Moving From Resistance to Results: Developing a Coaching Mindset

At a local credit union, an employee was stuck with a looming deadline and could not figure out how to take the next step. The manager stepped in and said, “Here, I’ll show you.”  The job was finished, the deadline met. In another department, a different team member was also dealing with a quickly approaching deadline and unsure of what to do next. Their manager connected with them and said, “Walk me through what you’re thinking and what you have done so far.”

One manager got the job done faster that day. The other helped their team member feel confident doing it on their own next time. This is the difference between a boss mindset and a coach mindset.

Although the term “boss” is still used, the old vision of what a boss is has quickly become outdated, if not already extinct. For a long time, the expectation of the boss was to be the person with all the answers, the final filter for every decision and the one who corrected mistakes. These expectations, and the fact that leadership is changing, can be seen in the word comparison below:

According to the Gallup organization, the manager-employee relationship is one of the most important factors in workplace performance, accounting for 70 percent of the variance in team engagement. So, if you as the manager have the biggest impact on productivity and engagement, how do you maximize this opportunity and shift from a boss to a coach mindset?

• Delivery over authority. The first step is to realize that the fundamental difference between a boss and a coach is not your authority, but your delivery. Coaches focus on individuals, provide clear expectations and consistent communication. A coach realizes their team’s value is not in doing the work, but in ensuring they have what they need to succeed, including the tools and processes to do the work themselves. Rather than just supervise, coaches take time to understand the strengths and talents of each employee, looking for opportunities to leverage these strengths to improve results while also increasing engagement.
• Set clear expectations. John Wooden, the head coach for the UCLA Bruins men’s basketball team from 1948-1975, was renowned for setting clear expectations. Wooden started each season by setting expectations around academic performance, punctuality and team behavior. There is even a story that at the beginning of each season, he would teach players how to wear their socks and shoes to avoid blisters, because even small pieces of advice can make the biggest difference in performance!
• Communication is key. A coaching mindset focuses more on asking powerful questions rather than laying out instructions. It includes asking questions to stimulate thinking such as, “What do you think?” or “How did you decide to do that?” A coaching mindset also looks for opportunities to have frequent and meaningful conversations. Good coaches seek to understand the unique communication cadence that is effective for each person on their team and strive to care about their team members as people, not just cogs in the wheel of work performance.

One of the hardest parts of moving to a coaching mindset is watching a team member struggle with a task you could do faster.  The boss mindset says, “I’ll jump in and do this to save time. They can learn by watching me.” The coaching mindset says, “If I jump in now, I am stealing their opportunity to learn.”

Ready to make the change? Start with these three shifts to begin developing your coaching mindset:

1. The next time an employee brings you a problem, do not offer a solution right away. Begin by asking clarifying questions like, “What have you already considered?” or “What is the challenge here for you?”
2. Practice replacing the word “why” with the word “what.” “Why did you do that?” sounds like an accusation. “What was your thought process behind that decision?” sounds like an inquiry. One question opens the door for conversation and coaching, the other closes it.
3. At the end of a project, ask your team members, “What is one thing I did that helped you make progress on this project and one thing that got in your way?” Being open to coaching yourself builds trust and engagement. You set expectations that coaching can be a two-way street.

Shifting to a coaching mindset is an investment. You may trade a bit of time today, but what you’ll receive is a massive amount of autonomy tomorrow!

Jeanne Heath is the director of cultural engagement and learning for Vizo Financial Corporate Credit Union. Ms. Heath has spent the bulk of her career conducting training within the financial services industry with a strong focus on technical and change management training during mergers and acquisitions. Jeanne has developed and implemented a dynamic onboarding program which immediately immersed new employees into the company culture of “positively impacting people’s lives” through an atmosphere of high performance, high accountability and high care. She is a certified Professional in Human Resources (PHR) and has earned her Credit Union Development Education (CUDE) designation.