2
STEP 2: BECOME AN EFFECTIVE COACH
“You cannot lead if you don’t believe.”
—Professor C.K. Prahalad of the University of Michigan Business School
Thankfully, the business world has made strides in moving away from a command and control form of leadership. This obsolete and ineffective method is being replaced by a coaching leadership style. A majority of today’s most successful CEOs describe themselves as coaches first and managers second.
In this second step, we begin by looking at coaching at the individual level and move on to how the skill also applies at the organisational level. You will discover that coaching is something that you may be already doing as a supervisor. Do not assume that coaching is a soft skill; in fact, it is a mix of both technical and people skills combined in a unique fashion that produces great results for the leader who believes in and utilises coaching.
After reading this chapter, you should be able to
know if you have the skills necessary to be an effective coach.
apply the best practice of a position description to get greater results.
coach a friend through a difficult situation.
develop into a powerful coach for your organisation.
COACHING IN A NUTSHELL
We turn to a coach when we want to improve a specific skill or talent and are unable to do it on our own.
The coach is someone who is skilled in the area and can provide guided help so CFOs will end up in a better place than they are now. Being a coach in business is similar to coaching in sports; you are administering skill-based practice so that the person can reach a specific outcome. The coach’s job is to help the coachee see the obstacles that are preventing him or her from being successful and to jump-start the momentum needed to reach a goal. Being a successful coach is extremely satisfying and gratifying.
COACHING AT THE INDIVIDUAL LEVEL
The Skill of Coaching
Coaching is personalised, individualised training and support given to someone. It is building a continual relationship between the coach and the person being coached.
Coaching is not
controlling,
managing,
micromanaging, or
supervising.
Coaching is dramatically more challenging, yet rewarding, than the out-of-date command and control method for managing people. In command and control the leader dictates the rules and tasks while adhering to a strict chain of command. Employees are not allowed to question these “orders” and can communicate with the leader only via established formal channels of communication. Because today’s business organisation is flatter and has fewer manager and supervisor positions, it is incumbent that you create and retain a personal connection with each employee who directly or indirectly reports to you. This is why coaching is so important and necessary to be a successful controller or CFO.
In coaching, the leader works each day to foster a personal and open relationship with each employee so that these human assets feel that they can come to you and tell you the truth when things are going well or going poorly. The communication channels used in coaching are more informal and dependent on continuous face-to-face interactions. If you are a good coach, you will find that employees trust you and believe in you and will do everything they can to ensure that you are successful. This occurs because you have repeatedly demonstrated to your employees that you believe they are valuable and want them to succeed.
Coaching is not controlling because you are the guide who allows your employees to determine the agenda and goals.
Coaching is not managing because you are using your knowledge and insights to help your employees come into their own wisdom.
Coaching is not micromanaging because you are not doing the work, but instead trusting your employees and letting them successfully stumble so they quickly learn to succeed.
Coaching is not supervising, because you can coach anybody; it does not need to be an employee. You can coach a boss, a colleague, a friend or even a stranger. The process of coaching is consistent and, once you master it, you will find many ways to use it to help others become successful and effective.
For the rest of this book, the term coachee refers to the person you are coaching in order to emphasise the importance of applying the skill of coaching beyond those for whom you are responsible.
Accountability Factor in Coaching
Because, as a leader, you are not commanding or demanding that your employees get the work done in the way that you want it done, you may feel that you will spend all your time micromanaging what employees do and say. This is not true. If you are a good coach, you will be transferring accountability for results to each of the employees whom you coach. That is what the coach does best—transfer accountability for success back into the hands of the coachee.
As you coach people and establish a relationship of trust, you offer suggestions and ideas to help them be more productive and make their work life easier. Then the actual work is performed by the employee, who feels accountable to you for completing what he or she promised to do and meeting the quality you expect. If employees do not perform according to your expectations, they will feel embarrassed because you placed your trust in them and they let you down.
In the coaching relationship, you guide and shape the coachee’s behaviours in subtle and specific ways. You do this for the benefit of both the organisation and the employee, thereby requiring that you approach the relationship with sincerity and honour. You hold no hidden agenda. In effect, as coach, you are creating an environment in which the people who work for you want to win, yearn to feel successful and enjoy doing their best.
