Why not use Coaching for your Team management

When you hear the word “coach”, what comes first into your mind? Do you picture a semi fat man shouting out directions? Or perhaps a football team with a manager pacing up and down the pitch calling out the names of the players?
Coaching is no longer reserved to sports teams; it is now one of the key concepts in leadership and Team management.

Nowadays Coaching is levelling the playing field.

Coaching is one of the six emotional leadership styles proposed by Daniel Goleman the author of Emotional Intelligence. Moreover, it is a behavior or role that leaders enforce in the context of situational leadership. Coaching is used when the members of a group or team are competent and motivated, and its used to guide in accordance with the long-term goals of an organization. Basically we have two levels of coaching: Individual Coaching and team Coaching.

Coaching the individual

Individual coaching is situational leadership at work. It’s aim is to mentor one-on-one and from there build up the individuals confidence by confirming good performance during regular feedbacks; and increase competence by helping the member assess his/her strengths and weaknesses towards career planning and professional development. The coaching will be of a different level depending on the individuals experience, position and commitment. Usually, the amount of coaching starts up at a high level, and gradually lessens competence and confidence increase.

Team Coaching = Good team management

Team coaching is designed to make its members work better together. In a group of individuals, it is rare for everyone to have the same level of competence and commitment to a goal. A group may be a mix of highly and lesser competent members with highly varying levels of commitment. These differences can cause friction among the members. The coach leaders job is to help the members level their expectations. The coach leaders role is to oversee that the common goal succeeds over personal goals and interests.

Leadership by example

Basically Coaching is all about good leadership, and as it says in the headline, it is leadership by example. In order to maintain his credibility, the coach must be able to practice what he teaches.
So while at the same time he must keep personal interest of his team in check, his own personal interest in succeeding with the team, has to be put forward in everything he does.
Coaching as a leadership style requires that you are physically, emotionally, and mentally fit, which means you have to be mentally stabile as a person to be a good, or even a great coach.
Always keep in mind when coaching that you have two goals, the immediate goal of making the group or individual perform and the long term goal that is the real reason for coaching.

More Coaching resources:

Wikipedia: Life coaching is a practice of helping clients determine and achieve personal goals. A coach uses multiple methods to help clients with the process of setting and reaching goals. Coaching is not targeted at psychological illness, and coaches are not therapists nor consultants.

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