I am often asked to recommend a coach to help someone to “fix” a weakness, such as not working constructively with other people. This is one way to think about coaching…that is, that it is remedial. I much prefer to think of it as releasing someone’s potential – focusing on their strengths and how they can use those to their own and the business’ advantage.
John Whitmore wisely said: “Coaching is unlocking a person’s potential to maximize their own performance. It is helping them to learn rather than teaching them.” And the Harvard Business Review wrote that “The goal of coaching is the goal of good management: to make the most of an organization’s valuable resources.”
What other myths are there out there about coaching? Here are a few, and what I see as the reality. The coach in these situations could be a professional coach, or a leader as coach:
|
Myth |
Reality |
|
The coach must be the expert in the same field as the coachee |
Coaches are experts in the coaching process and may not have specific knowledge of a given subject area or industry
|
|
Coaching is about advising the coachee
|
Coaching is about unlocking the possibilities for the coachee, not telling them how to approach an issue or achieve his/her goal
|
|
Coaching focuses directly on relieving psychological pain or treating cognitive or emotional disorders
|
Coaching is designed to help coachees improve their learning, performance, and enhance their quality of life
|
|
Leaders have to be in control, decisive, and dominant
|
Coaching supports the leader in continuously developing and enhancing their skills
|
|
Compartmentalization of work from family and self is important
|
Coaching focuses on the whole person vs. one aspect of the person’s life, as they are all inter-related
|
|
Seniority means you don’t have to learn anything anymore |
Coaching is beneficial to anyone, in any role; some of the most successful people in corporations have coaches
|
If we, as supervisors, are to harness the full potential of coaching as a learning and performance tool, then let’s start seeing it as a positive intervention, rather than one that is there to fix people.
If you liked this post, please forward it on to 3 other people who might find it useful. And do let me know what you think in the comments box below.
