The Coaching Effect Blog

With healthcare experts encouraging social distancing as a way to slow the spread of COVID-19, we are likely to see a spike in team members working from home rather than heading into the office. And that means greater usage of alternative forms of communication. It’s easy to assume most team members, especially younger ones, would rather just text or email when they need to connect with their manager. The data tells a different story.

You have been on my mind, all of you. I am referring to those who lead individuals and teams. Why you specifically? Because of a responsibility you inherited when you accepted your role – to help those on your teams grow physically and/or mentally to heights they would not achieve without you in their lives.

And they need you.

(Adapted from "The Coaching Effect" book.)

If you're a leader you know that "coaching" has always been considered a soft skill, and what differentiates a soft skill from a hard skill is measurability. The way one dresses, their executive presence, social graces, voice intonation, body language, and so on are soft skills because they are not measured nor correlated to performance.

Coaching, however,  no longer fits that definition since it can now be measured and correlated to decreases or increases in performance. For example, when EcSell Institute measures how often a coach does joint work with sales people, how often they have a career discussion, how often they provide feedback, how often they are holding one-to-one meetings, and how effective they are at all those activities, we can then correlate them to performance and draw fact-based conclusions on coaching effectiveness. More on this here. 

In a previous blog, I went in depth on the topic of what makes some managers more effective than others.  The reason we're able to confidently state our findings is because we have the ability to measure the effectiveness managers have on their team members and team performance through The Coaching Effect Survey. 

Data that measures employee effectiveness is by no means new, especially in sales, where many companies track most every selling activity imaginable through tools such as customer relationship management (CRM)  systems. However, consider the following exchange and think if it applies to your company.

My team deserved better than what I was about to present them.

No, I’m not referring to presenting a power point on EcSell strategy or a keynote presentation on how coaching impacts team performance and growth.  To arrive at work without presenting MY BEST SELF is cheating them and creating unproductive, subconscious growth limiting behaviors in me.

Adapted from "The Coaching Effect"

We had many discoveries along the way as we sought to understand what made certain managers, leaders, and coaches more effective than others. These discoveries are the foundation of the coaching methods and best practices that we share in The Coaching Effect,buthereareafewofourmostexcitinginsights:

If your team’s physical environment is bordered with chalked or painted lines, you must be a coach. If your team’s physical environment has cubicles, desks, and conference tables, you must be a manager. If you have the large corner office, you must be a leader. If those on your team wear uniforms you must be a coach. If they wear khakis and polo shirts… I think you get it.

Great leaders know that completing a Career Discussion with each of their team members at least once a year is an important part of their role. After all, Career Discussions are often the only chance a leader, manager, or coach and their team member have to really take a step outside the daily grind and nagging demands to strategize for that forest instead of just blocking and tackling the trees.

“We know it’s not the smartest thing to do, but we promote our high performing salespeople into management roles.”

In the words of the infamous Bob Newhart, STOP IT! Everybody knows that this “worst practice” needs to stop, but almost everyone continues to abide by it. Why? Call it laziness or call it lack of discipline, but no matter how you slice it, promoting a great salesperson, or team member, into a management role that does not have both the skill and will to be a high-performing coach has huge implications.