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Coaching: A Pay Me Now or Pay Me Later Deal
By Lee J. Colan
(This report is an excerpt from “7 Moments… That Define Excellent Leaders”.)
At one time, Andrew Carnegie was the wealthiest man in America. He came to America from his native Scotland when he was a small boy, did a variety of odd jobs, and eventually ended up as the largest steel manufacturer in the United States. At one time, he had 43 millionaires working for him. In those days, a millionaire was a rare person.
A reporter asked Carnegie how he had hired 43 millionaires. Carnegie responded that those men had not been millionaires when they started working for him but had become millionaires as a result.
The reporter's next question was, "How did you develop these men to become so valuable to you that you have paid them this much money?" Carnegie replied that men are developed the same way gold is mined. When gold is mined, several tons of dirt must be moved to get an ounce of gold, but one doesn't go into the mine looking for dirt – one goes in looking for the gold.
Some leaders find themselves sitting on a mountain of gold, and yet they feel poor because they don’t know how to mine the gold from their teams.
Excellent leaders coach good employees to become better people. They help them build better lives for themselves and others. They build their employees from the inside out… inspiring excellence at work and in life.
Although certain types of employee development requires a financial investment (e.g., seminars, professional memberships, subscriptions), the best return is generated from an investment of our time and energy. When employees know we have a vested interest in their success, tough discussions become easier, issues are addressed rather than avoided and solutions are initiated by employees rather than pulled out of them.
In the crunch of daily demands, we sometimes forget a fundamental law of leadership: If our employees are successful, we are successful. Excellent leaders are crystal clear on this law and focus on nurturing success and inspiring future leaders.
When my son was 11 years old, he earned his Junior Black Belt in karate. Of course, I was very proud of him, for he had come a very long way since his first lesson. I remember that lesson well. He was seven years old, and one of the first things "the master" taught him was a simple exercise called a kata. This kata ended with the beginning student, saying emphatically, "V for victory and bow for humility” as he crisscrossed arms over his head with fists clinched for the “V” and then bowed forward for humility.
That night, he came home from his lesson and quickly ran to me, bursting with pride, to show me what he had learned. Seeing his enthusiasm, I dropped what I was doing and became an intent audience of one. As he finished the kata, he performed the closing, "V for victory, bow for humility!” he shouted.
But then, to my surprise, he started yelling insults at me… “Man, I took you down! How about that buddy!” and so on. More than a bit shocked and confused, I asked, “Hey pal, what was that all about?” He responded in a very matter of fact manner, "Dad, that's the bow for humility."
Well, this pointed out how such a little thing can make a BIG difference – he thought it was a bow for humiliation, not humility.
My son heard his instructor’s performance expectation but made his own (incredibly misdirected) interpretation, based on his own perceptions. As leaders, if we depend on others’ perceptions to meet our expectations, we will be disappointed every time. Fear not, we clarified that definition before he earned his Black Belt!
Another coaching challenge is that we remember only 20 percent of what we hear.
Let’s take a closer look to understand why this percentage is so low. Let’s say I am hurried and swing by an employee’s cube and say, “Ryan, please make sure you use the new format on the month-end sales report… thanks.” Even if Ryan is a pretty sharp guy, what do you think the chances are he will hear my request accurately, remember it, recall it accurately when it’s relevant, interpret my instructions as I intended, then perform the task satisfactorily?
When we look at it this way, 20 percent sounds pretty good, doesn’t it?
Effective coaching minimizes re-coaching on the same topic. If we are coaching employees on the same thing repeatedly, before we get frustrated with them, we need to ask ourselves, “Am I inspiring learning or am I just checking this off my list?” “Am I handing off a memo with instructions or am I asking the employee to perform a task while I give him real-time feedback?”
As the list below illustrates, inspiring excellent performance requires time and effort. We generally remember:
10 percent of what we read (memos, books – that’s why I have chapter summary pages to help increase your retention!) 20 percent of what we hear (instructions) 30 percent of what we see (looking at pictures) 50 percent of what we hear and see (watching a movie, looking at an exhibit, watching a demonstration) 70 percent of what we say (participating in a discussion, giving a talk) 90 percent of what we both say and do (simulating the real thing, doing the real thing)
In the example with my son, he heard his performance expectation (20 percent chance of remembering) but made his own interpretations from there. Well, this happens on our teams every day, and it’s up to us to ensure effective coaching of our teams.
Coaching is a pay-me-now or pay-me-later leadership proposition. Take a shortcut and we will be saying the same thing to the same employee next week – no fun for either of us.
Excellent leaders invest their time on coaching right the first time, and as a result, prevent re-coaching. Coach them now or coach them later… the choice is ours.
Take the 7 Moments Indicator to help your pursuit for leadership excellence.
Copyright © 2007 by Lee J. Colan
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