Notice that a leader who uses the dictatorial command and control method of getting others to do the work will never create an environment in which people feel successful or care enough to win. Similarly, the leader who uses micromanaging to ensure that employees do everything right will never create an environment in which people enjoy doing their best or are accountable for their own successes and failures.
Specific Skills of a true Coach
Teaching ____________
Counselling ____________
Guiding ____________
Learning ____________
Sharing ____________
Questioning ____________
Relating ____________
Listening ____________
Intuitiveness ____________
Creativity ___________
Grade yourself on each skill, using this scale:
-I don’t have or practise the skill.
-I have some of the skill.
-I probably am average in relation to the skill.
-I get good results when I use the skill.
-I improved an employee’s performance using the skill.
Coaching Skills defined
“The manager’s daily challenge is to enable workers to become responsible by extending trust, mentoring, being receptive to new ideas, encourage risk-taking, giving credit, and telling uncompromising truth.”
—Rob Lebow, Professional Coach
Teaching and Training
In coaching, teaching is somewhat akin to the experiences we had with our teachers in school. The teacher would carefully explain to us the new skill and help us to understand why it was important for us to learn that skill. In a coaching session, you are teaching the person what he or she needs to know and explaining the context so that he or she understands the new information. To ensure that the coachee understands the applicability of the new information, you also train him or her on how to apply it and when.
Counselling
In your experiences as a supervisor, you know that some employees need or want you to hold their hand as you guide them through a difficult situation. In coaching, you often act as a counsellor or sage who dispenses advice and suggestions. In your role as a coach, you will often need to be the person who gives the employee tough love, which also falls under the skill of counselling.
Guiding
A critical role the coach plays in getting someone to improve his or her performance or to change a habit is to be the guide. See this as being the Sherpa for someone who is climbing Mount Everest for the first time. You are unveiling the future path that the person could and hopefully will take in order to become better. In everything that you do as a coach, whether it be offering advice and counsel or holding the person accountable, you will ultimately guide that person to a better place.
Learning
One of the valuable traits that a good coach displays is the willingness to learn. You learn from the relationship with your coachee, from the wisdom of your own words and from the examples of other leaders. Coaches are not expected to know everything, so you must commit to lifelong learning by reading books and studying. Learn about successful leaders, great organisations and best practices. As you develop the relationship with the coachee, you will learn things about that person and about yourself.
Sharing
One of the things that coaches do very well is to share the wisdom of their own experience with the coachee. Coaches are not expected to be perfect, and the more mistakes you have made, the more real and honest you will appear to your coachee. Hopefully, you have learned some valuable lessons from your experiences, especially your mistakes, that you can pass on to those travelling the same path as you.
Questioning
The most powerful tool that the coach has available is the use of thoughtful questioning. Instead of relying on declarative statements, a good coach uses questions to open the coachee’s eyes and mind to new possibilities. Very often the person you are coaching cannot clearly see or is so focused on what is not working that he or she misses what is working. In addition, because of your wisdom and experiences you clearly see where the person needs to get to and the path for getting there. But if you give away all the answers, the coachee misses out on the experience of finding his or her own way. So to be an effective coach you use questions—open-ended and pointed—to get the coachee to create the conclusions that will help him or her reach the desired outcome.
Relating
One of the strongest ways that coaches build the relationship of trust is to use analogies, examples and stories to get their point across. That means you must walk in the shoes of the coachee and see the world through his or her eyes. Quite often that means you will need to mentally and emotionally understand where the coachee is now and then use this information to create an example for the person to understand the bigger picture. The coach will use examples and stories from many different sources, which constantly requires the coach to be learning and growing.
Listening
Along with the skill of questioning, as a coach you will intensively rely on the ability to listen with your ears, your eyes and your intuition. If the person you are coaching could clearly see the obstacle in question, he or she would not need a coach. Because the coachee cannot see the path without filters, he or she may focus only on the obstacles. This inability to see beyond an obstacle causes great distress and negative emotion in the coachee. He or she will circle around the issue, resist or deny that anything is wrong. The coach’s job is to listen to what is said and unsaid in order to get a sense of what is really stopping the person, which most of the time will be an unwillingness to face up to fear.
