times when you have good or bad news to deliver.

Only coach when requested by the employee.

One of your troublesome employees is making a good -faith effort to improve. The change is very slow. During your coaching discussions do you:

Focus on the past; history is our greatest teacher.

Balance the discussion between the past and the present.

Use the past as a springboard to plan for the future.

Focus on the here and now.

Focus on the future; the past can't be changed.

Your department has been very successful in meeting or exceeding objectives. New competition and changing conditions have increased pressure on your people to perform. In talking with each of your employees about objectives and new directions, do you:

Encourage caution and acceptance of only calculated risks.

Encourage moderate and prudent risk taking.

Encourage them to take risks, stretching you, them, and the department.

Keep final approval of any new approaches.

Encourage caution; failure is to be avoided at all costs.

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Test Your Coaching Skills