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Coaching a Gold Medal TeamFew new leaders have the initial skills to instill the tough-to-teach qualities of customer service, attitude, and bottom-line orientation in team members without sacrificing their own time or performance. Whether you are new and relatively ?green? suAs a former Olympic coach, I have come to understand that there really is no difference between an elite athlete and an employee when it comes to development and performance. The conversation must start with an evaluation of where this individual currently is and where he or she wants to go. The end result is very much dependent on what the individual is willing to do from the outset. Whether, they are training for an Olympic team or contributing towards a team sales goal the person must reflect on what he or she is ready to do. After that is established, it is possible to build a bridge to close the gap between present skills and future performance. Let us first consider some of the critical questions we can ask our team member to evaluate whe What motivates you to give your best on the job? Are you willing AND able (there is a difference here so make sure you understand willingness is linked to motivation and ability is linked to skills needed) to assist this team in achieving its? goals as agreed upon by all team members? What specifically are you willing to do to help this team succeed? What can I do as your supervisor to help you achieve your goals? How do you prefer to be led or supervised - in other words, lots of assistance and checkups or relative autonomy? What sort of position/salary do you see for yourself in a year?s time and how can I help you achieve that? It is easy to see by the questions that these are highly dependent on your employee?s responses and furthermore, the key to most of these questions is first the willingness of a team member to jump on board and contribute and second, the ability, or current skill sets necessary to make that contribution. As a coach to this employee, you do not need to go any further if they cannot be recruited to help the overall team vision. A lot of valuable time has been saved here. If they are motivated but lack the ability then it becomes time to start establishing what they are deficit in while working towards the goals established. Your job is not necessarily to teach them but to provide the resources and training that will help them. The web offers nearly an infinite number of solutions here and our own company can help provide the initial assessment with instruments like DiSC and Managing Work Expectations. Finally, in both elite athletics and employee development long-term commitment is certainly a consideration and you will find that starting with that first conversation. It is possible your employee will notice your commitment to their performance and career from even one conversation and at the very least, commitment, is improved. (When was the last time someone asked you where would you like to be in a year and really helped you make that happen.) Also, the simple question-asking event goes a long way to help you recruit this team member. After all, the responses he or she gives will be in words and emotions that will help link this employee to your team through a very subtle version of ?buy-in.? The team member is admitting to you, in essence, how far they are willing to commit to the goals of that team. In business, like top-level athletics, a coach has to establish the motivation and talents of the individual to best build that ladder that will get them from their current state of performance to the proverbial podium and that gold medal. Effective coaches understand this concept and are able to apply it to their teams for truly spectacular performance. Article Directory: http://www.articledashboard.com For tips to effectively train your people and streamline your organization, visit www.traininginabox.com for solutions to your staffing challenges. Sign up for your free newsletter at www.quicktrainingsolutions.com to make your HR training and development life easier. Corey Nielsen designs and delivers innovative and effective training solutions for businesses through NTG, his business development and training company. Permalink: http://expert-talk.com/tips/875/coaching-a-gold-medal-team-116875.htm Related Tips and Advices
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