Using Intuition
Every one of us is born with strong intuitive abilities. It is through our life’s experiences that we learn either to rely on our intuition or to deny its existence. Accountants are famous for denying that they have intuition. Successful coaches recognise the importance of their intuition and use it in building the coachee relationship.
As a coach you will not rely on intuition all the time; instead, it will flow in and out during your discussions and interactions with the coachee. These are moments when an “Aha” occurs. In such a moment of clarity you may be tempted to give the person the answer instead of taking the time to draw it out with questions.
Remember that your intuition is both an asset and your ally for being an effective coach.
Creativity
The creativity that the coach needs to be successful in getting others to change is one of being open-minded to new possibilities and new ways of seeing life. This skill works hand-in-hand with your intuition. Creativity comes to fruition when you think of tools, methods or processes that the coachee can use to go from being stuck to succeeding.
This activity may sound strange, but it may lead the employee to realise he can move beyond this limiting event he obsesses about and release his fear.
Therefore, as coach, it is incumbent on you to constantly think of methods that the coachee can use to progress towards a goal, even though you may feel the method is unorthodox.
COACHING AT THE ORGANISATIONAL LEVEL
Coaching at the organisational level requires the controller to be the conscience of their firm. You must be the person who is willing to raise issues and counsel other leaders on the viability of their goals, plans and policies. You must be seen as the professional leader who does not have any biases or an agenda other than the organisation’s success.
Notably, the skills that you use in coaching an individual are the same ones you use in being a coach at the organisational level. You must be able to listen beyond the words, use questions to open up dialogue, build trust between yourself and your colleagues, and ultimately guide people’s thinking and behaviours. Let us recap those skills.
Teaching and Training
As the controller or CFO, you are constantly teaching others about the nuances of finance, accounting and business management. As you discovered in the view of the CFO in the future, our position is moving toward that of a constant trainer.
Counselling
You will need to hold the hands of other leaders and colleagues as you guide them through difficult situations and tough decisions. In coaching at the organisational level, you will often act as a wise person who dispenses advice and suggestions. And you will often need to dispense advice people may not want to hear.
Guiding
Just as in coaching the individual, you must guide the actions and decisions of other leaders as they make choices and decisions. Although it would be nice if every leader in your organisation had integrity, that is not always the case. Once you choose to be the controller or CFO, you must be willing to shape other leaders’ behaviours and decisions so that they stay focused on solutions and plans that benefit the customer, the organisation and its stakeholders rather than themselves.
Learning
Although you are an accomplished professional, you still have many things to learn. By keeping an open mind and knowing that you can learn from the examples of other leadership team members, you will ensure your future success and discover that many other avenues exist to channel your talents in the organisation. Some controllers use their experiences and knowledge to become CEOs, venture capitalists, hedge fund managers, niche consultants and operations executives. The controller’s job is a launching pad that opens the door to the unlimited opportunities available to the person who is willing to stretch beyond what is comfortable and predictable.
Sharing
Just as in coaching the individual, you will share your insights and wisdom with others in the form of stories, examples and analogies.
Questioning
One of a CFO’s more powerful tools is the use of thoughtful questioning. Instead of relying on declarative statements, a good leader uses questions to open people’s eyes and minds to new possibilities. Very often, executives and managers are so focused on their agenda that they cannot see beyond it. Because of your wisdom and experiences, you clearly see what the leadership team needs to do to accomplish its strategic initiatives. Therefore, to be an effective CFO you must acquire the habit of using questions—open-ended and probing—to lead the leadership team to create the conclusions that will help it reach the organisation’s goals.
Relating
One of the strongest ways that you, the controller, builds bridges and fosters relationships of trust is to use analogies, examples and stories to get your point across. This means you must speak at the same level of the coachee. The controller or coach will use examples and stories from many different sources. This constantly requires you to be listening, learning and growing.
Listening
Along with the skill of questioning, as the organisation’s internal coach you will intensely rely on the ability to listen with your ears, your eyes and your intuition. Managers with hidden agendas or hubris will rarely speak clearly and address the issue. Instead they will circle around the issue. They will resist. They will deny that anything is wrong. Your job is to listen to what is said and unsaid in order to get a sense of what the person is not saying or is trying to hide. By listening carefully and using questions, you become more the organisational conscience as you bring forth those things that need to be expressed and brought out into the open.
