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| Alex Ferguson - the best coach in the world? |
Great leaders lead with their personal strengths and help others to do the same. They find out what motivates their people individually - and harness it. They then coach them to maximum performance, developing and empowering them to take responsibility for their own performance long term.
But let's face it, very few managers know how to manage this way. It's important to help them focus on the 20% of leadership activities that lead to 80% of the results. Together, these critical areas add up to great leadership:
- Performance coaching
- Motivation
- Development coaching
- Change management
Performance coaching
Coaching shouldn't be something you do from time to time. It should be the way you manage people all the time. Do you develop your people, or hold them back? Do you tell them what to do, or look for opportunities to bring out the best in them? This might sound time consuming, but coaching is working smart. When you coach people, they become self-motivated. So you don't need to chase them so much. Suddenly, you have more time for other things.
Motivation
In our business culture we have brainwashed each other. We believe we are all motivated by the same things: pay, perks, praise and rewards. But this is only a small part of the picture - people don't go to the cinema just because they get popcorn. As a leader, it's important, but difficult, to identify what really keeps someone going. It takes time and patience, but when you find out what really motivates someone, you can harness it. And then you will see their best performance ever.
Development coaching
Change management
Change management - why does it get so much attention? Perhaps it's because we each experience change very differently. Some think it's really exciting. Some just find it annoying. Others feel inspired. Many are downright terrified. Our attitudes about change stem from the deepest parts of our personalities. That's why a blanket approach to change management sometimes doesn't work. its possible to combine coaching skills with a little simple psychology to help leaders become great change managers. Then they can help people cope with change in their own way.
Picture: Moreno Berti - Flickr
In our business culture we have brainwashed each other. We believe we are all motivated by the same things: pay, perks, praise and rewards. But this is only a small part of the picture - people don't go to the cinema just because they get popcorn. As a leader, it's important, but difficult, to identify what really keeps someone going. It takes time and patience, but when you find out what really motivates someone, you can harness it. And then you will see their best performance ever.
Development coaching
Most businesses call this personal development planning, and unfortunately its often just a box-ticking exercise. But it doesn't have to be like this. As a leader, the individual success of each person in your team is the key to your own success. But do your people trust you? Should they trust you? Are you really sincere about helping them succeed?
Change management
Change management - why does it get so much attention? Perhaps it's because we each experience change very differently. Some think it's really exciting. Some just find it annoying. Others feel inspired. Many are downright terrified. Our attitudes about change stem from the deepest parts of our personalities. That's why a blanket approach to change management sometimes doesn't work. its possible to combine coaching skills with a little simple psychology to help leaders become great change managers. Then they can help people cope with change in their own way.
Picture: Moreno Berti - Flickr
