HAPTER 3
CThe Coaching Role: Inspiring
and Motivating
History buffs will agree that a prime example of coaching
is Henry Kaiser, an industrialist. He thought possibilities
continually surpassed what others thought couldn’t be done.
Historians attribute winning World War II to his inspiring and
motivating management of shipbuilding crews. He took
ordinary people who thought it took three months to build a
ship and said, “Fine, give me one in four-and-a-half days.”
Instead of monetary rewards, he broke his workers into teams
and had them compete with each other. When told there
wasn’t enough steel for the ships, he built the first Pacific
steel plant. When told there wasn’t enough magnesium, he
built a magnesium plant. His teams produced 1,466 ships for
the war effort. He led a consortium of builders and
constructed Hoover Dam in two years, under schedule.
Average performers and extraordinary results!
Coaching is more than a set of management actions for
improving performance. It is an involved and supportive
approach for allowing others to realize their potential.
Coaching is a partnership, as Kaiser demonstrated, for
achieving results. Both he and his production teams played
vital parts.
Coaching rests more on motivation and interpersonal
influence than on getting others to comply through a chain of
command or hierarchy. Jack Welch and GE’s decentralized
mega-organization illustrate this. Coaching isn’t a mechanical
3
Catch people doing something right.
“A good coach is
not necessarily a
winner but a
person who is a
good teacher ...
who doesn’t abuse
his or her players
... who gets the
most from the
players and who
works within the
framework of
the rules.”
— Dan Devine