Using Intuition
Just as in coaching the individual, over time you will develop a keen sense of what to say and what not to say. This is sometimes called business sense but is, in fact, your intuition. It is wisdom you hone from your experiences both within the organisation and from without. Remember that your intuition is both an asset and your ally for being an effective controller or CFO.
Creativity
The creativity that the CFO needs to be successful in getting others to change is that of being open-minded to new possibilities. This skill works hand-in-hand with your intuition. Your creativity comes into fruition when you think of tools, methods or processes that the organisation and other leaders can use to remove obstacles that hinder execution of plans.
Therefore, as CFO it is vital that you be constantly thinking of tools and best practices that the leadership team can use to make progress toward corporate goals and strategic initiatives.
CONTROLLER AND CFO BEST PRACTICE: POSITION DESCRIPTION
A position description is much more than a typical job description. It is a tool that helps you to fully define a job and emphasise what the organisation wants—results.
Elements of the Position Description
While a job description is something every controller or CFO and member of her team should have, the position description will enable the leading-edge leader of finance to be very successful. This assurance comes from proactively defining your role within the company using the following elements:
Qualifications for the job
Expected results from the employee
Impact of the job on the organisation
Authority levels granted with the position
Specific difficulties the person may have
Interpersonal relationships, within and without
Functional job duties
Any other key items necessary for the employee to succeed
A typical job description concentrates on the role’s duties, while the focal point of the position description is on the expected results. By emphasising results, you eliminate the need to include every conceivable task into the job description.
This approach is useful when used on the marginally successful employee who hides under the reasoning: “But that task is not in my job description.” By defining what you expect of your employees, you eliminate this popular excuse and self-limiting belief.
Expected Results
Define and get your supervisor’s agreement on the desired outcomes before you get deep into the job. This action helps you stay focused and enforces personal accountability.
Impact on the Organisation
You agree with your employer as to obtaining the resources you need so that you can make the desired impact and achieve the expected results. This clarification helps in your leadership and conscience roles.
Authority Levels
You understand what decisions you can and cannot make and ask for those that will support you in rendering the expected results. This definition helps you know what is really important.
Special Difficulties
You spell out those things which could limit your ability to get quick or lasting results, like needing to upgrade the technical skills of your existing staff or having to invest in new technology. This section helps you and your supervisor or employer be mutually accountable to each other.
Interpersonal Relationships
You agree with your employer as to the people that you have responsibility for, whom you regularly communicate with, and where you fit into the organisation’s structure. This agreement helps you to keep your eyes on the big picture.
Benefits of using a Position Description
Why should you have a position description for yourself and each member of your team? The payoffs are numerous. A specific description
communicates clear expectations to everyone,
clarifies goals in advance,
reduces overlaps and gaps among the many team members’ duties and responsibilities,
reduces uncertainty about what is expected,
documents performance,
shortens the learning curve for new employees, and
gives a clear definition of the job requirements to any applicant.
Tips on Making the Position Description Effective
Expectations-Oriented
Every position description should focus on the results you expect from that specific employee. To ensure that the position description remains fresh and current, semiannually update every employee’s position description or every time you conduct a performance evaluation, whichever comes first.
Proactive
Be sure to state the expected results in a proactive manner. This encourages your employee to take initiative and become more of a self-starter. Your role will gradually evolve into that of an encouraging coach rather than a supervisor.
Flexible
By focusing the employee’s attention on expected results instead of duties, you automatically instil greater flexibility in the employee. If you want to develop employees who are proactive and seek out ways to add value, make each employee’s position description flexible.
Broad
Today, ideal employees see the big picture, so it is important that you make the position description broad enough to cover more than what the employee is currently doing. By developing the position description with a wide variety of expectations, you instil in the employee the practice of looking toward future possibilities.
Brief
The ideal position description is only one and a half pages long. To the extent possible, create a position description that is no more than two pages. If you can get the position description on one page, you will make it even more effective and memorable. The length will depend on how many duties you include. Remember, the more you detail the expected results, the less you need to spell out the specific duties. See figure 2-1 for the position description format.
Figure 2-1: Success unlimited Position Description Format
An example of a position description is presented on the following pages.
