Coaching, Mentoring and Managing: A Coach Guidebook

begin to assume “ownership” of their performance. They will

gradually become self-starters. They will have their own internal

reasons for performing regardless of the external incentives

offered!

Failure to Be Specific

You’ve seen this happen: A manager tells the team what he

wants in broad terms. Then the manager is surprised when the

result is not what he wanted. Or, the manager waits for somebody

to start doing it. What happens when you wait for self-starters?

You’ll wait forever. Don’t wait ... motivate! Tell people ...

specific people ... specifically what you expect of them.

Example

Coach:

You’re right, Tom, your sales are down. Way down. What

do you think the problem is?

Tom:

I honestly don’t know. I’m doing all the things that used to

work ... making at least 30 calls a day ... following up

with company literature, networking for referrals. It’s

frustrating!

Coach:

Hmm. Might be time for something new.

Tom:

Like what?

Coach:

Well, you’ve been pretty active in church and scouting

over the years, haven’t you?

Tom:

Very active.

Coach:

That probably means you’ve come to understand the

people in those settings ... what they value and what they

don’t. You know what gets their attention.

Coaching, Mentoring and Managing

7

If you aim at

nothing, you can

be sure that you

will hit it!

Don’t wait ...

motivate!