Coaching to Motivate
Coaching is the backbone of creating a motivating environment. Legendary NFL coach Vince Lombardi once said this about coaching: “Coaches who can outline plays on a black board are a dime a dozen. The ones who win get inside their player and motivate.” Lombardi was talking about football, but the lesson applies to the business world as well. A manager can certainly lay out policies and procedures and manage projects and budgets. However, the objective of coaching is to get inside the employees’ minds and get them to feel that they can do anything. Managers who can do that see amazing results.
Merriam Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary defines coaching as to train intensively (as by instruction and demonstration).
I think that is a clear, yet incomplete definition. I would define coaching as a process used by a manager in order to train, teach, and advise in order to reinforce positive behavior
and modify unproductive behavior. One of the ways to establish an environment where employees can be motivated is to show that you care about them personally and professionally. Coaching, simply put, shows that you care.
Coaching is a tool for development, not for disciplinary action. Reprimanding an employee is not coaching, it is counseling and is a step toward serious future disciplinary action. It is important that a manager understand the distinction between the coaching and counseling and keep them separate and distinct.