Position Description for a General Accounting Assistant
Qualifications
The person who fills this position will have a minimum of two years’ entry-level accounting experience or a college education. He or she will have the interpersonal skills and problem solving experience expected of a professional. His or her technical knowledge will include, at a minimum, usage of PC-based computer systems and related applications as well as knowledge and usage of spreadsheet software, e-mail, Internet searches and databases.
Expected Results
Within nine months of being on the job, the employee will have accomplished these goals:
Measurable improvements in accounts receivable collections reducing DSO (day’s sales outstanding) from the current 60 days to 35 days
After completing cross-training, have a good understanding of the duties and functions of accounts payable and payroll processing
Take over maintenance of the general ledger and preparation of related internal report package from the controller
Principle Duties
Timely collection of accounts receivable, including follow-up and documentation
Precise monthly inventory reconciliations
Precise monthly reconciliation of bank accounts
Detailed and accurate analysis of general ledger accounts and preparation of work papers
Cross-training and understanding of duties in the following areas:
Accounts payable processing and transactions, for example, coding, processing payments and so forth
Cash receipts processing and transactions, for example, coding, posting, reconciliation and so forth
Sales processing and transactions, for example, invoicing, summarising, posting and so forth
Payroll processing and transactions, for example, data entry, tax filings and deposits, and so forth
Other accounting related duties and special projects as assigned and delegated
Special Difficulties
Quickly learning a complex accounting system
Working with a difficult accounting software package
Interpersonal Relationships
Direct supervisor will be the controller
Task supervisors will be a staff accountant and the AP specialist whenever cross-training and working within that person’s area of responsibility
Person will have daily contact with customers, bank employees and company employees
Evaluation and Feedback
Quarterly performance evaluations will be made on the goals defined in the “Expected Results” section and on the employee’s learning curve in the following areas:
Technical skills and problem solving skills
People skills
Professionalism
Communication skills
Speed in completion of cross-training
Comprehension of training
Enthusiasm
Proactiveness
Flexibility
Willingness to learn
Exercise: Brian—Part 1
In the following activity, you will examine specific challenges that Brian faces and then complete Brian’s position description.
Case Study Background Information
Brian, Your Friend
Brian is the controller and acting CFO of an organisation located in a small community. The company Brian works for could be described as a mini-conglomerate or informal private equity fund.
Brian’s Employer
Known as R & K Enterprises, the organisation is a holding company of small businesses owned by two families. The organisation itself is too big to qualify as a small business. In the latest count, taken at end of the most recent fiscal year, this organisation comprises 33 different enterprises or entities divided up into 14 business units or profit centres, detailed as follows.
R & K’s BUSINESS UNITS (# OF ENTITIES) |
NET REVENUE (MILLIONS) |
EMPLOYEES |
|
1 |
Manufacturing (3) |
$74 |
98 |
2 |
Retail (4) |
$61 |
27 |
3 |
Wholesale (2) |
$32 |
16 |
4 |
Fast food and restaurant franchises (7) |
$12 |
117 |
5 |
Mining/Mineral Rights (2) |
$5 |
5 |
6 |
Land and building holdings—apartments (5) |
$4 |
13 |
7 |
Land and building sales (1) |
$4 |
2 |
8 |
Equipment rentals (2) |
$3 |
6 |
9 |
Land and building development (1) |
$3 |
2 |
10 |
New car dealership (1) |
$2 |
8 |
11 |
Land and building holdings—commercial (2) |
$2 |
4 |
12 |
Electrical contracting (1) |
$1 |
3 |
13 |
Landscaping (1) |
$1 |
4 |
14 |
Family Trust (1) |
N/A |
2 |
Total Gross Revenues—last fiscal year |
$204 |
||
Total headcount, today |
307 |
The Ownership
Ruwan and Kimberley, the primary owners, are unsophisticated serial entrepreneurs. Serial entrepreneurs start or buy a business, get it successfully running as a standalone enterprise, and then lose interest and go after another idea. Many members of their respective families are involved in the various businesses.
Brian’s Team
Brian directly reports to and works for the owners as the main financial decision maker and as a primary trustee. The owners prefer to centralise most of the accounting and administrative duplicative functions in R & K’s corporate offices, housed in one of the commercial buildings they own. Brian’s shared-services staff is listed as follows. The larger enterprises have either bookkeepers or accountants on site.
