Investing with a Purpose – Coaching with a Purpose

Welcome Back to Investing – Coaching with a Purpose! The “Investing with a Purpose – Intro” article, you gathered data, more importantly you listened to your staff. This was a great opportunity to learn their aspirations. The “Investing with a Purpose – Round II” article, you examined the data, framed the data, discussed the importance of partnership with your staff. You also explored coaching versus performance improvement.

This is a lot, right? Yes, but what is the difference from self-investment and financial investment? All leads to WORTH. Let’s define WORTH. 

Where Do You Stand?

• Were you able to examine the data you collected?
• Did you find framing the data useful and a tool that you can use?
• Have you formed multiple partnerships?
• Have you implemented “Coaching” for all your employees?

Pushing Forward

I attended a seminar and had the opportunity to provide a brief introduction of MJ Professional. Since I was presenting to leaders, what a perfect opportunity to get their attention by mentioning performance improvement. As leaders, we are engaged because we “dislike” the work that comes with the term. As mentioned last month, performance improvement is the act of identifying deficiencies and developing a plan to correct the actions. “We are busy and who has time to develop a plan for employees to do what they’re supposed to do.” I hear this statement all the time.

Therefore, I push “Coaching”. Coaching is a desire to help those who want to help themselves. We are teaching practices that can be carried forward with any job and life. Which leads to investment. Is this all coming together now? I hope so. As with investing funds, we must add funds to the account for the funds to grow. There may be a loss, along the way. At that moment, we review our portfolio to see what stocks are performing and what stocks need to be removed. We also research to see if there is a slight barrier for a stock that will overcome with time. If that is the case, we continue to watch the stock to see if there is improvement. We determine our next steps by the stock performance.

The process mentioned above should be the same for our staff or others that show potential. As leaders, we should be working smarter, finding time to be creative, planning for our future and accomplishing our personal and professional goals. If you are not ready to ride the “employee stock market”, are you ready for leadership?

The 1s, 2s, 3s of Measurement

How can you measure if coaching is successful? Here are three ways.

1. Check in with staffing. Make sure they are in a safe environment. Do not intimidate.
2. Conduct a survey to include climate change questions.
3. After three – six months, evaluate the quality of work. Is there improvement? For example, customer service scores increased, less complaints from customers, sales increased, etc.

You should conduct an analysis at least twice a year. One of the biggest complaints from staff is that most feel their performance is not discussed until review time. We must keep our staff updated to include positives, as well as negatives.

What Happens If:

• You were to be promoted?
• Had to take time off from work?
• Resigned?
• Or something totally unexpected takes place?

Do you have someone on your team who can take over? Not only taking over the functions of your position, but someone who the team can trust, someone that will coach and provide guidance? If not, you need to evaluate the Why Not?

What is the Gain?

Why an investment in coaching? What is the benefit? Bottom line–it is about building a partnership and future in an organization. It is about moving forward and being prepared for changes and growth. Organizations have a goal to be profitable, increased customer service, grow clientele and (you fill in the blank based on your goals).

Nike’s mission is “to bring inspiration and innovation to every athlete”. What a perfect mission! We as leaders should adopt this mission to inspire and motivate our staff. In turn our employees will promote our values.

What is the expected gain/net profit? You determine what’s important, while determining the WORTH.

Consult with A Coach

As mentioned above, changing your normal process and/or routine, requires time, effort and dedication. This can be overwhelming to all. Being a leader requires one to balance multiple task while meeting the demands of your position. As you are making the transition from the traditional management style to coaching, employees will see a change. Change can bring fear, confusion and push back for many. However, some will embrace the change. You don’t have to do this alone. MJ Professional Development is ready to partner with you. We can work together to define your needs and make the transformation process seamless.

Please take advantage of the free 30-minute session for yourself or your staff.

Finale

Join me next month for an overview of the “Investing with a Purpose” series.  I would love to receive an email from each of you to understand the value you received from this series.  Along with closing out the series, I will take the opportunity to address questions you, as managers, may have.  As mentioned in several articles, MJ Professional Development, is your partner.  Please take advantage of the partnership.

Thanks for your continued support.