2
- Mentors get close and they care. Those can be
scary emotions.
Six Pitfalls to Your StaffCoaching™ Success .....................................................
Adopting an ineffective style negatively affects results. There
are other pitfalls, as well.
Let’s pretend for a moment. Pretend that instead of wanting to
be a motivational coach who inspires others to do their best, you
want to undermine the team. You want the team to fail.
Ridiculous? Unfortunately, it happens every day. It’s not that
managers consciously want their teams to fail. It’s just that without
thinking, they do things that would defeat any team. Often this is a
natural occurrence because of the way they were managed. This is
a continual caution for you: Think about how and why you act as
you do with your staff. Avoid doing things because that’s just the
way it is.
The following six actions are practically guaranteed to
demoralize your people and keep them from reaching their goals.
BEWARE OF THESE PITFALLS!
- Talk at your employees, not with them.
- Exaggerate situations or behavior.
- Talk about attitudes rather than behavior.
- Assume the employee knows the problem and solution.
- Never follow up.
- Don’t reward improved behavior.
Talk at Your Employees, Not With Them
This killing tendency is all too common. When you talk at
someone, you’re talking down to her. You’re being condescending.
Often this kind of approach is accompanied by pointing a finger or
pen, and the frequent use of words like “I want” and “you should.”
It can’t even be called “giving orders” — it is attacking people
with rank and the threat of retribution. The result? Over time, team
The Five-Step StaffCoaching™ ModelManagers should
talk with team
members —
not at them.