BRIAN’s TEAM IN CORPORATE |
|
Accounts payable |
6 |
Cash management and applications |
7 |
Purchasing support |
2 |
General ledger accountants |
3 |
Business unit accountants |
4 |
Cost accounting |
4 |
Accounting assistants |
5 |
Technical support (coordinates with IT) |
2 |
Assistant controller |
2 |
IT staff |
5 |
Paralegal bookkeepers for family trust |
2 |
Corporate Accounting Staff |
42 |
BRIAN’S TEAM OUTSIDE CORPORATE |
|
On site staff in business units |
13 |
Brian’s Team |
55 |
All told, Brian directly supervises 42 people. Counting the other 13 professionals he influences, his total management breadth is 55 employees.
Brian’s Role
In addition to these accounting duties, Brian serves as internal auditor and internal consultant to the managers of the different business units. This latter role is important because while both Kimberley and Ruwan like to work in the business, they hate working on the business.
Fortunately, Brian is not responsible for human resources. Due to the large size of the workforce and frequent turnover, especially in the manufacturing, retail and fast food units, human resources is competently handled by a fully staffed and professionally run team.
Other Leaders
Because the managing director of each unit is empowered to run that business as they see fit, few of them have any leadership or management training. universally, they perform well at operations, but poorly at management.
Brian’s Leadership Challenges
Issue 1: Brian Is Not Taken Seriously
Owners Ruwan and Kimberley regularly ignore Brian’s ideas for improvements.
To date, all of Brian’s ideas have fallen on deaf ears.
Issue 2: The Firm Is in a Death Spiral
While the enterprise looks successful on paper, Brian believes that it is slowly dying. Brian has isolated three specific reasons for this deterioration:
Growing debt used to buy questionable businesses—Long-term debt has grown by 237% over the last 5 years, when many of their favoured businesses were acquired or started. The firm’s banker, a long-time family friend, is nearing retirement, and Brian is concerned about the outcome of a more professional loan officer taking over their account.
Lack of a viable exit plan—Ruwan and Kimberley’s existing exit plan, via the trust, is set up for inheritance taxes issues and not for continuity. If they cannot find a buyer who is willing to pay maximum value for the larger units, the enterprise will drastically drop in value because many of the favoured business entities have little value to anyone outside the family. Also, without Kimberley and Ruwan in the picture, nobody else is talented enough or committed enough to keep things running smoothly.
Poor strategic leadership—Due to his intense workload, Brian has been unable to persuade either Ruwan or Kimberley to spend more time working on the business. They manage their favourite pieces, but not the organisation as a whole.
Issue 3: They Hold Onto a Business Too Long Out of Ego
Every business unit, from manufacturing to land and building, is suffering due to both local and national economic woes. Next year’s revenues are projected to drop overall by 25%-35%. Many of these units could have been sold for a high price years ago, but not today. Both Ruwan and Kimberley pride themselves as smart business people but ignore or diminish any bad or costly decisions.
Issue 4: They Have Severe Negative Cash Flows
The mining operations and land and building development efforts currently eat up more cash than they bring in. Brian appears to be the only one concerned about this situation.
Important Note
Resigning is not an option. Brian hopes to move into a COO role or maybe become the acting CEO of R & K if he can prove his worth to Ruwan and Kimberley. He is courageous and committed to seeing this matter through to the end, whatever that might be.
The following is an excerpt from Brian’s recently developed position description.
