Coaching, Mentoring and Managing: A Coach Guidebook

176

Example

“Thanks for your time, Ron. I appreciate you

understanding my concerns.”

“Thanks for coming, Phil. I realize how hard this is and

what you must be feeling.”

Remember: “Firm” is human. “Forgiving” is human. Hard and

unfeeling aren’t. The fact is, anytime you talk performance, even

when you are focusing on behavior and not the person, it does get

personal.

Learning to confront team members about performance issues

as a counselor is one link in the chain of “connective interaction”

between the StaffCoach™ and team member(s). Another link is

working together to change the substandard behavior. One formula

for that is to answer the following eight revealing questions. Your

answers can clarify your approach.

Eight Ways to Eliminate Unsatisfactory Behavior ............................................

What Are the Actual Facts of the Situation?

Don’t rely on your emotional recollection of the effects of the

behavior — what exactly has been or is being done improperly?

List the offense(s) objectively. If you’re in doubt about what

happened, investigate with firsthand observers. Never list what

you think. List what you know.

For instance, don’t settle for being told something like, “James

was late twice last week in the middle of our busiest selling

season.” Dig a little deeper. You might discover that James arrived

four minutes late on Thursday and eight minutes late on Friday,

but he worked through his lunch hour both days.

Coaching, Mentoring and Managing

5

“My players need

me more when

they lose than

when they win.”

—Jim Valvano

T

E

A

M

F

L

Y

Team-Fly®