Effective coaching requires more than just subject matter expertise—it involves a deliberate, structured approach grounded in trust, feedback, accountability, and recognition. This article outlines the essential components of an impactful coaching relationship and offers practical strategies for developing a coaching plan tailored to individual performance needs.
Key Insights
- Coaching success depends on establishing credibility and trust, which often stems from the coach’s demonstrated expertise and consistent presence.
- A coach must assess the coachee’s current skill level, provide targeted feedback, and guide them through clearly delegated responsibilities and performance expectations.
- Recognition and support are critical to maintaining motivation and progress, and the coaching process should be intentional, involving thoughtful planning and realistic timelines for skill development.
This lesson is a preview from our Leading Through Relationship-Building Course Online & Emerging Leader Certificate Program. Enroll in a course for detailed lessons, live instructor support, and project-based training.
To be a coach, we've already mentioned some key words, and in a very broad way, it begins with developing a climate of trust. Hard for me to trust you if I don't see you as someone who can teach me. So, for instance, let's go back to my diving coach, Jim Cimprini.
He had trained up any number of really excellent divers before I ever came along, and I have watched those divers be very, very successful in the league. And I had also seen Jim Cimprini dive himself, and he was pretty spectacular. And so, I could look at Jim Cimprini, Coach Jim, and say, I trust him to be able to teach me how to dive successfully.
The coach has to diagnose the situation. What do they need to be coached on? Well, in my case, as Debbie the diver, everything. How do you get on the board? How do you approach? How do you do a takeoff? How do you do the dive? How do you enter the water? So, the diagnostic wasn't too hard when starting me out as a 12-year-old.
I had to receive effective feedback at every step of the way. Debbie, the approach was too short. Debbie, your steps were uneven.
Debbie, you didn't get enough height on the takeoff. Debbie, you didn't tuck in tight enough when you were doing your spin. And so, it goes.
Delegate responsibilities effectively. Well, I had to be the one going off the diving board, so that was pretty simple. But back in the workplace, we want to be able to say, as we're coaching, and now this is what you're responsible for, and this is what you're going to be held accountable for.
And there's an expectation that you perform this task at this certain level. And then the coachee takes on that responsibility, hopefully, and holds themselves accountable to it. Recognition is really important in this coaching process.
So, any success that the coachee shows you along the way, you want to show that you recognize that. If I did, if I did a really great dive, I would say Coach Jim was there saying, Debbie, that was exactly the way to do it. Now, do that in the meeting.
If I didn't do it well, I got the correction. We're back to effective feedback. But definitely give recognition when it's due because, again, I think people really value positive recognition.
They value being noticed for what they have accomplished, and it adds to the climate of trust. And so, this is a very circular, very fluid system that you would be using in coaching. And you can't just pick one or two of these components and say, That's going to make me a good coach.
No, you really do have to use the system as a whole in order to be most effective and really see the progress that your coachee is making in a certain skill set. So, exercise 4-2. Here's where I would like you to now consider a person that you would like to coach in a performance area.
Remember, while you don't have to be their supervisor, you do have to be someone who has expertise in a certain skill set that you could teach someone else in, most likely in your department. It's really important that the coach creates a coaching plan. This is not random.
This isn't just on the fly. For it to be most successful, you really want to develop an approach that you think is going to work best with the coachee. So, here are a series of questions that you want to begin asking before you even start coaching.
So, you are going to identify a person you would like to coach, a real person in a real skill. Ask the question, what's the current trust level that exists based on your relationship with the coachee? I will tell you, if there's no trust on their part in you, this is going to be a tougher credibility factor to overcome. But you can still show them that you know how to do something, and you're probably the best at it, and that might bring them on board.
Because you do have to say to yourselves, well, if the trust level doesn't exist yet, and I need it, what do I have to do to improve in that area? I then have to look at the coachee and evaluate their current knowledge and skill level regarding that particular skill that you want to coach them on. What specifically do they need from you in terms of their current performance? This is what you're doing, but this is where you need to be. What are the actions that you might have to take to encourage the individual to buy in, to accept that increased responsibility, or change the way that they are actually doing their job? One of the protests they might make is, but nobody ever complained about my work before.
I've always done it this way. It's always been satisfactory. And so you may have to do some influencing by saying, Yes, and times have changed, and now there are more efficient and effective ways to do that.
And for you to be able to receive the type of rating that you want and expect, these are the changes I suggest that we make in your performance on this task. You can't just say you want to be a coach and then never show up. Jim Ciprini was there Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday.
So you have to be able to say, I am willing to provide the support and the time and the emotional commitment in being a coach. Otherwise, you're engaging in a relationship that's unfair. I want you to be coached, but I'm not willing to give you the time.
That doesn't make any sense at all, does it? Do you have a schedule that makes sense? If you're expecting somebody to learn a skill set, and it's a skill set that requires knowledge acquisition, and then practice on top of that, you can't expect them to do that in two days. I was just watching. There's a new show called Nashville 911. And there was a scenario where they were giving a newbie a crash course in how to be a firefighter.
And they said, if you can learn all this knowledge, you have to be able to do it in two weeks. And I'm sitting there thinking, how does this make any sense at all? Of course, in the show, there was success. But I was thinking, in real life, that's not a reasonable schedule.
I don't think so. And then, of course, what would you do to celebrate the employee's progress? And you know what? Kind words and positivity mean a lot. A note saying congratulations on your success in simple, small things.
It doesn't have to be a big party, necessarily. But it does have to mean that you genuinely recognized their performance growth. So I'll give you a few minutes to work on your coaching plan.
And again, remember, this is not generalized. This is about a person, a real person, that you would like to coach in a certain skill.