R & Κ Enterprise Controller Position Description
Qualifications:
The competent professional filling this important management position will be the following:
An FCMA or CPA with at least seven years’ experience in small closely held businesses
Someone with solid competency in cost accounting for mining, manufacturing, land and building, and restaurants
Knowledgeable in land and building development issues, including contracts and legal documentation
Experienced in the cash management of small business and multiple entities
Able to negotiate with bankers and other lenders
An expert in technology for small business and able to manage the IT infrastructure for different accounting and information systems
Experienced, three years or more, in mergers and acquisitions and divestitures
Bondable and able to serve as trustee for a family trust
Up-to-date on current tax regulations and family tax planning
Willing to work with the co-CEOs to establish a more professional approach to running the organisation
Serve as internal auditor and internal consultant to business unit managers
Interpersonal Relations:
Directly reports to Ruwan and Kimberley (co-CEOs)
Sits on the management committee, consisting of business unit general managers
Directly or indirectly supervises the entire shared-services staff
Coordinates functional responsibilities for finance, administrative and IT departments
Supports human resources group in setting personnel policies and practices and selecting benefit packages
Serves as independent trustee for family trust
Is primary contact with banker, accounting firm and legal counsel
Expected Results:
Create professional shared-service department consisting of administration, IT and finance so that employee turnover drops below 12%
Improve cash flows of the entire organisation by 10% the 1st year, 20% the 2nd year and 30% or more the 3rd year
Create an internal management reporting system that provides timely information on each business entity and the entire organisation
Reduce reporting process by 5 days over the next 18 months
Improve skills of all staff members so that each employee can assume more responsibilities as the enterprise expands
Establish ongoing cross-training for IT, finance and administrative positions so that necessary work can be completed during employee illnesses and holidays
Implement a job rotation process for all shared-service positions, if possible
Streamline processes so that the accounting function is handled with the fewest amount of personnel, decreasing the staff to employee ratio from 15% to 12%
Improve the internal controls of all entities and establish acceptable loss levels for each business unit
Develop a risk management programme for the entire enterprise in order to reduce insurance costs by at least 25%
Reduce the cost of employee benefits by 15% over the next 24 months
Improve the quality and speed of the annual planning process
Impact of the Job on the Organisation:
As a direct result of this position’s responsibility and effectiveness, the organisation will have a conscientious leader who will assist in setting the tone for
Risk-taking
Synergy
Responsibility
Sharing costs
Entrepreneurship
Continuous growth
As a direct result of the position’s responsibility and effectiveness, the shared-services function will be managed by an expert in accounting, finance, treasury, administration, personnel, mergers and acquisitions, and corporate taxation.
The family’s trust account will be managed with the utmost accountability and prudence.
Principle Duties:
(Omitted)
Authority Levels:
(You complete this section.)
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
Special Difficulties:
(You complete this section.)
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
Authority of Person to Act for the Company:
(You complete this section.)
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
Special Difficulties of the Position:
(You complete this section.)
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
Exercise: Self-Test: How Well Do You Coach?
Instructions
Part 1: Perform this analysis, which will give you specific feedback on your coaching abilities, specifically what you are strong at and what you may choose to improve.
AS A COACH, I: |
SELDOM |
SOMETIMES |
ALMOST ALWAYS |
Capitalise on my employees’ strengths. |
1 |
2 |
3 |
Give my employees visibility to others. |
1 |
2 |
3 |
Provide freedom for my employees to do their jobs. |
1 |
2 |
3 |
Set specific standards of excellence. |
1 |
2 |
3 |
Orient my employees to our values and strategies. |
1 |
2 |
3 |
Hold my employees accountable. |
1 |
2 |
3 |
Protect my employees from undue stress. |
1 |
2 |
3 |
Encourage my employees when they are discouraged or are undertaking a new or difficult assignment. |
1 |
2 |
3 |
Provide information about the organisation and my employees’ role in attaining our goals. |
1 |
2 |
3 |
Make my performance expectations and priorities clear. |
1 |
2 |
3 |
Take time to build trust with each employee. |
1 |
2 |
3 |
Provide appropriate training and support. |
1 |
2 |
3 |
Solicit, listen and use ideas, even challenging ones. |
1 |
2 |
3 |
View my employees as partners and critical to the success of our unit or team. |
1 |
2 |
3 |
Serve as a good and visible role model. |
1 |
2 |
3 |
Won’t let my employee give up on him- or herself. |
1 |
2 |
3 |
Do not divulge confidences or spread negativity. |
1 |
2 |
3 |
Explain reasons for our decisions and give advance notice of changes whenever possible. |
1 |
2 |
3 |
Provide my employees with regular and timely feedback about their job performance. |
1 |
2 |
3 |
Give my employees credit, especially when they deserve it. |
1 |
2 |
3 |
Totals for Each Column |
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Grand Total |
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Answer Key
If your Grand Total is:
50-60 You are an excellent coach.
40-49 You are learning to be a coach.
Below 40 You need a personal coach yourself.
Part 2: Answer These Questions
What areas do you feel that you are strong in and need to continue developing?
What areas do you feel you need to work on to improve your coaching skills?